The RFQ package that gets quoted this week
A machine shop that cuts titanium and Inconel is not short of work. When an RFQ lands, someone spends about ninety seconds deciding whether to quote it now, later, or not at all — because quoting a nickel alloy part properly takes an engineer two to four hours. This is what gets checked in those ninety seconds.
Compiled by Ryan, founder
- 01
A 3D model, not only a PDF
Do. STEP (AP214 or AP242) plus the dimensioned PDF. IGES, Parasolid or native CAD also work. Zip them together.
If you leave it out. Without a model someone rebuilds your geometry before they can estimate a cycle time. That alone can add a week.
- 02
Material by grade, standard and condition
Do. Name all three. The condition changes the process route, the tooling and sometimes half the price.
If you leave it out. Estimators guess. One quotes solution-treated bar, one quotes aged, and the two quotes are not comparable.
Ti-6Al-4V, annealed, per AMS 4928
- 03
A general tolerance, then only what matters
Do. Call out ISO 2768-m or -f as the general tolerance, then tighten only the features that mate, seal or locate.
If you leave it out. A blanket tight callout is the single most expensive line most buyers write without meaning to. On titanium it can add a whole finishing operation per face.
General ISO 2768-m. Bore Ø40 H7. Face A flat 0.02 in free state.
- 04
Quantity now, and per year
Do. State this order and the expected annual volume. "Do not know yet" is a legitimate answer and better than silence.
If you leave it out. One-off, 50 pieces and 500 per year are three different manufacturing problems with three different unit prices.
- 05
Surface finish by surface
Do. A coarse general finish, with fine finishes marked only on the faces that need them.
If you leave it out. A global Ra 0.8 µm applies a fine finish to the back, the sides and every face nobody touches.
General Ra 3.2. Sealing faces Ra 0.8, circumferential lay.
- 06
Heat treatment and coating, with the sequence
Do. Say what, to what specification, who supplies it, and where in the process it happens.
If you leave it out. Machine-then-treat and treat-then-machine are different quotes, and precipitation hardening moves the part 0.1–0.3 %.
Harden and temper to 52–56 HRC after rough machining; finish grind features marked G.
- 07
Inspection and documentation level
Do. Decide before the quote: certificate of conformance, EN 10204 3.1 mill cert, heat-lot traceability, dimensional report scope, AS9102 FAI.
If you leave it out. This is where exotic alloy quotes quietly double. A part with sixty dimensions inspected 100 % is an inspection job with some machining attached.
EN 10204 3.1 required, heat lot traceable to parts. CMM report on characteristics marked CTQ only.
- 08
A date, stated as a date
Do. Give the date you need parts, not "ASAP".
If you leave it out. A date lets a supplier tell you whether the constraint is machine capacity or material availability — and those have completely different fixes. Mill lead times of eight to twenty weeks are normal on unusual sections.
- 09
Incoterm and destination
Do. Say which Incoterm you want quoted and where the parts ship. Name your forwarder if you have one.
If you leave it out. EXW and DDP are different numbers, and freight on a dense nickel part is not trivial.
- 10
What the part actually does
Do. Two lines on function, load and environment. Optional, and the highest-value optional thing in the package.
If you leave it out. Without it nobody can tell you that a cheaper alloy would survive your application, or that one callout is driving a third of the price for no functional gain.
A block you can paste into your own RFQ
Fill the brackets and attach the model. Fifteen minutes on this routinely takes a week off the quote, and removes the two or three rounds of clarification that otherwise eat the same week anyway.
Material: [grade, standard, condition]
Quantity: [this order] / [per year]
General tolerance: ISO 2768-m
Tight features: [list only what mates, seals or locates]
Surface finish: General Ra [x]; [face] Ra [y]
Heat treatment: [spec, and where in the sequence]
Inspection: [CoC / EN 10204 3.1 / traceability / FAI]
Required date: [date, not "ASAP"]
Incoterm: [EXW / FOB / CIF / DDP] to [destination]
Function: [two lines on load and environment]
Attached: STEP + dimensioned PDFWhy each item is on the list
- Why your hard-material RFQ sits unquoted — the long version of this checklist
- Why the same drawing comes back at three different prices — what ambiguity costs
- Mill certs, heat lots and FAI — choosing item 7 deliberately
- Hard-to-machine alloys, side by side — choosing the material in item 2
Send a packaged RFQ and you get one reply within 24 business hours, including anything still missing.