Quote comparison desk
This page is the buyer workflow when a startup is bridging 200 pieces before steel. It is not a factory catalog, and it does not reserve a press slot or invent a shot-life number the plant has not written.
Send the comparable brief Open inquiry namesThe sequence is a review method, not a company founding story. Dated checkpoints are examples a buyer can copy into the packet, not a claim that this desk has operated since a named year.
Write the drawing revision, resin grade, color, and whether the first tool may be a 3D-printed insert, aluminum, P20, or hardened steel. Record wall thickness, draft angle, and gate preference. A printed insert and an aluminum cavity do not share the same shrink map or heat budget at 200 shots.
Tooling NRE, printed-insert reprints, texture, T0/T1/T2 shots, packing, freight and inspection stay in separate columns. The 200-piece lot, later EAU, and the steel-later trigger belong in the same packet so a second insert is not billed as if it were already priced.
State whether FAI, CMM, CoC, material certificate, or PPAP sit inside the quote. Keep ISO 9001, IATF 16949, ISO 13485 and ITAR as supplier evidence, not as this desk's assets. Unconfirmed lead time stays marked open.
Currency, Incoterm, packing, destination, duties, and a second-insert reprint must share one basis. The cheapest printed-tool NRE can become the expensive path if 200 pieces need two inserts. This desk does not publish a savings percentage.
Each bidder identifies assumptions, exclusions, tooling or insert-reprint charges, inspection scope, packaging, freight basis, quotation validity, and the shot-count limit written on the quote. Unconfirmed capacity, resin dry-time, and texture lead time stay marked as open until the selected factory returns evidence.
Printed-tool advocates argue lower NRE and a faster first cavity when the startup still expects weekly ECOs. Aluminum-tool advocates argue a more stable shrink map, better SPI texture, and a shot-life that usually covers 200 pieces with margin if the quote writes the cap. This page does not pick a winner; it keeps the claimed benefit next to the shot-count limit and the resin-temperature note you wrote.
Datums, wall thickness, and warp limits must be measurable on the 200-piece lot. Opening a non-functional ±0.05 mm callout often changes cycle time more than changing the resin lot. Ask which features the CMM program will actually cover, and whether a printed-tool warp study is even offered.
Values are buyer questions. A selected supplier must confirm capability against the same drawing.
| Column | Must be stated by the bidder |
|---|---|
| Technical scope | |
| Tool | Printed insert, aluminum, or steel; cavity count; gate style; shot-count limit written on the quote. |
| Part | Resin, color, wall, draft, inserts, texture, secondary ops. |
| Commercial scope | |
| Inside quote | T0/T1/T2 shots, the 200-piece lot, packing, FAI, validity window as written. |
| Outside quote | Second printed insert, duties, extra texture, ECO steel work, travel days, spare cavities. |
ISO 9001 scope and expiry from the named plant. A group certificate that excludes the molding line is an open item.
IATF 16949, ISO 13485, or ITAR evidence only when the application actually needs those files, matching the quoted site.
Resin lot CoC, drying notes, and regrind percentage if allowed. Color masterbatch source stays on the same row as the 200-piece lot.
Ask both routes to write the shot-count limit on the quote. A printed insert is useful when revision C is still moving and you accept a possible second insert before piece 200. Aluminum is the closer analog when gate vestige, SPI texture, and one cavity through 200 shots matter more than the lowest NRE. Do not rank the two unit prices until those caps sit on the same sheet with resin temperature and T1 inclusions.
Tooling NRE, printed-insert reprints, hot-runner, texture, inserts, painting, FAI/CMM, packing, freight, duties, ECO steel work, and spare-cavity fees. Ranking only piece price on a 200-piece lot mixes unlike shot-life scopes.
Not for a 200-piece bridge. Steel belongs on the sheet as the later trigger: resin temperature, EAU, or a shot-count the aluminum or printed route cannot cover. Putting steel on the first PO without that trigger usually means you paid production NRE for a geometry that is still moving.
Eligible sourcing support may be available up to 3% after requirement review.
Eligibility applies to qualified business buyers and is confirmed after we review your product, quantity, destination, and sourcing requirements.
This is not a fixed discount. On a 200-piece bridge lot the factory still has to write the shot-count cap on the quote.
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