DEMO — fictional range. Local brief only, NOT SENT. No personal data is collected or transmitted.
BUYING
What a quotation needs in order to be a quotation.
Most machining enquiries stall because the buyer has a part in mind and no specification on paper. This is the list worth completing before the first message.
- The part
- A drawing, or at least the features that decide it
- The thread class
- Not just the nominal size
- The material
- Grade and condition, not "steel"
- The finish
- And whether the thread is gauged before or after it
- The quantity and the split
- Because setup cost is divided by the batch
- The run
- One batch or several, and how far apart
- The inspection
- What is measured, how many, and against what
- The route
- Where it goes and what it has to survive on the way
Why a photograph is not a specification.
A photograph sets a direction. A specification gets a quote. The gap between them is every dimension that was never written down.
The most useful sentence in an enquiry.
"These are bought in batches of five hundred, and the pieces have to work together across batches." It tells the supplier that the run matters, and it is the sentence most enquiries leave out.
Why written beats verbal.
The expensive conversations in a programme are the ones about what was agreed. A brief that exists only in a meeting leaves every disputed detail open.