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Contract Manufacturer Job Quote Price Calculator

Small shops quote dozens of jobs a week, and a missed setup or forgotten tooling charge can erase the margin. This calculator builds a quote from the real cost elements and shows the quantity price break.

Your numbers

Quote quantity

100 units

Material per unit

Setup hours

hrs

Run time per unit

min

Machine and labor rate

$/hr

Outside processing per unit

Plating, heat treat, coating, per unit.

One time tooling or fixtures

Scrap allowance on quantity

Target margin on price

30 %

Your results

Total quote price

$2,789

Unit price

$28

Units to start

104

Material cost

$666

Setup plus run cost

$773

Outside processing cost

$114

Total cost

$1,953

Excludes freight, packaging, payment terms and sales commission. Add these to a cost line before sending a quote.

Save results:

Unit price vs quote quantity

Sweeps Quote quantity from 1 to 2000, holding your other inputs fixed.

Connect quotes to job costing

Optional: discuss comparing quoted and actual cost in your ERP.

Optional. The tool and every export work without this. No spam.

How to use it

Enter the quantity and per unit material. Add setup hours and run time per unit, priced at your combined machine and labor rate. Include outside processing per unit and any tooling you will not reuse. Set the scrap allowance so the shop starts enough pieces to ship the quoted quantity, then choose the margin on price. The result is both the job total and a unit price.

The calculation

Units to start equal quantity divided by one minus scrap, rounded up. Material and outside processing scale with started units. Setup is paid once, run time scales with started units. Total cost adds tooling, and price equals cost divided by one minus margin. Because setup and tooling are fixed, unit price falls as quantity rises.

Setup and tooling are amortized over the quantity
Scrap allowance matters most on small orders
Margin is on price, not markup on cost
Round prices up to the nearest sensible unit

Using the price break chart

The curve is steep at low quantities and flattens near the variable cost. Read quantity breaks from the knee: the point where doubling quantity saves less than a few percent. Quote breaks at 1, 10, 50, 100, 500 and so on, and avoid offering a break below the quantity at which the cost curve is still steep.

Common mistakes

Quoters often use a shop rate without setup, ignore the cost of rejects and quote tooling as free to win the order. Also verify the machine rate against actual hours; a rate that ignores idle time leads to quotes that lose money at real utilization.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I use margin or markup for quotes?

Margin on price is easier to compare with financial statements. A 30 percent margin equals a 42.9 percent markup on cost. Mixing the two is a common reason shops under price.

How do I price setup for repeat jobs?

If the setup is repeated each run, include it every time. If a fixture is kept, bill the tooling once and quote lower setup afterwards. Make the policy visible on the quote.

What scrap allowance is reasonable?

It depends on the process. Stable turned parts may run under 2 percent, while complex fabrications, castings or first articles can be 5 percent or more. Use your own history and revisit it quarterly.

Does the tool add freight and tax?

No. Add freight, packaging and any commission as extra cost before applying margin, and handle sales tax separately on the invoice.

Once quotes live in your ERP, Netray can compare quoted cost with actual job cost and show where estimates drift.

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