Every machine bookable, every hour accounted for
Manage machine time bookings, bill pay-per-use sessions, and put consumables on the same invoice - all in one system that keeps your makerspace open to the people who need it and solvent while it is.
Makerspaces combine the complexity of equipment hire, induction requirements, consumable charges and community programme delivery into one facility. Axiom handles the operational layer - machine bookings, the inductions that gate them, and the billing - so your team can spend their time helping people make things, not managing a booking queue.
Laser cutters, 3D printers, CNC routers - each bookable in its own right
High-demand machines in a makerspace create a booking bottleneck, especially laser cutters and 3D printers where queue management matters. Set each machine up as a bookable resource with its own hourly rate and its own opening hours, and members book the time they need online. No queue disputes, no double-booking.
- Per-Machine Availability
Each machine carries its own hours and its own diary. Members see which are free when and book the time they need without contacting staff to check.
- The Dangerous Ones Need Approving
Put the machines that need supervising behind approval, so a request waits for a technician to say yes rather than confirming itself. The member knows a technician is looking at it, and gets the answer by email.
- Cool-Down Between Bookings
Hold a gap after each session so the bed can cool, the extraction can clear and the next member isn't waiting on a machine that says it's free when it isn't.
Run inductions as sessions people book onto
Safety inductions in a makerspace aren't optional. They're a safeguarding requirement and an insurance obligation. An induction is a session in Axiom: a technician who runs it, a capacity, and a list of the people who came, all in the same system as the machines it unlocks.
- A Technician Who Runs It
Whoever delivers the induction is held as a session provider with their own hourly rate and their own availability, so what you pay them is on the record rather than in somebody's head.
- Who Was Actually There
Each induction carries its own attendee list and its own cap, so you have a record of who sat through the laser cutter briefing and the session never overfills.
- Noted Against the Member
Add a note to a member's account recording what they have been signed off on, so the next person on the desk can see it without asking around.
The hour on the machine and the filament it burned, on one bill
Makerspaces bill in small pieces: an hour on the laser, a sheet of acrylic, a reel of filament. Axiom puts the machine time and the materials on the same invoice, drafted off the booking that used them, so the money that keeps the workshop running is captured rather than remembered.
- Charged by the Hour It Ran
Each machine carries its own hourly rate, so laser time and CNC time are priced differently and the charge comes off the booking itself rather than someone's estimate afterwards.
- Consumable Add-ons
Filament, acrylic sheets, wood and other consumables go on at the point of booking, each with its own price and tax treatment, landing on the same invoice as the machine time.
- What Each Member Owes
Every member has an account carrying their booking history, their invoices and their balance. The dashboard's Money Outstanding figure replaces a sum somebody used to work out by hand.
Machine risk assessments that keep their history
A makerspace runs on paperwork nobody wants to think about until something goes wrong: a risk assessment per machine, COSHH sheets for the resins and solvents, the induction pack every member is taken through. Keep them in a document library with full version history, so a revision never erases what it replaced.
- A Risk Assessment for Every Machine
Laser cutter, CNC router, resin printer, welding bay. Give each its own category so the assessment for a machine is found in seconds, not reconstructed from memory.
- What It Said When They Were Inducted
Assessments get revised as machines and materials change. Every version is kept and dated, so you can show what a member was actually trained against rather than only the current wording.
- COSHH and Material Data Sheets
Safety data for every consumable you hold, filed where a technician can reach it during a session instead of hunting through a supplier's website.
- Who Has Taken a Copy
Downloads are logged alongside uploads and replacements, so the induction pack a member was sent is a matter of record.
A makerspace that's easy to use and safe to operate
grows its community faster.
Members who can book machines quickly, get inducted without friction and pay accurately are members who keep coming back and bring others in. Axiom removes every operational barrier, so your makerspace is known for what happens inside it rather than for how complicated it is to use.
Machines used, not queued for
Booking online means members turn up knowing when their machine is ready. Less queue conflict, more productive sessions and operators who know the diary before their doors open.
Safety you can evidence
Every induction has an attendee list showing who was there, and the machines that need supervising sit behind approval. What you signed someone off on is a record, not a memory.
Usage income captured
Machine time and consumables land on the same invoice, drafted off the booking that used them. The informal "pay on the day" revenue replaced with a record that captures everything.
Ready to run your makerspace on one system?
We'll configure your machines, your inductions and your consumables, then have your community booking online within days.
Start free for 28 days. No card required.
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