by Chris Anjel | Jul 16, 2026 | Uncategorized
Most digital manufacturers know the pattern: a new RFQ lands in the inbox, you quote it, the customer orders once, then disappears. The shop moves on to the next quote. Months later, that same buyer resurfaces — but with a different supplier.Turning one-off buyers...
by Chris Anjel | Jul 13, 2026 | Materials & Pricing, Quoting & Estimating
Every shop hits this wall: a senior estimator leaves or volume spikes, and you need a new person quoting yesterday. The problem? Traditional onboarding pulls your best people off the floor, slows response times, and creates a backlog of RFQs that costs you jobs. How...
by Chris Anjel | Jul 13, 2026 | Materials & Pricing, Quoting & Estimating
Every shop has a backlog of completed jobs. Each one carries the real numbers: actual cycle time, setup duration, scrap count, tool wear, and the hours your team spent on the floor. Yet when a new RFQ lands, many estimators still reach for a spreadsheet, a tribal rule...
by Chris Anjel | Jul 13, 2026 | Materials & Pricing, Quoting & Estimating
Most shops know the feeling: you send a competitive price, then watch the job go to someone else. Often it’s not the number that lost it — it’s what was missing around the number. A quote that only shows price and lead time forces the buyer to compare on...
by Chris Anjel | Jul 13, 2026 | Quoting & Estimating, Shop Operations
Most shops treat prototype quotes and production quotes as separate events. The RFQ comes in, you price the first article, the customer approves, and months later a new request lands for the production run. By then the context is gone, the estimator has moved on, and...
