How to price and quote manufacturing work: 3D printing, CNC, sheet metal and moulding.https://quotometry.com/enhttps://quotometry.com/blog/state-of-instant-quoting-2026/https://quotometry.com/blog/state-of-instant-quoting-2026/Who sells instant quoting to shops in 2026, what it costs, and the four shifts of the year: real slicers, payment in the widget, AI intake, marketplaces in CAD.Tue, 20 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTMarkethttps://quotometry.com/learn/cpq-for-manufacturing/https://quotometry.com/learn/cpq-for-manufacturing/Configure, price, quote: what CPQ software does for manufacturers, where generic CPQ falls short on made-to-print parts, and how it differs from quoting in an ERP.Tue, 20 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTKnowledge basehttps://quotometry.com/learn/quote-win-rate/https://quotometry.com/learn/quote-win-rate/How to calculate quote win rate, the usual reasons a buyer never replies, and the funnel measures that tell you whether you lost on price, speed or something else.Tue, 20 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTKnowledge basehttps://quotometry.com/learn/surface-finish-options/https://quotometry.com/learn/surface-finish-options/As-printed, sanded, bead blasted, dyed, vapour smoothed, painted, anodised and powder coated: what each finish does, which parts it suits, and how it is priced.Tue, 20 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTKnowledge basehttps://quotometry.com/learn/waterjet-vs-laser-vs-plasma/https://quotometry.com/learn/waterjet-vs-laser-vs-plasma/Laser is fastest in thin sheet, plasma is cheapest in thick steel, waterjet cuts almost anything with no heat. How to choose, with a comparison table and a cost example.Tue, 20 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTKnowledge basehttps://quotometry.com/learn/print-farm-pricing/https://quotometry.com/learn/print-farm-pricing/How to work out what a print farm hour really costs: utilisation, failed prints, labour per plate and overhead, with a worked example and tables you can reuse.Mon, 19 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTKnowledge basehttps://quotometry.com/learn/minimum-wall-thickness/https://quotometry.com/learn/minimum-wall-thickness/Typical minimum walls for FDM, resin, SLS, MJF, metal printing, CNC, sheet metal and injection moulding in one table, and why height and material matter too.Fri, 16 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTKnowledge basehttps://quotometry.com/learn/nesting-and-material-utilisation/https://quotometry.com/learn/nesting-and-material-utilisation/Nesting decides how many parts fit on a sheet, and the skeleton left over is material you paid for. Three ways to charge for it, compared with a worked example.Fri, 16 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTKnowledge basehttps://quotometry.com/learn/rfq-process/https://quotometry.com/learn/rfq-process/What a buyer's RFQ should contain, how a supplier triages, clarifies, estimates and submits, and the checks between a quote and an accepted purchase order.Fri, 16 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTKnowledge basehttps://quotometry.com/learn/metal-3d-printing-cost/https://quotometry.com/learn/metal-3d-printing-cost/Metal 3D printing cost explained: laser hours, powder, supports, stress relief, plate removal and finishing, with a worked example for a plate of steel parts.Wed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTKnowledge basehttps://quotometry.com/learn/erp-mes-and-quoting/https://quotometry.com/learn/erp-mes-and-quoting/Quoting owns the price, ERP owns the commercial record, MES owns the shop floor. Where each one stops, what crosses between them, and how actual job data flows back.Tue, 13 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTKnowledge basehttps://quotometry.com/learn/sheet-metal-fabrication-cost/https://quotometry.com/learn/sheet-metal-fabrication-cost/How a sheet metal part is priced, step by step: cutting the flat pattern, press brake set-up and bends, inserts, welding and finishing, with a worked example.Tue, 13 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTKnowledge basehttps://quotometry.com/learn/lead-time-pricing/https://quotometry.com/learn/lead-time-pricing/A rush order costs overtime, expediting and the work it pushes back. How to price rush and economy lead times from capacity, with a worked example of the rush floor.Mon, 12 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTKnowledge basehttps://quotometry.com/learn/stl-vs-step-vs-3mf/https://quotometry.com/learn/stl-vs-step-vs-3mf/Which CAD file to send for a manufacturing quote: what STL, STEP, 3MF, OBJ, DXF and IGES each carry, what they lose, and which one each process needs.Mon, 12 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTKnowledge basehttps://quotometry.com/learn/fdm-vs-sla-vs-sls/https://quotometry.com/learn/fdm-vs-sla-vs-sls/FDM, SLA and SLS compared on tolerance, surface finish, strength, cost, lead time and typical parts, with a simple way to choose the right process for a part.Sat, 10 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTKnowledge basehttps://quotometry.com/learn/laser-cutting-cost/https://quotometry.com/learn/laser-cutting-cost/Laser cutting is priced from cut length, pierce count, material and how much of the sheet a part uses. The method, with a worked example for a steel flange.Fri, 09 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTKnowledge basehttps://quotometry.com/learn/design-for-sheet-metal/https://quotometry.com/learn/design-for-sheet-metal/Sheet metal design rules that stop parts cracking or distorting: bend radii, reliefs, hole-to-edge and hole-to-bend distances, flanges, and a worked flat pattern.Thu, 08 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTKnowledge basehttps://quotometry.com/learn/quantity-pricing-and-batch-discounts/https://quotometry.com/learn/quantity-pricing-and-batch-discounts/Why the unit price falls steeply and then flattens as quantity rises, with a worked price table from 1 to 500 parts and the traps in tiered quantity breaks.Thu, 08 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTKnowledge basehttps://quotometry.com/learn/mjf-vs-sls/https://quotometry.com/learn/mjf-vs-sls/MJF and SLS both make nylon parts from a powder bed. How they differ on cost per part, surface, colour, materials and lead time, and how to choose between them.Wed, 07 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTKnowledge basehttps://quotometry.com/learn/3-axis-vs-5-axis-machining/https://quotometry.com/learn/3-axis-vs-5-axis-machining/A 5-axis machine costs more per hour but can finish a part in one set-up. When that trade pays off, with a worked example that finds the break-even batch size.Tue, 06 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTKnowledge basehttps://quotometry.com/learn/selling-manufacturing-services-online/https://quotometry.com/learn/selling-manufacturing-services-online/The four ways a shop sells custom parts online, who sets the price and owns the customer in each, and what a shop website needs before it can take orders.Tue, 06 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTKnowledge basehttps://quotometry.com/learn/margin-vs-markup/https://quotometry.com/learn/margin-vs-markup/Markup is a share of cost, margin a share of price. The formulas, a conversion table, and the mistakes that quietly cost a manufacturer a few points on every job.Mon, 05 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTKnowledge basehttps://quotometry.com/learn/design-for-cnc-machining/https://quotometry.com/learn/design-for-cnc-machining/Internal radii, pocket depth, thin walls, holes, threads and tolerances: the CNC design rules that decide machining time, and how to apply them to a real part.Sun, 04 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTKnowledge basehttps://quotometry.com/learn/sls-pricing-and-nesting/https://quotometry.com/learn/sls-pricing-and-nesting/How to price SLS parts from the cost of a whole build: build share, nesting efficiency, packing density, powder refresh and the cool-down most quotes forget.Sat, 03 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTKnowledge basehttps://quotometry.com/learn/tolerances-and-cost/https://quotometry.com/learn/tolerances-and-cost/Tight tolerances slow the cut, add inspection and raise scrap. How each tolerance band changes a CNC price, and which dimensions you can safely loosen.Fri, 02 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTKnowledge basehttps://quotometry.com/learn/design-for-3d-printing/https://quotometry.com/learn/design-for-3d-printing/The design rules that decide whether a 3D printed part works and what it costs, with typical limits for FDM, SLA, SLS and MJF in one table.Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTKnowledge basehttps://quotometry.com/learn/overhead-allocation-for-job-shops/https://quotometry.com/learn/overhead-allocation-for-job-shops/Labour-hour, machine-hour and activity-based overhead allocation compared on the same two jobs, plus how under-absorption quietly eats a job shop's profit.Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTKnowledge basehttps://quotometry.com/learn/resin-printing-cost/https://quotometry.com/learn/resin-printing-cost/How to price resin prints: layer-based machine time, resin and supports, wash and cure labour, and the tank and screen wear most quotes leave out.Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTKnowledge basehttps://quotometry.com/learn/cnc-setup-time/https://quotometry.com/learn/cnc-setup-time/Why one CNC part can cost ten times a part from a batch of a hundred: set-up and programming explained, with a unit cost table from 1 to 100 parts.Tue, 29 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTKnowledge basehttps://quotometry.com/learn/choosing-instant-quoting-software/https://quotometry.com/learn/choosing-instant-quoting-software/Fifteen questions to ask before you put an instant quote on your shop's website: processes, accuracy, cost model, testing, embedding, orders, price and lock-in.Tue, 29 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTKnowledge basehttps://quotometry.com/learn/machine-hour-rate/https://quotometry.com/learn/machine-hour-rate/Depreciation, cost of capital, maintenance, floor space, energy and utilisation: build a machine-hour rate step by step, with a worked CNC example and an FDM one.Mon, 28 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTKnowledge basehttps://quotometry.com/learn/3d-printing-vs-injection-molding/https://quotometry.com/learn/3d-printing-vs-injection-molding/Find the quantity where a mould beats printing: a worked break-even with a table, the sensitivity to tool cost and print price, and what besides price should decide.Sun, 27 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTKnowledge basehttps://quotometry.com/learn/fdm-print-time-estimation/https://quotometry.com/learn/fdm-print-time-estimation/Two FDM parts with the same volume can take very different times to print. What really sets print time: perimeters, infill, layers, acceleration and travel.Sat, 26 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTKnowledge basehttps://quotometry.com/learn/cnc-milling-vs-turning/https://quotometry.com/learn/cnc-milling-vs-turning/Milling moves a spinning cutter over a fixed part; turning spins the part against a fixed tool. How to tell which one a part needs, and what it does to the price.Fri, 25 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTKnowledge basehttps://quotometry.com/learn/vacuum-casting-vs-injection-molding/https://quotometry.com/learn/vacuum-casting-vs-injection-molding/Silicone moulds or a hard tool? How vacuum casting and injection moulding compare on cost, lead time and quality for tens to hundreds of parts, with a worked break-even.Thu, 24 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTKnowledge basehttps://quotometry.com/learn/what-is-instant-quoting/https://quotometry.com/learn/what-is-instant-quoting/Instant quoting prices a part from its file in seconds using the shop's own rates. How it works, where it fits, and the jobs that still need an estimator.Thu, 24 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTKnowledge basehttps://quotometry.com/learn/3d-printing-cost-calculation/https://quotometry.com/learn/3d-printing-cost-calculation/A 3D printing cost is six lines: material, machine time, labour, post-processing, failures and overhead. How to work out each one, with FDM and SLS examples.Tue, 22 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTKnowledge basehttps://quotometry.com/learn/cnc-machining-cost/https://quotometry.com/learn/cnc-machining-cost/Stock, set-ups, programming, cycle time, tooling, tolerances and finishing: how a CNC estimate is built, with a worked example for one part at two batch sizes.Tue, 22 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTKnowledge basehttps://quotometry.com/learn/starting-a-3d-printing-business/https://quotometry.com/learn/starting-a-3d-printing-business/What to buy first, how to set prices that cover the machine and your time, where the first orders come from, and what the first year of a print service looks like.Tue, 22 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTKnowledge basehttps://quotometry.com/learn/injection-molding-cost/https://quotometry.com/learn/injection-molding-cost/How an injection moulded part is priced: the tool, the cycle, the resin and the setup, with a worked example of tool amortisation across four batch sizes.Sun, 20 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTKnowledge basehttps://quotometry.com/learn/how-to-quote-manufacturing-parts/https://quotometry.com/learn/how-to-quote-manufacturing-parts/Material, set-up, machine time, labour, overhead, risk and margin, in the order an estimator builds them, with a full worked example for a batch of 20.Sun, 20 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTKnowledge basehttps://quotometry.com/blog/ai-in-manufacturing-quoting/https://quotometry.com/blog/ai-in-manufacturing-quoting/AI that reads RFQ e-mails and drawings is real and useful. AI that invents a price without your costs is not. Where the line sits, with the products that cross it.Tue, 15 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTTechnologyhttps://quotometry.com/blog/marketplaces-vs-your-own-website/https://quotometry.com/blog/marketplaces-vs-your-own-website/Xometry, Protolabs Network and Craftcloud bring buyers, set the price and keep the customer. When a marketplace is worth it, and why your own quote should come first.Tue, 18 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTSaleshttps://quotometry.com/blog/the-cost-of-a-slow-quote/https://quotometry.com/blog/the-cost-of-a-slow-quote/A quote that arrives after the buyer has decided is never compared. How to put a number on slow quoting with your own data, and what to change first.Tue, 14 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTSaleshttps://quotometry.com/blog/what-your-machine-hour-rate-should-include/https://quotometry.com/blog/what-your-machine-hour-rate-should-include/Most shops set a machine rate by feel and are surprised by the answer when they compute one. Here is the calculation.Wed, 03 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTPricinghttps://quotometry.com/blog/resin-printing-is-a-labour-business/https://quotometry.com/blog/resin-printing-is-a-labour-business/The machine time is cheap and predictable. The washing, curing and de-supporting is neither - and that is where resin quotes go wrong.Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTPricinghttps://quotometry.com/blog/calibrating-a-pricing-model/https://quotometry.com/blog/calibrating-a-pricing-model/Nobody knows your printer's travel behaviour - including us. So do not hard-code it: fit it, from jobs you have already run.Wed, 06 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTPricinghttps://quotometry.com/blog/how-file-units-cost-you-money/https://quotometry.com/blog/how-file-units-cost-you-money/A part that arrives 25.4 times too small quotes at roughly 1/16000th of the material. Here is how to stop that reaching a customer.Wed, 22 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTFileshttps://quotometry.com/blog/the-hidden-cost-of-quoting-by-email/https://quotometry.com/blog/the-hidden-cost-of-quoting-by-email/The quotes you do not win leave no trace, which is why the cost of manual quoting is invisible until you measure it.Wed, 08 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTOperationshttps://quotometry.com/blog/why-minimum-order-values-are-arithmetic/https://quotometry.com/blog/why-minimum-order-values-are-arithmetic/The eleven-minute print that loses you money, and the three different floors that stop it.Wed, 18 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTPricinghttps://quotometry.com/blog/what-an-instant-quote-should-include/https://quotometry.com/blog/what-an-instant-quote-should-include/A number is not a quote. Here is what a buyer needs to see before they can say yes, and what they must never see.Wed, 04 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTQuotinghttps://quotometry.com/blog/sls-build-share-pricing-explained/https://quotometry.com/blog/sls-build-share-pricing-explained/A powder part does not cost what it weighs. It costs a share of a build - and getting that share right is the single biggest lever in powder quoting.Tue, 17 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTPricinghttps://quotometry.com/blog/how-to-price-fdm-prints/https://quotometry.com/blog/how-to-price-fdm-prints/Machine time and filament sound simple until you try to compute them. Here is what actually drives an FDM price, in the order it matters.Tue, 03 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTPricing