by Chris Anjel | Jul 16, 2026 | Uncategorized
Most shops can quote a CNC-machined aluminum bracket in their sleep. But when the RFQ arrives for an assembly — machined housing, sheet metal brackets, 3D printed jigs, pressed inserts, and a coating spec — the spreadsheet grows legs and walks away. The risk...
by Chris Anjel | Jul 16, 2026 | Uncategorized
Your phone rings. A potential customer needs a quote by end of day for a part they haven’t designed yet. They describe the function, rough dimensions, material preference, and a few critical tolerances. No CAD file. No 2D drawing. Just a conversation and a...
by Chris Anjel | Jul 16, 2026 | Uncategorized
Walk into almost any digital manufacturing shop and you’ll find two quoting workflows. Production parts — repeat orders, known materials, stable processes — flow through a structured system. One-offs and prototypes? Those land in a spreadsheet, a whiteboard, or...
by Chris Anjel | Jul 16, 2026 | Uncategorized
Every estimator knows the moment: you’re halfway through a detailed quote when the customer emails back — actually, make it 250 units instead of 50. Or they need a price break at three different volumes by tomorrow morning. The RFQ hasn’t even been...
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
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 | 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 | 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...
by Chris Anjel | Jul 13, 2026 | Capacity & Growth, Quoting & Estimating
You just closed a week where the RFQ queue never seemed to empty. Estimators worked late, spreadsheets multiplied, and the inbox kept pinging. Now the dust is settling. Most shops exhale and move on. The smart ones pause and ask: what did that chaos just tell us about...
