by Chris Anjel | Aug 26, 2026 | Uncategorized
Most quoting workflows are built around one-off RFQs: a customer sends a drawing, you estimate time and material, add margin, and send a price. Recurring batch orders — where the same part ships weekly, monthly, or quarterly — break that model. If you quote every...
by Chris Anjel | Aug 26, 2026 | Uncategorized
Composite parts look simple on paper — fiber, resin, cure. But anyone who has quoted a layup job knows the devil hides in the ply schedule, the bagging consumables, the autoclave cycle, and the tooling amortization. Miss one of those and a healthy margin evaporates...
by Chris Anjel | Aug 26, 2026 | Uncategorized
Most shops still manage quotes through scattered emails, spreadsheets, and PDF attachments. A customer changes a tolerance, another revises a material spec, and a third asks for a rush lead time — all buried in different threads. The estimator chases clarifications,...
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...
by Chris Anjel | Aug 26, 2026 | Uncategorized
Finishing is where margins quietly disappear. A shop nails the machining or printing quote, then adds a flat “finishing fee” based on gut feel. The part comes back from the coater with masking damage, color mismatch, or cure issues — and the shop eats the...
by Chris Anjel | Aug 26, 2026 | Uncategorized
Sheet metal nesting turns a flat sheet into a puzzle — and if your quoting doesn’t account for every piece, margins disappear fast. Unlike CNC milling where you quote per part, nesting means one sheet feeds multiple jobs, multiple parts, and sometimes multiple...
