Ano
Article · Sourcing
What to Include in an Anodizing Request for Quote
The print, the process, the count and the date. Add the alloy and any features that must stay bare, and a finisher can quote accurately instead of quoting defensively.
The Four Essentials
The print, or a clear description. A PDF, a STEP file or a marked-up drawing all work. Without geometry a finisher is guessing at surface area and rack space, which are the primary cost drivers.
Which process. Type II, Hard Coat, Chem Film, color. If you are not sure, say so and send the print anyway; reading a callout with a customer is normal work.
How many parts, and whether it repeats. Setup spreads across quantity, and a standing order is quoted differently from a one-off.
The date you need them back. Optional, and the one most worth including, because it turns a price into a commitment.
The Two That Prevent Arguments
The alloy. It costs you one line and it determines what a finisher can honestly promise on appearance. High-copper and high-silicon alloys finish differently, and everybody would rather know on the quote than at delivery.
Features that must stay bare. Threads, precision bores, sealing faces, ground pads. This is also the largest single cost variable, so a quote that does not account for your masking is not cheaper, it is incomplete.
A Request That Gets a Same-Day Cost
Here is the shape of one that works. "Attached is the print for part 4471-B, 6061-T6, 240 pieces, repeating roughly quarterly. Needs Type II Class 2 black per MIL-A-8625. The four tapped holes and the 0.500 bore must stay bare. We need them back by the 14th."
That is four sentences and it contains everything: geometry, material, quantity, whether it repeats, the process and class, the color, the masking, and the date. Nothing in it is technical writing; it is just the information somebody needs in order to do the job.
What it avoids is the round trip. A request missing the color, the masking or the count comes back as a question first, and that question costs a day you may have needed.
How to Compare the Quotes You Get Back
Check everybody quoted the same job. The most common source of a suspiciously low cost is a shop that missed the masking, or quoted Type II against a drawing calling for Hard Coat.
Then check the date, and check whether the shop committed to it or merely mentioned it. What drives the cost in the first place is covered in what actually drives the cost.
Common Questions
Do I Need a Drawing to Get a Quote?
A drawing is best, but a clear description with dimensions and photographs will usually get you a working cost. What a finisher needs is enough to judge surface area, geometry and what has to be protected.
What if I Do Not Know Which Process My Part Needs?
Send the print and say so. That conversation is a normal part of the day here, and it is a better use of ten minutes than either of us guessing.
How Quickly Will I Get a Quote?
With the four essentials, generally the same working day by email. Missing information usually means one email back and forth first, which costs a day.
Can I Send a Purchase Order Instead of a Request for Quote?
You can, and plenty of repeat customers do once pricing is established. On a first order a quote protects both sides, because it puts the process, the masking and the date in writing before parts move.
Should I Send Parts Before Getting a Quote?
No. Get the quote and the date agreed first. Then parts come to us on your truck or ours if you are inside our 100 mile radius.
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Have a Part That Needs Finishing?
Send the print and the count. Standard turnaround is 3 to 5 days from our dock in Paoli, Indiana.