As a mechanical engineer, I have designed parts that need to be CNC machined for my client’s projects. There is always a question from my clients about the cost of CNC machining the parts.
Usually, there are two main options to get a quote for custom CNC machined parts, and I have tried them both in the past.
(A)
The first and oldest method is emailing vendors. Many engineers attach 3D files and 2D drawings along with a spreadsheet with information such as materials, quantities, surface finishes, etc. for each CNC machined part in their RFQ to their email. Companies either have an established relationship with their vendors for a long time, and they already know which email address files should go for getting a quote. Otherwise, engineers need to lookup local machine shops or websites like Alibaba (if they want to get their parts from Asian manufacturers at a lower cost).
There are disadvantages to taking this route as well. For example, sending an email back and forth for RFQs to vendors is not practical in a resource-critical project. Also, for some machine shops, it will sometimes take a few days to prepare the quote. Moreover, some designers are interested in looking for a manufacturer for lower costs on the Asian CNC machining market. Since the Asian manufacturing market is unknown territory for many engineers, their companies try to avoid communicating directly with Asian machine shops.
(B)
Thanks to technology, a handful of websites have addressed some of the issues in the method (A). An engineer can upload their 3D files on their platform and enjoy the user-friendly interface on some of these websites to get an instant quote. Also, they can pay for their orders on the same platform, and these companies will take care of CNC machining of the parts using their network of qualified manufacturers. With the help of machine shops locally or in China, they can get the parts CNC machined in the timeframe and to the price they had quoted to the customers.
With the same token, some disadvantages count against this method. Engineers don’t see the manufacturers, and manufacturers have to communicate with customers over the wall of these websites via their customer service agents. The customer service agent usually is not well aware of design intents in the CNC machined parts. Not being able to communicate directly with the designer of the machined part could result in delays and also miscommunication, which may lead to a faulty CNC part. More importantly, in this business model, a customer doesn’t know how much service fees third party websites add on top of machine shop pricing. For instance, I had quotes up to four times more expensive than a direct manufacturer from third party websites.
Can a designer benefit from the advantages of (A) and (B)?
The question I asked myself before working on partZpro as a new service was how could I make the manufacturing of custom parts work as an open-source project. Customers have the right to know who manufactures their components and how much the service provider adds for their service fees. My main goal was to reduce the manufacturing costs for CNC machining. We also provide services for 3D printing, injection molding, and sheet metal fabrication.
Furthermore, customers will directly work with CNC machine shops with the help of our automated platform. partZpro and PayPal protect the payment of the customers until they get their quality parts.
Conclusion
Some customer’s 3D models don’t change a lot during the design-production process. While they have an established relationship with their manufacturers, so option (A) might be still suitable.
In case a company has a large budget to spend, the method (B) can be a viable option. In this case, the customer doesn’t pay attention to how much service fees the third party adds for manufacturing custom CNC machined parts.
Lastly, partZpro is a new instant quoting service directly from its manufacturer’s dashboards for custom CNC machining. It enables designers to get their competitive quotes using tech-led solutions.