Costing & FinanceFree worksheetPDF, Excel, Word exportPrecision Machining

Secondary Operations Cost Worksheet for Turned Parts

Secondary operations often decide whether a turned part makes money. Deburring, passivation, plating, heat treat and marking each add a setup, a per-piece price and a vendor minimum. This worksheet adds them up row by row.

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Operation	Source	Specification or note	Lot qty	Setup or tooling charge	Price per piece	Minimum lot charge	Lead time (days)	Extended cost	Cost per part
								$63	$0
								$125	$0
								$275	$0
								$190	$0
								$135	$0
								$80	$0

Total secondary cost for the lot

$868

Total cost per part

Longest single lead time

Average cost per operation

$145

Lead time if run in series (days)

Worst case, when each step waits for the one before.

Extended cost is the larger of the minimum lot charge and setup plus price per piece times lot quantity. Example prices are illustrative only, replace them with real vendor quotes. Check the process specification, class and grade required on the drawing before quoting.

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How to use the worksheet

Add one row per operation in routing order. Mark each as in-house or outside vendor and note the specification, for example the plating standard or passivation method. Enter the lot quantity, any setup or fixture charge, the per-piece price and the vendor minimum charge. Extended cost and cost per part calculate automatically, and the totals give the full secondary cost for the lot, per part, and the lead time. Export to Excel to attach it to the quote file.

Keep rows in the order the part will travel.
Enter the vendor minimum even when it does not apply at today's quantity.
Include shipping to and from outside vendors in the price per piece.

The cost logic

Each row computes the larger of the minimum lot charge and setup plus price per piece times quantity. The minimum matters on small lots: a 100-piece plating run billed at a 175 dollar minimum costs 1.75 per piece even when the vendor's piece price is pennies. Cost per part is the extended cost divided by the lot size. The total per part is a simple sum, since secondary operations run one after another on the same lot.

Lead time

The worksheet shows both the longest single lead time and the serial sum. Outside processing is usually the long pole, and each trip adds transit, queue and process time. If operations must run in sequence, such as heat treat before plating, the serial figure is the realistic one. Consider asking a vendor to consolidate steps, for example passivation after the final wash, to shorten the chain.

Common mistakes

Quoting piece price without the vendor minimum is the usual source of loss on short runs. Another is ignoring scrap and rework from the secondary step, such as plating rejects or heat treat distortion that needs regrinding. In an ERP, outside processing should be a routing operation with a purchased service item so cost, lead time and receipts flow into the job. If not, the cost shows up as unexplained variance.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does the minimum charge matter?

Platers, heat treaters and finishers bill a minimum per lot because their process has fixed handling and bath or furnace costs. On small lots the minimum, not the piece price, sets your cost, so a quote that ignores it loses money.

Should in-house operations use the same columns?

Yes. Treat setup as the setup time costed at the work center rate, price per piece as run time costed at the rate, and leave the minimum at zero. This keeps all operations comparable on one sheet.

How do I handle different lot quantities per operation?

Each row has its own lot quantity, so an operation can run on a different quantity. For example, a sample inspection step may use a smaller quantity. Cost per part still divides by that row's quantity.