Hire an Estimator, or Outsource the Quoting?
If you have steady RFQ volume and can find the right person, hire an estimator. If you need the quoting done but not a full-time hire, the Zenith Quoting Desk prices your RFQ prints on your own machines and rates and checks every line, for a monthly fee instead of a salary.
TRY THE DESK ON A PRINT YOU ALREADY QUOTED quotes@zenithquoting.comYour first 10 prints are free while I learn your shop's rates.
What a good estimator brings
A good in-house estimator knows your floor. They know which machine is down, which customer always changes the revision, and when to walk out and ask the lead machinist how he'd hold a tolerance. They talk to your customers, follow up on open quotes, and can run a job in a pinch. That's real value, and I won't pretend an outside service replaces all of it.
What a hire really costs
A salary is only the start. There are benefits, the months it takes someone to learn your machines and your pricing, and the search itself. And when one person does all the quoting, quoting stops when that person is out.
What outsourcing to the Desk looks like
You email me your RFQ prints. I price each one on your shop's own machines and rates, in your own account in the Zenith Tool, and check every line. You get back a finished, itemized quote with your logo (material, setup, programming, run time and inspection) and send it under your name. I never contact your customer.
The Desk covers turned and mill-turn parts from bar or tube. It doesn't take ITAR or export-controlled prints. Every shop also gets its own Zenith Tool login; using it is optional, and email alone works.
When each one fits
Hire an estimator when
- You quote enough every week to keep a full-time person busy
- You need someone who talks to customers and follows up on quotes
- Your work goes well beyond turned and mill-turn parts
- You can find and train the right person
Outsource to the Desk when
- The owner or a lead machinist does the quoting on top of everything else
- Your RFQ volume swings, and a salary doesn't make sense yet
- Your parts are turned or mill-turn from bar or tube
- You want every line of the quote shown, and the final say kept in your shop
A middle path
It doesn't have to be one or the other. The Desk can carry the quoting while you look for the right hire, take the overflow when your estimator is buried, or cover the weeks they're out. Your estimator gets a finished quote to check instead of a blank sheet.
What it costs
Your first 10 prints are free while I learn your shop's rates. After that, it's $399 a month for up to 40 prints, plus $10 per extra print. My first five shops lock in $199 a month for 12 months. Nothing costs money unless you agree to it in writing.
Here's how it starts: send me a few prints you've already quoted, with the price you sent or your shop rates. I price them on your numbers and send them back side by side, so you see line by line where Zenith matches you and where it doesn't.
Questions shops ask
Straight answers from Malik Carey, who runs the Desk.
Should a small machine shop hire an estimator or outsource quoting?
Hire if you have steady RFQ volume, need someone who talks to customers, and can find the right person. Outsource if you need the quoting done but not a full-time hire. The Zenith Quoting Desk prices your RFQ prints on your own machines and rates and checks every line.
Can the Desk work alongside the estimator I already have?
Yes. Your estimator gets a finished, itemized quote to check instead of a blank sheet, and still makes the final call. The Desk can also take overflow, or cover the weeks your estimator is out.
What does outsourcing cost compared to a hire?
Your first 10 prints are free while I learn your shop's rates. After that, it's $399 a month for up to 40 prints, plus $10 per extra print. My first five shops lock in $199 a month for 12 months. There's no salary or benefits to pay, and nothing costs money unless you agree to it in writing.
What can't an outside estimator do?
I don't walk your floor, talk to your customers, or know your shop the way someone who works there does. That's why every quote comes back to you to check and change before it goes out, and why your first 10 prints are free while I learn your shop's rates.