by Chris Anjel | Aug 26, 2026 | Uncategorized
Customer-supplied material jobs sound like easy margin — no material cost, no procurement lead time, no inventory risk. But experienced estimators know these jobs often hide the highest risk per hour of shop time. When the material shows up wrong, damaged, or...
by Chris Anjel | Aug 26, 2026 | Uncategorized
You spent time on the RFQ. You checked material availability, programmed toolpaths, factored in post-processing, and sent a detailed quote. Then… nothing. No reply, no questions, no order. Just silence.It happens to every shop. But if it’s happening often,...
by Chris Anjel | Aug 26, 2026 | Uncategorized
You track part revisions religiously. Every drawing, every CAD file, every BOM has a revision letter or number. But when a customer asks for a quote update, do you version the quote the same way?Most shops don’t. They overwrite the old quote, email a new PDF,...
by Chris Anjel | Aug 26, 2026 | Uncategorized
Every shop gets them: the RFQ with a STEP file but no drawing, a PDF with critical dimensions but no tolerances, or a napkin sketch with “make it strong” as the only spec. You could wait for clarification and risk losing the job. You could guess and risk...
by Chris Anjel | Aug 26, 2026 | Uncategorized
Most shops know how to price machine time and material. Far fewer have a repeatable way to quote inspection — especially First Article Inspection (FAI) — so it often ends up as a flat fee, a guess, or a line item buried in overhead. The result: you either lose money...
by Chris Anjel | Aug 26, 2026 | Uncategorized
Most shops know the feeling: a quote goes out for a seemingly straightforward CNC or sheet metal part, but once the job hits the floor, fixturing eats half a day. Custom soft jaws, vacuum tables, modular clamps, or welded fixtures — they all take design time,...
by Chris Anjel | Aug 26, 2026 | Uncategorized
You quoted five days. The anodizer took twelve. Your customer is angry, your shop looks unreliable, and the margin you fought for just evaporated in expedite fees and overtime.Outsourced finishing — anodizing, plating, powder coating, passivation, heat treatment — is...
by Chris Anjel | Aug 26, 2026 | Uncategorized
Statistical process control (SPC) requirements show up in RFQs more often as customers tighten quality expectations. For digital manufacturers — especially CNC shops and 3D printing service bureaus — these requirements add real cost that’s easy to underestimate....
by Chris Anjel | Aug 26, 2026 | Uncategorized
Most shops can quote a single-material CNC part or a standard 3D print in their sleep. But when a customer sends an RFQ for a part that combines metal inserts with overmolded plastic, or a sheet metal enclosure with bonded composite panels, the quoting template breaks...
by Chris Anjel | Aug 26, 2026 | Uncategorized
When a customer sends an RFQ for a part that needs anodizing on the exterior, chromate conversion on the interior, and a dry-film lubricant on the threads, most estimators feel a knot tighten in their stomach. Each finish has its own prep, masking, cure time, and...
