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RFQs, there are still plenty of sluts out there

viper

Titanium
Joined
May 18, 2007
Location
nowhereville
Maybe more of a rant but want to get temp reading from others on quotes for CNC machine work, milling and turning. Our current customers have been asking us to "requote" repeat work which is a ass way for saying "take less". In most instances, they are reducing qty, but increasing deliveries so they want us to carry them. Duh, typical aerospace BS. On a couple parts we lost, they halved the order qty but instead of increasing price, we just left it the same and that STILL did not get the job!!

We have had several non-aerospace related RFQs recently. I typically ask if they want to provide "target pricing" in which they never do because they are convinced they will get it cheaper otherwise. So, without good drawings and moronic tolerances, we quote with a buffer for all this stuff. THEN, after the smoke settles and we ask if we are even close, THEN they say we were twice the price they need. Now, I realize this is the game we play but I am always irritated to be run through the wringer when if we would have known the numbers going in, we could easily tell them what qty to hit that price or if we can do it at all.

Call it upfront business ethics but anytime I outsource, I try to provide pricing up front as a way to get instant feedback if it is even doable.

In our area, we are noticing the bigger shops keeping all work inhouse and adding machines to do that. BUT, apparently there are still sluts out there that have not died yet because we cannot get one simple job. I guess I get pretty discouraged when seeing 10 quotes go out, not one comes back and if we do get one, we are instantly looking to see what is screwed up about the part that I did not catch that will screw us. Not lose money screw, just not make enough to waste our time screw.

I guess on to the questions, so, in your area of the USA, are you having to slut yourself to get the jobs or are we just not getting the right RFQs? I thought 2008 was gone??? F,n January.....
 
Could you please post pics of said slut?


worthless.gif




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Where were you 35 yrs ago today?
Ox
 
I apologize, I was having a hard time holding my lunch down while trying to take the picture. But, here is some mental eye candy, 50yo dude, 50lbs over weight, 6 teeth, G string.
 
i think the new sluts your finding are the ones that are startup shops. with the slight uptick in business there must have been some startups that got going. these are the guys who are trying to impress new customers and doind work at half price. i have to agree that i fell victim to this as well. i'm at the point now that i would rather do less work and make more money, even if it means with fewer employees, than keep humping and humping and hope to make a nickel at the end of the year.

this years new years resolution is to not get into a bidding war for crap parts. if i can't get them at my price, then when the cheaper guy screws it up, it will be mine again. or maybe i get to fix it and charge a premium for rush service. either way i'm coming out ahead.
 
We are in the aerobelt here so no shortage of machinists BY FAR. Problem is most of them were corn fed off one of the big aero companies and now will only accept crispy, 1 day old bills. They just received the bitch slap in the face though with Boeing being fed up with their union bullshit and moving back to Washington. Now I get to run around with "I told you so" on my forehead. We talked about the eventual collapse in school 10 yrs ago. It ain't over yet either.
 
Lots of machinists, just not many who will work for the wages that
todays margins are allowing.
It's not going to get better in the US in my lifetime. I'm 54.
David
 
I know how you feel, I wrote about this very thing months back. I cant stand the cut-throat undercutting B/S that some shops are doing. I've quoted jobs and had the buyers come back with prices so lo I couldnt even buy the material for what they wanted them for. I'm with the other gentleman, "I would rather do less jobs for more money than do all of them for nothing"

Peace out fellow whores!!!!
 
This is an issue that has mystified me for over four decades. What do these fools hope to gain by giving their craft away? "I'll work cheap until I get known, then I can raise my prices." Yeah, right.

Back in the 70's I was in the construction business. Everyone knew me and laughed at me because I had the oldest, rattiest equipment around. But that old equipment belonged to ME. When the price was right, I took it out on the road. I always stayed informed on what the going rate was for any services I performed, and never went below the norm, simply because I didn't want to damage and devalue the business overall. When the prices were ridiculous, I stayed home on the sofa. Could I cut my prices? Sure. My costs were rock-bottom. But WOULD I? Not on your life! I had self-respect and placed a value on what I did. If you agreed, and we did business, that was great. If not, the road's sixty feet wide and as long as you want to make it.

Meanwhile, all of those other "independent" contractors found out that they were in fact employees of Ford Motor Credit, Mack Truck, Caterpillar finance or Michigan National Bank. As long as the economy was growing, and demand was steady, they did great. But once things turned sour, they found themselves working for prices that allowed them no more than to meet their monthly payments on all of that sexy, shiny machinery. Some were lucky and pulled through. But most went bust and were replaced by the next rank of wise guys. (They keep on comin', don't they?)

I guess the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Steve

btw, this is the key: Don't over extend yourself, so that you always have the option to say NO to cheapskates and chiselers. I realize this isn't always as easy as it sounds, but it's the bedrock of a successful business.
 








 
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