AI sourcing agent · laser cutting

Find laser cutting suppliers in seconds with an AI agent.

Describe what you need cut — material, thickness, quantity, how clean the edge has to be, whether it needs bending afterwards — and our AI agent searches the network for shops with the right machine for that job.

Matched against verified suppliers in the FlowMarket network

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Send your request to every match, or just the ones you pick, with one click. Deploy your agent on FlowMarket to keep generating offers for all your RFQs.

How it works

From one sentence to sourced — in three steps

No datasheets to fill in, no supplier directories to trawl. Just describe the machine or the job — the AI agent takes it from there.

Describe your need

Write what you're looking for in your own words — machine type, axes, work envelope, material, tolerance, volume and certifications.

Get matched suppliers

The AI agent interprets your requirement and ranks the most relevant suppliers and products from the FlowMarket network.

Activate & let it run

One click sends your request to every matched supplier at once. The AI agent follows up and gathers quotes into a single inbox.

Where to find laser cutting services: FlowMarket is a B2B sourcing network powered by an AI agent. You describe the job — material, thickness, quantity, edge quality and what happens after cutting — and the agent matches you with laser cutting suppliers whose machines and volume band fit that work, then requests quotes and lead times so you can compare them in one place.

Sourcing laser cutting

Laser cutting is the most commoditised step in sheet metal and the easiest to shop around, which is exactly why buyers over-optimise it. A cut price is a small part of a finished part's cost, and the shop with the lowest cutting rate is frequently the one that hands you blanks needing deburring, then charges for the deburring, then cannot bend them.

The more useful question is what you want back: blanks, or parts. If the job continues into bending, welding or finishing, buying the cut in isolation creates handovers that cost more than the cut. Describing the whole job — including what happens afterwards — usually surfaces a supplier who does the lot for less than the sum of two.

Which laser suits which job

Fiber laser — the default today. Fast on thin and medium gauge, efficient, and the only sensible choice for copper and brass, which reflect CO₂ wavelengths.
CO₂ laser — still common for thick mild steel and for non-metals like acrylic and wood. Slower on thin sheet and more expensive to run.
Tube and profile laser — cuts round, square and profiled sections including copes and holes. Replaces a great deal of sawing and drilling on frame work, and not every sheet shop has one.
Waterjet or plasma — the right answer outside the laser's range: very thick plate, heat-sensitive materials, composites or stone. Worth asking about rather than forcing a laser.

What decides whether a supplier fits

Thickness range — a machine optimised for 1–6 mm will quote 20 mm plate badly if it quotes it at all. State your thickest and thinnest part.
Bed size and material supply — large panels need a large bed and a sheet size to match. Ask whether they stock your material or have to buy it in, which adds a week.
Secondary operations — deburring, countersinking, tapping and part marking. If they are not offered, someone still has to do them.
Edge quality expectations — nitrogen cutting gives a clean, weldable, paint-ready edge; oxygen cutting is cheaper and leaves an oxide layer. They are different prices and different parts.

Files, nesting and what actually drives the price

Laser cutting is priced on machine time plus material, and machine time is mostly cutting length and pierce count. A part with fifty small holes costs far more than its outline suggests, because every hole is a pierce. Ganging holes, relaxing unnecessary ones and avoiding decorative cut-outs on internal parts cuts real money out of a job.

Material utilisation is the other half. Parts nest well or they do not, and a shop pays for the whole sheet either way. Send DXF or STEP rather than PDF, state whether the geometry is the flat pattern or the formed part, and ask whether a small dimensional change would improve the nest — on a repeating part it often pays for itself immediately.

What laser cutting costs

Expect a setup or minimum order charge on small jobs; it is what makes a single prototype part look disproportionately expensive. Beyond that the drivers are material grade and thickness, cutting length, pierce count, assist gas, and whether the parts need deburring. Nitrogen cutting on stainless costs noticeably more than oxygen cutting on mild steel for the same outline, which is why comparing quotes across materials tells you nothing.

For anything repeating, ask for a price at the real annual volume with call-offs rather than a one-off price. Cutting is fast enough that shops are usually willing to hold a nest and schedule releases, which reduces both your unit price and your stock.

How the AI agent matches suppliers

The agent reads your requirement rather than your keywords. It searches the FlowMarket network and connected industrial directories together, scores every candidate on how well it answers what you described — material, thickness, machine type, secondary operations, geography — and drops anything that does not clear the bar. Each match comes back with a plain-language reason, so a shop that runs your material daily is distinguishable from one that owns a laser.

FAQ

Questions, answered

Where can I find laser cutting services?

You can find and source verified laser cutting suppliers on FlowMarket. Describe the job — material, thickness, quantity, edge quality and what happens after cutting — and the AI agent matches you with shops whose machines and volume band fit that work, then requests quotes and lead times so you can compare them in one place.

What is the difference between fiber and CO2 laser cutting?

Fiber lasers are faster and cheaper to run on thin and medium gauge and are the only sensible choice for copper and brass, which reflect CO2 wavelengths. CO2 lasers remain common for thick mild steel and for non-metals such as acrylic and wood. For most sheet metal work today the answer is fiber.

What file format should I send for laser cutting?

DXF or STEP rather than PDF, and say clearly whether the geometry is the flat pattern or the formed part — that single ambiguity causes more scrapped first-offs than any other. If the part will be bent afterwards, sending the 3D model lets the supplier generate the flat pattern with their own bend allowances.

Why is my laser cutting quote higher than the outline suggests?

Because price follows cutting length and pierce count, not part area. A part with fifty small holes costs far more than its outline implies, since every hole is a pierce. Nesting matters too — the shop pays for the whole sheet whether your parts use it well or not. Ask whether a small dimensional change would improve the nest.

Should I buy cutting alone or cutting plus bending?

If the job continues into bending, welding or finishing, buying the cut in isolation creates handovers that usually cost more than the cut itself. Describe the whole job including what happens afterwards, and the AI agent will surface suppliers who do the lot — often for less than the sum of two separate orders.

When is waterjet or plasma the better choice?

Outside the laser's range: very thick plate, heat-sensitive materials, composites or stone. Plasma is cheaper on heavy steel where edge quality is less critical; waterjet cuts anything without a heat-affected zone but more slowly. Describe the material and thickness rather than naming the process, and the agent matches on what actually suits the job.

Ready when you are

Describe what needs cutting.
The AI agent finds the laser.

Join the buyers pricing laser work on the finished part, not the cut.

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