RE: [rp-ml] QuickParts online quoting (patent 7305367)

Dear Group,
As a machine supplier we(EOS) are frequently asked how to calculate the
cost of a part. We have detailed spreadsheets that take many factors
into consideration, including machine amortization, overhead, materials,
recycling, uptime, etc. However, it is my experience that the retail
cost of a given part is more a reflection of the fair market value of
the service, rather than cost plus some margin value.

So, if the price an end user pays for a part is based on fair market
value, the instant the customer places the order, the quote becomes
exactly accurate regardless of any pricing model and whether or not it
was machine or manually calculated.

Shane Collins
805 427 0019

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-rp-ml@rapid.lpt.fi [mailto:owner-rp-ml@rapid.lpt.fi] On
Behalf Of Markus Hitter
Sent: Friday, May 23, 2008 1:55 AM
To: Kevin Adams
Cc: rp-ml@rapid.lpt.fi
Subject: Re: [rp-ml] QuickParts online quoting (patent 7305367)

Am 23.05.2008 um 07:14 schrieb Kevin Adams:
> The best way to beat these systems is to make sure your customers
> get a real quote from you. That way, they can take advantage of
> your accurate pricing when it is lower,and take advantage of the
> automated QP and Redeye when those systems provide inaccurate low
> pricing.

Well, if a more accurate method to quote a part actually exists,
you're right.

To my experience, it's not possible to precisely predict machine
runtime, though. Even when counting the single laser paths of an SLA
build file, you get a result within +-20% accuracy, only.

That said, the more automatic your quoting system is, the more time
you save and if you put all the saved time into the equitation, you
likely get a net win, even if some parts are cheaper.

Markus Hitter

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Dipl. Ing. Markus Hitter
http://www.jump-ing.de/
Received on Fri May 23 19:58:54 2008