by Chris Anjel | Aug 26, 2026 | Uncategorized
Most shops can quote a single part in their sleep. A CNC bracket, a sheet metal enclosure, a 3D printed fixture — feed the geometry, pick the material, apply the process logic, and the number falls out. But the moment a customer sends an assembly with sub-assemblies,...
by Chris Anjel | Aug 26, 2026 | Uncategorized
You nailed the primary machining quote. Material, tooling, cycle time — all dialed in. Then the customer asks: “Does that include deburring and the first-article inspection?” You add a quick line item, maybe 15% on top, and hope it covers it. Three weeks...
by Chris Anjel | Aug 26, 2026 | Uncategorized
Heat treatment is one of those line items that quietly erodes margin. A shop quotes the machining or printing cleanly, then realizes the hardening, annealing, or stress relief step wasn’t priced right — or worse, wasn’t quoted at all. For digital...
by Chris Anjel | Aug 26, 2026 | Uncategorized
Most digital manufacturers know the problem: a new RFQ lands in the inbox, and the clock starts ticking. By the time the estimator gathers material costs, calculates machine time, factors in post-processing, and gets approval, the customer has already moved on....
by Chris Anjel | Aug 26, 2026 | Uncategorized
Every RFQ that lands in your inbox carries signal — not just about the part in front of you, but about your market, your processes, and your pricing blind spots. Most digital manufacturers log the outcome (won, lost, no response) and move on. The shops that scale...
by Chris Anjel | Aug 26, 2026 | Uncategorized
You know the drill: a customer sends an RFQ, you open a spreadsheet, hunt for the last similar job, tweak a few numbers, and hit send. It works — until it doesn’t.Maybe the part needs a secondary EDM operation you forgot to price. Or the 3D print requires...
by Chris Anjel | Aug 26, 2026 | Uncategorized
Customer requests to swap materials mid-quote happen constantly in digital manufacturing. A buyer sends an RFQ for aluminum 6061, then asks for 7075 halfway through. Or a 3D printing client switches from PA 12 to a carbon-fiber-filled nylon after seeing the first...
by Chris Anjel | Aug 26, 2026 | Uncategorized
Multi-material builds are becoming standard in digital manufacturing. Whether you’re running a hybrid CNC-print workflow, printing with soluble supports, or combining metal and polymer in a single build, the quoting complexity jumps an order of magnitude. Most...
by Chris Anjel | Aug 26, 2026 | Uncategorized
Every shop has that one operator who knows exactly how to orient a tricky part, which fixture works best, or why the third feature needs a specific toolpath. When they take vacation, quality dips. When they leave, that knowledge leaves with them.For digital...
by Chris Anjel | Jul 16, 2026 | Uncategorized
When a new RFQ lands, the first question is usually “can we make this?” — not “is this designed well for our process?” That distinction matters. Shops that wait until after the quote to flag thin walls, impossible tolerances, or unsupported...
