What is a paint line? Paint lines comprise equipment that cleans, dips, sprays paint and ovens to dry parts:  Paint lines are very capital intensive and take up hundreds to thousands of square feet of space.   Paint lines can be both wet paint or powder coat systems.     Why do we need a formula…

Do you wonder what your shop burden rates should be if you normally work 8 hour days but you only have 4 hours of work?   Do you charge the customer for all 8 hours?  There are some companies that will charge for 8 hours of work even when there was only 4 hours of labor….

Here are some key aspects to quoting and estimating. 1. Material costs This includes both raw material and purchased components like nuts, bolts, screws, etc. 2. Tooling costs 3. Welding fixture costs and other fixture costs 4. Burden rate of the machine(s) the part runs on 5. Overhead (Indirect Labor) 6. Insurance 7. Depreciation 8. Labor…

Punch press estimating is a very common way to put wholes in sheet metal parts. Punch presses have been around since 1955.  The Wiedemann Machine Company was established in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1916 and over the years developed and produced a variety of machines. Wiedemann unveiled the world’s first NC turret punch press at a machine…

Laser cutting sheet metal parts is very common in the industry.  Not too many years ago laser cutting was new and estimating the costs was new.  Now, laser cutting estimating has become much more accurate through software simulations. The simplest way to estimate laser cutting time and material is using the actual laser programming software…

The standards for estimating saw operations includes both the actual sawing operation and the setup of the jig, clamps, etc.  The times below are in seconds.  These process times may change based on the machine and if its a manual process, etc.  In your software you should enter the different processes into the saw operation…

Engineering standards for estimating is critical in order to come up with a consistent way of quoting.   Standards are based on time and not dollars because shop rates are different based on each individual company.  Standards are different based on machines and skill which are relatively consistent. Engineering standards shown are for the metalworking…

The estimating process is just that, its an estimate or an educated guess.   Companies many times will add to the beginning of a quote a process step called Engineering.  Engineering can mean many things including CNC Programming Design Work Creating Solid Models Creating Prototypes During the estimating process it is key to include these…

The basic definition of shearing is cutting metal into smaller pieces.  If we define shearing as cutting material then not only a shear can do this process but metal scissors, lasers, punch presses, etc can also do the same function.  The shearing that is discussed hear is a machine which cuts metal with a blade….

Quoting and estimating software can be found in many products.  One of the industries that have the most estimating software packages is construction where you see a plethora of options available.  Job shop estimating software is also common but it is usually tied directly into the companies ERP/MRP system.  MIE QuoteIt from MIE Solutions has an…