Glossary

Comprehensive glossary of key terms and definitions for the Phasio manufacturing platform

Storefront

The Phasio Storefront is the interface where your customers can upload their models and obtain quotes based on your offered manufacturing processes, post-processing options, and other services. Customers can obtain automated quotes based on uploaded files and place orders through the Storefront via your preferred payment methods.

The Storefront also contains your personalized AI Assistant through which customers can create requests if they do not have a ready model file to upload.

Manufacturer's backend

This is the main Phasio platform for manufacturers where they can:

Create, edit and manage quotes
Accept, create, edit and manage orders
Update order statuses
Configure manufacturing processes, pricing equations, materials, post-processing options and other manufacturing-related processing options
Manage operations
Define advanced manufacturability checks including wall thickness analysis
Configure payment settings
Configure shipping options

Processes

Processes are the manufacturing processes offered by the manufacturer. These encompass the type of manufacturing technology and process-specific configurations including materials, post-processing options, infill options and precision options. Each process has its own customizable pricing equation that is defined by the manufacturer.

Customer-specific processes can be added if manufacturers do not want the pricing logic to be generally available to all customers.

Technology

Phasio supports various manufacturing technologies including but not limited to FDM, SLA, SLS, MJF, and others. Manufacturers can have multiple processes utilizing the same manufacturing technology but with different pricing configurations.

Quotes

A quote is a document provided to the customer to show the estimated price of the goods to be purchased. The Phasio platform automates the quoting process for manufacturers by allowing manufacturers to implement pricing equations based on different manufacturing technologies that they provide. Through the Storefront, customers can obtain an automatically calculated quote based on the 3D model file uploaded and the selected add-ons.

Orders

An order represents a confirmed purchase from a customer. An order can be created by the manufacturer accepting a quote or manually created via the Manufacturer's Backend. Manufacturers can view all their current and completed orders via the Manufacturer's Backend in a board or list format.

Work order

A work order (also called a production run) is one independent instance of manufacturing a part — it has its own routing through your shop and its own quantity tracking. A single part can have multiple concurrent work orders, each tracked separately, so you can run a standard batch alongside a rush or inspection run without mixing their counts.

Routing

A routing is a work order's ordered sequence of operations — the specific path that production run takes through your shop. Each work order owns a routing snapshot at the time it is created; changes to a routing template or your process configuration do not affect work orders that are already in progress.

Routing template

A routing template is a saved, reusable sequence of operations on a part specification — the recipe a work order's routing is seeded from. Approval gates production (when the "require approved routing templates" operator setting is on, a part cannot be pushed into production without an approved template). Approved templates are immutable once a run references them. 👉 Manage routing templates

ℹ️ If no routing template is designated as the default, each work order's routing is derived automatically from your current process configuration — new operations are picked up by future runs with no edits to the part spec required.

Operation

An operation is a stage in your production pipeline (for example, Printing, Sand blasting, or Quality Control). Operations define where parts are tracked on the production floor; each step in a work order's routing corresponds to one operation.

Projects

Projects in Phasio are a collection of orders housed under the same umbrella to allow manufacturers to easily manage work relating to a single customer or initiative.

Proposals

Customer proposals are generally for customers who have an idea of what they want but do not have a model file to upload. The proposal function allows an open discussion between the manufacturer and customer to determine the requirements and specifications via the chat function, which includes the ability to exchange files as well. When the proposal is finalized, it can be accepted and converted into an active project. Quotes and orders can then be added to the project.

Parts

Parts are 3D models uploaded to the Phasio platform, also referred to as part design. Each part design has one or more versions, also referred to as part revision. Such a part revision can be associated with one or more specifications, defining the process, post process material and other relevant manufacturing information. Once the customer orders a part revision with a given specification, this is referred to as a requisition.

Parts intelligence

Part Intelligence describes the effect that unique part designs across a manufacturing facility has. Parts are usually disconnected instances in a database, but with part intelligence, your parts have memory.

Key capabilities:

Part recognition - Automatically identifies when uploaded geometry already exists in your system
Version control - Manages multiple revisions of the same part without creating duplicate entries
Quoting memory - Stores and applies previous specifications, prices, and requirements to future orders
Knowledge persistence - Retains manufacturing decisions, quality requirements, and production notes across all orders

Result: Every part builds institutional knowledge over time, eliminating repetitive setup and ensuring consistent manufacturing quality.