Price Quote Help

[Dan Hintz]

Ah, Chuck, I just noticed you're running an older system... they may not have the same functionality as the VLS, PLS, and ILS systems.

[Ed Maloney]

No need to do a test run with the door open... the ULS drivers give a pretty darn accurate estimation of run time with the click of a mouse (though you may have to wait a couple of minutes for it to run the simulation).

Right now I when a get an RFQ I put the artwork together, fill a sheet with the design, and then with the hood open I run the job and note the time it takes. Then I add in marked-up materials cost and then overhead. I do this even if the customer is requesting 20 pieces and the sheet holds 100. I sure waste a lot of time doing it this way since sometimes it can take an hour.

Does anyone have a simulator for Epilog or some other costing technique that takes less time? Or am I just crazy doing it this way?

Ed

[Ron Chapellaz]

Liesl, when I take orders such as these my price per sq. inch drops according to the size of the area. I charge my customers a price for the engraving sheet stock and a price on the engraving. If you want more info PM me.

[Nancy Laird]

How do you do run a estimated run time with the ULS driver?

In the design view tab, there are 5 buttons on the right-hand middle side of the screen... one should be labeled "Estimate" or something of that nature. It takes some percentage of actual time to run, like 5% of actual... waiting 30 seconds for it to estimate a 10 minute run is worth it.

I must not have it. Can not find it.

Chuck, the M-series ULS machines don't have that feature. You can run it with the door or top open so it isn't firing but it will give you your run time.

[Martin Boekers]

Are they supplying artwork that can be directly import into Corel?

How much text and are they bordered or are there graphics?

I learned my lesson a long time ago just quoting a job on size and not content
Some of these colors may take an extra pass or slow down engraving to get it clean.

Also timing depends on your laser power.

For those who want to estimate timing, I suggest laying out one row all the way across. Run that then multiply it by the number of rows. That will get you close if they are similar.

Also I may suggest a log book with a copy of the layout, then record your settings as well as the time it took to run, clean-up etc, This will allow you to
get a decent estimate without running the job first.

I keep my pricing pretty much on the lower scale, I do have customers that get quotes elseware, but more often they end up back with me.

Some shops run lower resolution to save time, but it does show in quality. When you quote make a sample at different resolutions so they can see the difference. Explain how some shops can bid lower by running the job at a lower res. Lower res. may be fine for their application and then you can give a more competative bid. I find the customer is appreciative when I help
by doing this.

Customers do tell stories to try to get it cheaper, sometimes they lead us down a path and we tend to follow.

Also there are many types of plastics available, make sure what you pick fits
their usage.


Marty

[Chuck Patterson]

I just laser engrave 8.5" x 11" and two 8" x 5" on textured plastic (text only). Do you charge .50 sq/in for these larger sizes as well? The 8.5" x 11" would be $46.75.