Should a machine shop charge for quotes on complex RFQs?

Example: a package needing a feasibility decision

Assume a buyer sends 40 line items for a small workholding assembly, including milled plates, turned locators and purchased hardware. Several drawings lack finished dimensions and the buyer wants a routing comparison before releasing the design. Instead of promising a firm price for all lines, offer a study covering ten representative manufactured parts, the supplied bill of materials and a consolidated list of questions.

Allow one hour for package triage, two hours for representative routings, one hour to obtain outside-process budget inputs and one hour for a written review with the buyer. Five hours at a $150 selling rate gives a $750 fee. Assume the shop's burdened engineering cost is $90 per hour: delivering the study costs $450 and leaves $300 before any other unallocated expense. The rates and workload are example assumptions, not claims about common fees.

Distinguish a sales estimate from a purchased deliverable

Reading a clear drawing, checking material and sending your part price usually produces something the shop needs to make a sale. A manufacturability report, reconstructed specification or comparison of several production routes can have separate value to the buyer. Define that value explicitly instead of charging the buyer because your internal spreadsheet is slow.

A large package alone does not prove that a fee is sensible. You might quote only the families that fit your equipment, ask for the buyer's shortlist, or supply a budget range pending missing information. Those options can preserve estimating capacity without selling an engineering service the buyer never requested. Track your own hours and conversion results before making a blanket policy.

Make any order credit affordable

Suppose the resulting production order is $15,000 and its separate manufacturing cost is $12,000. Without a credit, the combined study and production leave $15,750 − $12,450 = $3,300. A full $750 production credit reduces combined revenue to $15,000 and combined profit to $2,550. The engineering work still cost $450 even after its invoice was credited.

A smaller $375 credit would leave $2,925 combined profit. Choose the amount deliberately and define the qualifying order, deadline and minimum value. Avoid an unlimited credit against a tiny prototype order or a promise that follows unrelated future orders forever. Your cost model should show the net transaction, so sales does not celebrate a margin that the credit later removes.

Offer the scope in a form the buyer can approve

Example proposal: ‘We can provide a $750 feasibility review covering ten representative parts from package FA-8 revision C, a routing comparison and one consolidated question list. Includes one review meeting; excludes released design files, machine programs and firm pricing for unresolved drawings. Fee is due before the review starts. A $375 credit applies to one production PO of at least $15,000 for this package received within 60 days.’ The dollar and date thresholds are illustrative policy choices.

Start with the buyer's objective and ask whether the study answers it. If they only need a competitive manufacturing price, narrow the quotation scope or decline the unresolved lines. If they purchase the review, record the package revision, deliverable and time limit, then get written approval for extra work before exceeding them.

• Triage a large RFQ package
• Price requested design assistance