How to Organize a Multi Part Fabrication Request
A package of parts quotes faster and ships cleaner when the list, the part numbers and the release grouping all match each other.
One drawing at a time is the slowest way to order a package of parts. The request that moves fastest is a single package where the list, the file names and the part numbers all refer to the same thing.
Start with one parts list
A list beside the drawings does more for a quote than any amount of explanation in an email. At minimum it should carry, for every part:
- Part number and description.
- Material and thickness.
- Finish, and the colour if it is decided.
- Quantity.
- Required date, or the release the part belongs to.
- Any operation beyond cut and form, such as tapping, welding or hardware.
If the list and the drawings disagree, the list is what gets quoted and the drawings are what gets made. Sending both, with the same part numbers on each, avoids that.
Make the part numbers match the marks
Cutting programs can etch part numbers, orientation marks and bend lines into the part as it is cut. That only helps if the etched number is the same number that appears on your list and on the drawing.
A simple scheme is enough: assembly reference, then a sequence, plus a revision letter. It does not have to be elegant. It has to be consistent between the list, the file names and the drawing title block.
Group by assembly or by release, and say which
A package can be quoted and packed two ways: as parts for one assembly, or as parts for one release of a project. Both are valid, and they produce different packing.
Tell us which grouping you want. Components are organized by section and labelled for identification before they leave the shop, and hardware is bagged and matched to each assembly. If a delivery has to land in the order a crew consumes it, that has to be said in the request rather than fixed after packing.
Flag the repeats and the mirrors
If a part appears twice under different numbers, or a left and a right are mirrors of each other, say so. Nested cutting and marking are set up from the pattern, and a mirror that is treated as a new part is a new program for no reason.
State quantities per release
A first release of twenty brackets and two follow on releases of twenty each are quoted together but priced per phase, because each phase carries its own material and setup. Sending the phase quantities up front means the follow on work does not start from scratch. The repeat production page covers how those phases are quoted.
Mark the parts that are urgent
If two parts out of thirty hold up an installation, say which two. Cutting a package in one nesting is efficient, but knowing which parts matter lets the delivery be organized around them rather than around the whole package.
What happens to the package in the shop
Parts are cut nested where the material and the quantity allow it, marked in the same program, then formed and welded as the drawing requires. Finishing is coordinated with a partner before packing. The package is then counted and packed in the grouping you asked for.
None of that is unusual. The requests that go wrong are the ones where the drawing set, the list and the quantities describe three slightly different jobs.