Plating Job Quote and Pricing Worksheet
Plating shops lose money when quotes are built from per-piece guesses. This worksheet builds each line from metal weight, labor minutes and setup, adds margin and gives a price each, plus totals and blended margin across the quote.
| Part number | Process | Quantity | Area per part (dm2) | Thickness (um) | Deposit density (g/cm3) | Metal price ($/kg) | Handling and process labor (min/part) | Loaded rate ($/h) | Setup and masking ($) | Metal cost | Labor and line cost | Total cost | Margin (%) | Quoted price | Price each | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
$2 | $354 | $476 | $619 | $0 | ||||||||||||
$10 | $204 | $364 | $492 | $0 | ||||||||||||
$1 | $113 | $215 | $279 | $0 | ||||||||||||
$0 | $285 | $485 | $679 | $2 | ||||||||||||
$7 | $214 | $471 | $659 | $4 |
Metal cost is deposited mass only: add dragout, anode and chemistry utilization by raising the metal price or the margin. For anodize set metal price to zero and put chemical and energy costs into the loaded rate. Minimum lot charges and rack tooling are not modeled, so add them to Setup. Use the area estimator and Faraday calculator to fill area and thickness.
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How to use the worksheet
Add one row per part and process. Enter quantity, area in square decimeters, thickness in micrometers, deposit density and metal price. Add handling and line minutes per part, a loaded hourly rate, any setup or masking charge and your target margin. The sheet computes metal cost, labor, total cost, quoted price and price each. The summary shows blended price per piece and gross margin on the whole quote. Export it to Excel to send or iterate.
- Start from the part surface area estimator for area
- Use the Faraday calculator for time and thickness checks
- Put minimum lot charges into setup
- Raise metal price to include dragout losses
How the cost columns work
Metal cost is quantity x area x thickness x density / 100 grams, converted to kilograms and priced. Labor and line cost is quantity x minutes per part / 60 x loaded rate. Total cost is setup plus metal plus labor. Quoted price is cost x (1 + margin / 100), and the price each is that divided by quantity. This is markup on cost; the summary also reports gross margin on price, which is always lower than the markup.
Pricing context
Precious metals such as gold and silver make metal the dominant cost, so price changes should flow through quickly, ideally with a metal surcharge clause. For zinc and nickel work labor and line time dominate. Anodize has no deposited metal, so rate and time drive cost. Check that small lots recover setup and that minimum charges apply, since many plating quotes lose money on short runs.
Common mistakes
The usual errors are pricing by area alone, ignoring minimum thickness that forces longer plating, and not loading rework into margin. Another is quoting markup as if it were margin; a 30 percent markup yields only about a 23 percent margin. Review actual job cost against the quote regularly to recalibrate minutes per part.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I price plating per piece?
Add metal cost, labor and line time per piece, divide setup by lot size, then apply your margin. This worksheet does that for each line and reports price each along with total and blended price.
What is the difference between markup and margin?
Markup is added to cost. Margin is the share of the price that is profit. A 30 percent markup on cost gives a gross margin of about 23 percent of price. The summary shows margin on price.
How do I include precious metal losses?
Raise the metal price to reflect drag-out and anode utilization, or add a separate line for metal recovery. Many shops also use a metal surcharge tied to market price.
Can I export this to Excel?
Yes. Every worksheet exports to Excel, PDF or CSV with the computed columns and totals preserved, so you can send the quote or continue editing in a spreadsheet.
If you want quotes generated from drawings, routings and past job costs held in your ERP, we can help set up a private quoting assistant that stays on your own servers.
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