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How do you quote welding?

Joined
Nov 19, 2007
Location
marysville ohio
I have a pretty big fabrication job that I'll be starting next week. It involves several hundred inches of stick welding 1/2" and 5/8" steel. This job will require the use of both horizontal and vertical band saws and the cutting torch. The customer knows this job is time and materials and is OK with that. If I had to quote this job it would be a WAG, not the best way to avoid losing your ass on a job. I think I'll use my big Lincoln engine driven welder so I will know for sure what the electricity is costing me.
 
Weld quoting

When I go out to do a weld job for work in my personal rig, I quote 1.5 times what it costs me to do in rod off the top. If he wants cheaper, supply it. The reason is simply because I hafta stop and get it . TIME is MONEY. As far as welding, gimme an example of what you are welding. If it is 1 LARGE fab job then it will be time consuming because You have to fit and trim everything and the first go around is always slowest. If it is multiple you can generally cut many parts at the same time and not have to set up differently for each piece so it depends . Also, how comfortable are you with WHAT you are welding? Is it simple as t joints or building a complex structure? will you have a helper? Alot of things to add in. At our shop if I hafta get off of a machine and go weld something They charge 75.00 off the top for just the truck per hr. Then 27.50 for a helper. Then Materials times 1.5. We also charge a fuel surcharge of .56 per mile from the shop. So it adds up quickly. hope I helped with some ideas as to what to look for!:cheers:
 
Set up time - Time used to gather clamps, rods, leads, review drawing & general set up a work area. This is anywhere from 1/2h to 2h on very large jobs. This is applied to the whole job regardless of number of pieces to weld.

Piece Time - Time used per job from start to start. In your case it's one piece. I break this down as follows:

Handling time - How long does it take to locate and get one item (or assembly) into position before working on it? Keep in mind that a part may need multiple operations and will be handled multiple times. Small parts could be 1 minute. Large crane or forklift rigged parts much more.

Working time - How long does it take to work on each part? Each operation needs to be estimated based on standard times.

1 - Prep time - How long does it take to prepare the part for fitting? Burning bevels, drilling of burning holes & grinding to fit all is included.
2 - Fitting time - How long would it take to hold and tack this part in the correct location.
3 - Welding time - How long does it take to lay down 1 foot of weld including rod changes? Use the total length x passes divided by your time/foot + time wrapping the ends of the weld to get this figure.
4 - Clean up - How long does it take to clean up the welded area?

Add about 15% to your total piece time to get your part time. Add the set up time then apply your shop of field rate. Add a profit percentage.

Walter A.
 








 
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