We decline the work our equipment is wrong for
A shop that quotes everything wins jobs it should not have taken, and the customer discovers that at first article. We tell you when a part does not suit our capability, and which type of shop it does suit.
A shop that quotes everything is telling you nothing
A buyer sends a drawing to five shops. All five quote. The buyer reasonably assumes all five can make the part, and chooses on price and lead time.
Some of those quotes are optimistic. A shop slightly outside its comfortable tolerance range, or without the right workholding, or lacking experience with the material, will still quote, because declining a quote is declining a customer relationship.
The gap shows up at first article. Dimensions out of tolerance, surface finish that will not hold, or a lead time that slips because the job needed an operation nobody had accounted for.
We quote only what we genuinely suit. Where a part sits outside our capability, we say so and describe the kind of shop that should have it, whether or not we know one to recommend.
Declining a quote feels like declining a customer. So shops quote work they should not take, and the buyer finds out at first article.
Published honestly, including the limits
Our equipment list, working envelopes, and the tolerances we hold reliably in production are stated plainly rather than described as unlimited.
Tolerances we can achieve on a good day and tolerances we can hold across a production run are different numbers, and we publish the second.
Quoted against actual loading
A lead time is quoted against the work already on the floor, not against an empty schedule. Where we are loaded, we say so and give a realistic date.
We would rather lose an order on lead time than win it and miss the date.
What we make
CNC Machining
Milling and turning of production parts in steel, stainless, and aluminium, to tolerances we hold across a run.
Fabrication and Welding
Sheet and structural fabrication with certified welding procedures and documented material traceability.
Assembly
Sub-assembly and finished assembly work, including customer-supplied component integration.
Prototype and Low Volume
First-off and short-run work, quoted honestly for what a small quantity actually costs to set up.
Production Runs
Repeat production with fixed tooling, scheduled against committed dates rather than estimated ones.
Inspection and Reporting
Dimensional inspection with reports supplied as standard, including the measurements that sat near the limit.
What this costs us
We turn down quotable work. Every part we decline is revenue another shop takes, and some of those customers do not come back with the next job either.
Our lead times read worse. Quoting against actual floor loading produces longer dates than quoting against an imaginary empty schedule, and buyers compare on the number.
We publish tolerances conservatively. Stating what we hold in production rather than what we can achieve once makes our capability sheet look narrower than competitors’.
They declined a part and told us it needed a grinding operation and a shop set up for it. They were right, and we have sent them everything else since.Purchasing Manager · Hydraulics manufacturer
Their lead time was three weeks longer than the others. They hit it. The others did not.Supply Chain Lead · Equipment builder