How do I check a machine shop’s quoting before buying?

A machine shop can be full of work and still lose money if the jobs are priced badly. Quoting is where that shows up. Buyers often look at the machines, the liens and the certifications first, which the machine shop due-diligence guide walks through. Quoting deserves its own look, because the skill often sits with one person.

Find out who quotes and how

Ask who prices incoming requests and what they base it on. Some shops use a template, some rely on a feel for similar parts. Ask the seller to quote an example in front of you. If only the owner can do it, the buyer is buying a skill that has to be passed on, and that takes time and attention.

Compare quoted hours with actual hours

A shop that learns from its jobs compares what it expected with what happened. Ask whether the shop records actual time on each job and reviews the gaps. Ask for a few finished jobs and see how they came out against the quote. A shop that never checks does not know which work pays and which does not.

Look at the win rate and the repeat work

Ask how often quotes turn into orders and how the shop thinks about the ones it loses. Ask which customers send repeat work and whether their pricing was agreed once or negotiated each time. Pricing that was negotiated personally by the owner may be hard to keep after the owner leaves.

Ask where the knowledge will be after closing

• Is there a second person who can quote, or could learn to?
• Are the cost rates and quoting files stored in the shop’s systems?
• Will the seller stay for a handover period, and what will they teach?