Your First Production Run: What to Send

A first production run is not a large job. It is a job that might repeat, and the request has to establish both at once. The parts may be identical to a prototype; the planning is not.

The part, at production level

Send the production drawing rather than the prototype drawing if they differ, and say which revision is approved. A production drawing usually carries the tolerance intent, the finish callout and the material spec that a prototype sketch left open, and those decide how the part is made rather than how it is proved.

Include the component as it will actually be delivered: cut only, cut and formed, or welded. Ordering parts or a completed welded assembly covers why that distinction changes the quote.

Quantities, stated as a release

The useful number is the first batch, not the annual total. Say how many pieces are wanted now, whether that quantity is a complete order or the first of several, and whether the pieces ship together or in more than one delivery.

If the annual figure is known, include it as context. It helps the review decide whether a program and a fixture are worth building, which is a real cost on a small first order and a real saving on the third.

What is still open

A first run usually carries unresolved items: a finish not yet chosen, a hole pattern that may change, a bracket that may gain a bend. Name them. A quote that assumes a decision is a quote that has to be redone, and an assumption discovered at the machine is more expensive than one stated in the request.

What the review confirms before the run

• Material and thickness availability for the quantity asked.
• Whether the parts run on the laser, the plasma table, the tube processor or a combination, and what the drawing detail allows.
• Whether any operation, such as tapping or forming, changes the sequence.
• The finish and the partner schedule behind it, since finishing is coordinated rather than performed in the building.
• The required date, which is reviewed against the work rather than promised.

The date and the delivery

Say when the parts are needed and where they are going. KorFab fabricates in Phoenix and delivers locally, statewide and nationwide, and the delivery method is part of the planning conversation, not an afterthought.

What this sets up

A first run that goes well is usually followed by a second. What makes the second easy is the record built on the first: the drawing revision, the finish, the fixture and the assumptions. What to share about future component demand covers that conversation.