by Chris Anjel | Jul 13, 2026 | Materials & Pricing, Quoting & Estimating
A single decimal place on a drawing can double the cost of a part. Tolerance callouts are one of the quietest margin killers in digital manufacturing — easy to skim past during quoting, brutally expensive once the job hits the floor. Here are the questions shops ask...
by Chris Anjel | Jul 13, 2026 | Materials & Pricing, Quoting & Estimating
Every shop has taken a job that felt too small to bother with — a single bracket, one turned part, a handful of laser-cut blanks. On paper it looked like easy money. In reality, the setup, handling, and admin ate every cent of margin. A well-chosen minimum order value...
by Chris Anjel | Jul 13, 2026 | Materials & Pricing, Quoting & Estimating
A drawing package is where most quotes are won, lost, or quietly turned into a loss. Miss a tolerance callout, overlook a GD&T frame, or skim past a finish spec, and the number you send won’t survive contact with the shop floor. But slowing down to read...
by Chris Anjel | Jul 13, 2026 | Materials & Pricing, Quoting & Estimating
Low-volume, high-mix (LVHM) work is where a lot of shops quietly lose money. The parts are interesting, the customers keep coming back, and the invoices look fine — but the margins don’t hold up because the real costs hide in setup, changeover, and one-off...
by Chris Anjel | Jul 13, 2026 | Materials & Pricing, Quoting & Estimating
Every RFQ feels like an opportunity. But quoting takes time, and time spent estimating a job you’ll never win — or shouldn’t want — is time stolen from work that pays. The best shops don’t quote everything. They qualify first.Here are the questions...
