Material Prices Getting You Down? We’re Here to Help!
A sheet of plywood isn’t as cheap as it was five years ago! The same goes for just about any material you can think of: whether metal, wood, or plastic, material prices post-COVID can cause many manufacturing customers to experience a bit of sticker shock upon receiving a quote.
Accurate CNC Services is committed to helping customers navigate material pricing hurdles and maximize their investments when they need CNC machining services or any of our other services.
Understanding Minimum Order Quantities
We aim for full transparency and clear communication, and that starts with informing you if there is a minimum order quantity for your desired material.
The good news is that the minimum order quantities for specialty materials have become more reasonable. Whereas we had to purchase full pallets of certain materials at the peak of COVID, we’re at a point now where we can buy a couple of sheets—sometimes, even just one sheet.
Communicating about Target Prices
Communication and transparency are two-way streets when it comes to CNC machining services and other manufacturing services. If you have a target price in mind, tell us up front! We’ll do our very best to meet it. We maintain an extensive material supplier network, so we can shop around for the best rates.
A quick word about overseas pricing
We won’t beat around the bush: If you’re accustomed to overseas prices, getting your parts and products made in America using domestically sourced materials will cost more. It’s unlikely that we can compete with Chinese prices. But if American manufacturing is important to you, we’ll happily work with you to provide the best prices possible—not to mention superior customer service and a level of quality that will blow you away.
A Little Flexibility Can Go a Long Way
Customers who are willing and able to be flexible about their projects almost always save money with Accurate CNC. We may recommend one of these strategies (or others) to help you maximize your investment.
Nesting parts
Nesting involves laying out flat parts to get as many pieces as possible from a sheet of material. It’s an excellent way to save money on materials and get more parts for less.
We’re helping one customer figure out how to reduce a part’s overall size by 0.25” to maximize material for CNC router services. When 3D printing, a quarter inch could be the difference between printing the part in one instead of two pieces.
Using material for future projects
When it comes to prototype machining services, sometimes we’ll need to purchase a 24” x 48” or 48” x 96” sheet for just one or two parts, leaving behind a large amount of unused material.
In these cases, we’ll advise the customer to pay for the full sheet of material in the first order and hold onto the leftover material for future parts. That way, we will only charge them for labor in the future because they have already paid for the material.
Ready to get your next project started? Request a quote today for CNC routing, 3D printing, or CNC machining services.