QuotedPartAnswers · Updated 2026-10-30
The customer wants my CNC programs and workholding: do I have to give them?
Price one of your own parts: Drop a STEP model or PDF drawing — about 90 seconds, no account.
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By default you don't have to: the programs and workholding you made to produce their part are your work product, unless the PO, a tooling agreement or the quote says the customer pays for them and owns them. If you do agree, price the transfer at what it cost to make plus the profit on the work you're losing. For the example bracket, CAM programming alone is $83.92 of shop time and custom workholding costs $730.00; with a 30% markup and half a year of the part's profit (an assumed $3,200.00 a year), the example transfer fee is $2,658.09.
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What decides ownership
Read the paperwork in this order: the PO and its terms, any master supply or tooling agreement, your quote and your own terms. Look for words such as "tooling," "work product," "customer-owned," "deliverables" and "programs." If the buyer paid a separate line for tooling or workholding and the document says it is theirs, it probably is. If you amortized the workholding into the piece price, you paid for it, and you have a stronger case that it's yours.
Programs are harder to hand over than workholding. G-code is specific to your machine, post-processor, tools and holders, and it may not run on another shop's equipment without changes. A handover of the CAM file is more useful than the G-code, and also gives away more of your method.
Pricing a transfer
Start with what it cost: 53 minutes of programming at the catalog's $95 an hour is $83.92 for this bracket. Workholding takes 6 hours of machining at $85 plus $220 of material, or $730.00. Add the 30% markup you would put on any job: $1,058.09.
Then price what you lose. The buyer is probably taking the work to another shop, which means you lose its future profit. If the part earned $3,200.00 a year and you ask for half a year of it, that's $1,600.00. The total is $2,658.09. The number for lost work is a negotiation, not a formula: a customer who commits to a final order or a longer schedule will get a lower number.
| Line | Basis | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| CAM programming | 53 min at $95/h | $83.92 |
| Custom workholding | 6 h at $85/h plus $220 material | $730.00 |
| Markup on the above | 30% | $244.17 |
| Work you lose | 50% of an assumed $3,200.00 yearly profit | $1,600.00 |
| Transfer fee | $2,658.09 |
Terms to put in writing
"Programs, CAM files, workholding, gauges and process documentation developed by the seller remain the property of the seller unless a written agreement states otherwise. Where the buyer pays a separate tooling charge, the tooling named on the quote belongs to the buyer and is held by the seller for the buyer's parts only, and will be released on request once the account is current."
Add a sentence for the buyer who pays for workholding: you'll maintain it, store it, insure it as customer property and return it. A tooling charge on the quote avoids the argument; see the tooling and tooling charge template.
If you do give up the files, give them with a short note that they are provided as-is for the stated machine and post, that you don't warrant them on other equipment, and that the buyer will not hold you liable for their use. Then keep a copy.
Sources and limits
Claims are dated where they can change. Product calculations are examples from the stated inputs, not a promise about a customer's quote. Competitor wording is attributed to the source shown.
- Programming and workholding amounts use QuotedPart's US starting catalog rates ($95/h CAM, 53 minutes for this bracket); the workholding hours, material, yearly profit and 50% share are example assumptions. This is not legal advice; ownership turns on your contract.
Questions
Is the program part of the part?
Not unless your contract says so. The buyer buys the parts; the method of making them is yours.
Should I just give them away to keep the customer?
Only if you decide the relationship is worth it. Giving the program with a clear price keeps your options open.
Price one of your own parts
Drop a PDF drawing or a STEP file. QuotedPart reads the print, measures the model and prices it in seconds, on default shop rates you can change.
Your STEP file or PDF drawingDrop a PDF drawing, a STEP file or both
Free. No account, no email. Priced at our default US rates until you set yours.
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