by Chris Anjel | Aug 26, 2026 | Uncategorized
Quoting the print is the easy part. Most shops have dialed in their machine hour rates, material markup, and build-plate nesting logic. But the work that happens after the part leaves the printer — support removal, media blasting, vapor smoothing, heat treatment,...
by Chris Anjel | Aug 26, 2026 | Uncategorized
Heat treatment and finishing are where quotes quietly lose money. They’re often treated as afterthoughts — a single line item with a flat markup — but they carry distinct cost drivers: furnace time, fixturing, masking, racking, inspection, and shipping. If...
by Chris Anjel | Aug 26, 2026 | Uncategorized
Most quoting workflows rely on what the CAD model shows at first glance: outer dimensions, apparent wall thickness, and visible features. But the geometry that hurts margins most often hides inside the part — internal lattices, conformal cooling channels, undercuts...
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
Quoting a multi-cavity mold job isn’t just scaling up a single-cavity estimate. The tooling cost, cycle time, and per-part economics shift in ways that can make or lose money on the program. Shops that treat multi-cavity like a simple multiplier often underprice...
