by Chris Anjel | Aug 26, 2026 | Uncategorized
If you run a CNC shop, 3D printing service bureau, or sheet metal operation, you know the drill: the customer sees a 45-minute cycle time and wonders why the quote shows four hours of labor. The difference, of course, is setup and changeover — the hidden time that...
by Chris Anjel | Aug 26, 2026 | Uncategorized
You get an RFQ for a bracket. Then another for the same bracket, 15% larger, with two extra mounting holes. Then a third with a different cutout pattern. Same base geometry, same material, same machine — but each quote starts from zero.Parametric part families are...
by Chris Anjel | Aug 26, 2026 | Uncategorized
Most shops have a good handle on machine time. They know their hourly rates, their cycle times, and how to amortize equipment costs across a build. What trips them up is everything that happens after the part comes off the machine.Support removal, heat treatment,...
by Chris Anjel | Aug 26, 2026 | Uncategorized
Most shops can quote a single process — CNC milling, laser cutting, or an SLS build — with confidence. The trouble starts when a part needs two, three, or four different operations before it ships. A bracket that gets printed, then machined for tolerance, then...
by Chris Anjel | Aug 26, 2026 | Uncategorized
Multi-material 3D printing opens new design possibilities — dissolvable supports, color changes, functional gradients — but it also introduces quoting variables that single-material workflows don’t have. If you’re still applying a flat markup to these...
