What an NDA covers on a titanium machining RFQ
Most buyers with a custom titanium drawing want an NDA in place before the file leaves their hands. Fewer are sure what the document actually does. This covers the practical side: what a standard mutual NDA covers on a machining RFQ, what it leaves out and what happens to the drawing before anyone signs.
What a standard mutual NDA covers
A mutual NDA on a machining RFQ normally does three things. It defines what counts as confidential information: your drawings, models, specifications, quantities and any notes about the end use. It restricts the receiving shop to using that information only to quote and make your part. And it sets a period during which those obligations hold, plus a duty to return or destroy the files when asked.
Those obligations bind the party that signs. They do not travel with the drawing to anyone else, which is why the number of shops that ever see the file matters as much as the wording.
What it does not cover
An NDA does not stop a shop from quoting or making a similar part for another customer, as long as it does not use your confidential information to do so. It does not cover information that is already public, that the shop already held, or that it develops independently. Standard forms say all of this in a short exclusions clause.
If your worry is a specific feature copied by a specific competitor, an NDA is a weak tool on its own. The stronger protection is limiting the number of hands the drawing passes through in the first place.
When to ask for one
For a custom drawing with a design you would not want circulated, ask for an NDA. For a part built to a public standard, such as a common fastener or a catalogue fitting, a short confidentiality statement is usually enough and saves a few days.
What happens to the file before it is signed
If your drawing is under NDA, do not upload it with the RFQ. Describe the part, send your NDA or a link to the file, and we sign first. On our side, the drawing is seen by the engineer on your order and, if you order, by the one shop that machines the part, a shop audited against the shop audit standard that has accepted confidentiality in writing with us. You never deal with that shop and it never sees your name. How it works sets out the full sequence.
How long the term should run
There is no single correct term. For a prototype, two to three years is common, since the design is likely to be superseded by then. For a production part made for many years, buyers often ask for a longer term, or for confidentiality that lasts as long as the information stays secret. Shops usually accept a reasonable term. An indefinite term on everything, including ordinary quoting information, is the clause most likely to slow a signature.
An NDA is not an export-control determination
If your part might fall under ITAR, EAR or another export-control regime, that is a classification you or your compliance team must make before the RFQ goes anywhere. An NDA does not classify a part, and it does not make it lawful to send controlled technical data to a party that is not authorised to receive it. If you are unsure, say so on the RFQ and resolve it first.
Practical steps before you sign
- Read the definition of confidential information and check it names drawings, models and quantities.
- Check who else at the shop may see the file, and whether it may go to subcontractors.
- Confirm what happens to the files if no order follows.
- Ask for the return or destruction clause in writing.
These four points settle most of what an NDA is for. The rest is standard language found in non-disclosure agreements generally. Once it is signed, what to include in a confidential titanium RFQ package covers the file itself, and why shopping a drawing to many shops can backfire covers the wider exposure an NDA cannot fix. The NDA is one step of the wider supplier choice covered in our guide to the exotic alloy machining supplier.
The NDA box on our quote form is ticked by default: we send the NDA first and quote after it is returned.