A quote does not start by selecting a cell. When the file lands on the table, which box is present and which is waiting is written down. A missing line does not delay price — it stops the quote.
The file is not an email subject line.
First contact is often a STEP and a quantity line. That package is not enough for a quote. Without a drawing, which surface is datum cannot be read. Without material documentation, tooling and heat treatment are assumed.
A default line breaks the card on the next revision. The shop machines the geometry on the record — not the intent in the email.
Six boxes that open the quote.
The package on the table speaks the same language. Turning, milling, or 5-axis is not written until these six boxes close.
- Geometry: valid revision, model, and drawing.
- Alloy and semi-finished form.
- Tolerance set to be written.
- Surface and sealing note.
- Quantity.
- Delivery window.
Drawing and model show the same reference.
PDF alone is not held sufficient. If model and drawing conflict, the workholding note stops. Which revision is valid and which section goes to measurement is marked on the drawing.
Unmarked diameter is not swallowed as "general tolerance." Blind hole, thread, and gasket seat are read separately. Not all go to CMM; what does sits on the record.
Material also selects the machine.
If alloy and semi-finished form are unclear, toolpath is not written early. 6082 and 7075 do not go to the same pocket. On stainless, thread and sealing surface leave different stock than carbon steel.
Uncertified bar does not enter batch record. If heat treatment or coating comes later, machining allowance is written from the start. A "we will see later" line does not proceed to quote.
Tolerance and surface are separate boxes.
Critical diameter, position, and face are marked. Unmarked surface does not enter the program as "make it shiny." Gasket seat and sealing are separated from general roughness line.
Without a measurement plan, CMM time is not guessed. The plan is part of quote documentation — not written on delivery day.
Quantity grows after lock.
One part and two hundred parts are not the same quote language. Prototype validates workholding and measurement plan. Serial is a copy of the locked card.
If the quantity box is empty, cell selection is deferred. Price range is not invented. Delivery window is not committed before the card locks.
A missing box stops the quote.
An ambiguous line does not delay price — it separates the package. The quote is written on remaining boxes. The waiting line stops with the customer.
- Model with unclear revision does not proceed to workholding note.
- Without material documentation, tooling and heat treatment are not assumed.
- A surface that cannot be clamped defers cell selection.
When the file closes, the cell is selected.
When six boxes stand, turning, milling, or 5-axis is discussed. First the record, then grip, last quantity. This sequence does not speed the quote — it cuts the wrong cell.
