Glossary of quoting terms

Bend allowance

The length of material a bend uses up, added to the flat lengths either side to get the size of the blank. It depends on the thickness, the bend angle, the inside radius and the K-factor.

Bill of materials (BOM)

The list of parts, materials and purchased items that make up an assembly, usually a table on the assembly drawing.

Blank

The flat piece cut from sheet or plate before it is formed. Its size sets the material cost of a sheet metal part.

Burdened labour rate

The cost of an hour of someone's work including payroll taxes, benefits and vacation on top of the wage.

Callout

A note or dimension on a drawing that specifies a feature, such as "4× Ø6.5" for four holes of that diameter.

Draft quote

A quote that has been prepared for review and not yet sent to the customer.

ERP

Enterprise resource planning: the system a shop uses to track quotes, orders, jobs, inventory and invoices.

Flat pattern

The outline of a formed part unfolded flat, with its bend lines. It is what gets cut from the sheet.

K-factor

The ratio that says where the neutral axis sits within the material's thickness in a bend. It is used to work out bend allowance.

Kerf

The width of material a cut removes. A laser's kerf is a fraction of a millimetre; plasma and saw kerfs are wider.

Lead time

The time from receiving an order to shipping it.

Margin

Profit as a share of the selling price. A part that costs $80 and sells for $100 has a 20% margin.

Markup

Profit as a share of the cost. A part that costs $80 and sells for $100 carries a 25% markup.

Nesting

Arranging parts on a sheet or plate so they use as much of it as possible. The cut calculator nests rectangles.

NRE

Non-recurring engineering: the one-time costs of a new part, such as programming, fixtures and special tooling, charged once and not per piece.

Outside process

Work sent to another company, such as plating, anodizing, heat treating or powder coating. It goes on the quote with its cost and its lead time.

Pierce

The start of a cut, where a laser, plasma torch or waterjet breaks through the material. Each pierce adds time, so the number of pierces matters to cutting cost.

Quantity break

A price for each order quantity. Setup cost is spread over more pieces as the quantity rises, so the price per piece falls.

RFQ

Request for quote: a customer's request for a price and a lead time on a part or an assembly, usually sent with a drawing.

Routing

The ordered list of operations a part goes through, each with a work centre, a setup time and a run time.

Run time

The time an operation takes for each piece. It is charged per piece.

Setup time

The time to get a machine ready for a job: loading the program, tools and fixtures and making a first good part. It is charged once per order.

Shop rate

The hourly price charged for a work centre, covering the machine, labour and overhead plus profit. The shop rate calculator works one out.

Title block

The box on a drawing, usually at the bottom right, that gives the part number, revision, material, finish, general tolerances and scale.

Tolerance

The variation a dimension is allowed. Tighter tolerances take more time and can change the routing.

Traveler

The sheet that follows a job through the shop and lists its operations in order. Also called a router.

Work centre

A machine or group of machines with its own hourly rate, such as a laser, a press brake or a 5-axis mill.

Yield

The share of a sheet, plate or bar that ends up in parts and not in scrap. Also called material utilization.

See these terms at work in the guides to sheet metal quoting, machine shop quoting and fabrication quoting, or read about choosing quoting software.