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 | Materials & Pricing, Quoting & Estimating
Every shop has sent a quote with the wrong material, a missed secondary operation, or a setup time that doesn’t match reality. Those errors cost money — sometimes the job, sometimes the margin, sometimes both.For digital manufacturers running high-mix,...
by Chris Anjel | Jul 13, 2026 | Materials & Pricing, Quoting & Estimating
Every digital manufacturer knows the feeling: an RFQ lands with “ASAP” in the subject line. The part is straightforward, the material is in stock, and the machine has an opening tomorrow. It’s tempting to say yes just to keep the customer happy and...
by Chris Anjel | Jul 13, 2026 | Materials & Pricing, Quoting & Estimating
Most shop owners start out quoting every job themselves. It makes sense early on: you know the machines, the materials, and the margins better than anyone. But as volume grows, that habit becomes a bottleneck. You end up quoting at 9 p.m., rushing through RFQs between...
