Sourcing
Most sheet metal suppliers are set up for one of two things: prototypes, or production. The awkward middle — 25, 100, 500 units a year — is where a lot of real products live, and it is where enquiries most often get turned down. Not because the part is hard, but because the factory’s cost model does not have a slot for it. We build in that range routinely, and this page explains how the economics actually work so you can tell, before you ask, whether your part belongs there.
Why factories say no to small runs
It is rarely about the part. It is about changeover. On a laser and a press brake, the cost of a batch is dominated by programming, set-up, first-piece inspection and material handling — none of which shrink when the quantity does. Run 20 parts and those fixed costs are spread over 20 units. Run 2,000 and they are spread over 2,000. That is the whole story.
What makes a small run genuinely unprofitable for a supplier is usually one of three things:
- Hard tooling is implied by the design. If the geometry needs a progressive die, a mould or a bespoke fixture, then the first-part cost includes that tooling, and at 100 units the amortisation is brutal.
- The process is outside the shop. Anodising, silk-screening, special plating — anything that has to leave the building has its own minimum lot charge, and a subcontractor will charge you for a full tank whether you fill it or not.
- The part is labour-heavy. Lots of manual welding, grinding and fitting means the unit cost does not improve with quantity, so there is no volume to look forward to.
What “MOQ” usually means when you hear it
MOQ is not a single number, and the number you are quoted is often a proxy for something else. In practice:
| What you hear | What it usually means | What to do about it |
|---|---|---|
| “MOQ 500” | Material purchase minimum, or a blanket order to reserve capacity | Ask whether a higher unit price removes it. Often it does. |
| “MOQ 1,000” | The design needs a die or a fixture to be economical | Ask what design change would make it tool-free |
| “MOQ on finishing” | An outside process has a tank or batch minimum | Consider stocking unfinished parts and finishing in smaller lots |
| “No MOQ, but…” | Set-up cost is being recovered in the first-piece price | Compare total cost of 3 batches of 100 vs 1 batch of 300 |
We quote small runs without an arbitrary MOQ. What we do instead is show the set-up cost honestly, because it lets you make a better decision: sometimes it is genuinely cheaper to build 300 now and hold stock than to build 100 three times.
Where unit price actually moves
At low volume, four things dominate the quote. In rough order of impact:
- Number of bends. Each bend is a set-up and a handling step. A part with 12 bends costs dramatically more than the same flat area with 4 bends. This is the single biggest lever you control.
- Material utilisation. Your parts are nested on a standard sheet. An awkward outline that nests poorly costs you in scrap. Sometimes a 10 mm change to a tab moves nesting efficiency by 15%.
- Tolerance calls. Tight tolerances are achievable, but every one that is tighter than the process naturally holds adds inspection time and scrap risk. Call tight tolerances only where a mating part requires them.
- Finish and hardware. Standard RAL powder coat and off-the-shelf PEM hardware are cheap; matched brand colours, two-tone masking and custom fasteners are not.
Designing for a small run
These are the changes we most often propose in a first review, and the ones that reliably cut cost on a 50–500 unit part:
- Replace formed features with laser-cut ones. A louvre, a tab or a lightening grid cut on the laser costs nothing extra; formed versions need tooling or many extra bends.
- Use a single material and thickness across the assembly. Mixing 1.5 mm and 2.0 mm in one product means two sheet nests and two set-ups.
- Standardise hole sizes. Every additional hole diameter is another tool change on some machines, and another line on the inspection sheet.
- Design for captive hardware, not tapped holes. PEM nuts and studs are cheap, fast, and reworkable. Tapping thin sheet is slow and produces scrap.
- Keep weld accessible. Welds that need the part rotated three times, or welded from inside a closed box, cost several times more than the same length of weld in the open.
- Avoid cosmetic welds on visible faces unless you must. Grinding and polishing to a cosmetic finish is hand work and does not scale down.
How the run sequence normally goes
- Drawing review. You send STEP or DWG. We come back with a DFM note — usually 3 to 8 specific points — and a budget price.
- Prototype or first article. For structurally simple parts, first articles are typically 3–7 days. Complex parts and first-off builds are longer, and we quote the actual time after reviewing the drawing rather than quoting a number we cannot hold.
- First-article approval. Dimensional report, photos, and — where it matters — a coating thickness reading and a fit check. You approve before we cut the batch.
- Production batch. Production runs are typically 25–35 days from approved first article, depending on quantity and finishing.
- Repeat orders. Once the program, the bend set-up and the inspection sheet exist, repeats move faster. This is the main reason low-volume buyers should stick with one supplier rather than re-tendering every batch.
Tooling, where it is genuinely required, is quoted and scheduled separately: roughly 7–15 days for simple tooling and 30–45 days for complex, and it is not included in the sample lead time. We separate those two numbers in every quotation because combining them is how buyers end up with a surprise.
Is your part a good fit?
Good fit: laser-cut and bent parts, welded frames and enclosures, 25–500 units per order, standard materials (cold-rolled steel, galvanized, 304/316 stainless, 5052 aluminium), powder coat or standard finishes, off-the-shelf hardware.
Workable but costlier at low volume: deep-drawn or stamped shapes, parts needing progressive dies, custom extrusions, specialty plating or anodising with batch minimums.
Not a fit: anything requiring a mould we would have to build for a one-off. We will tell you this in the first reply rather than quoting a number that shocks you later.
Send the drawing and the annual quantity
STEP, DWG or even a PDF with dimensions is enough to start. Tell us how many you expect per year and per order, and we will tell you honestly whether your part belongs in a low-volume process or needs tooling — with the cost difference shown.
Ningbo Fulei Metal Products Co., Ltd. — laser cutting, CNC bending, welding, hardware installation and assembly in-house. Powder coating runs on audited partner lines that we specify and inspect. Related: DFM review · prototype to production · custom sheet metal fabrication.