How a Titanium RFQ Gets Matched, Step by Step
Most matching services will not tell you how the matching works. Here is ours in full, including the parts we cannot promise.
The five steps
We read the RFQ, properly
Not a keyword scan. Someone opens the drawing. Grade or service conditions, the tightest tolerance and where it sits, wall thickness, hole depths, part envelope, quantity, certificates and the date. If something is missing or contradictory we come back to you before we match, because a shortlist built on a guess wastes everybody's week.
We build a shortlist against seven criteria
The criteria are listed below. A shop has to clear all of them for your specific part, not in general.
Shops see an anonymous preview
Part type, grade, size, quantity, tolerance, paperwork, region and deadline. Not your name, not your company, not your files. A shop decides from that whether it wants the request.
We release only to shops that take it
Contact details and files go to the shops that take the request, 3 at most. If you asked for an NDA, files stay with us until it is signed with you.
The shop quotes you directly
From there we are out of it. You negotiate, you place the order, you own the relationship. We take no commission and we do not sit in the middle of your delivery.
The seven criteria
Every one of these is checked against your part, not against a capability list on a shop's website.
- Titanium in productionCutting your grade now, in this quarter, not once two years ago. This single filter removes most of the field.
- Grade and stock routeWhether the shop can actually get your grade in your size, and what it holds or buys. In titanium the bar sets the lead time more often than the machine does.
- Part envelope and workholdingYour part plus its fixturing has to fit the machine, and somebody has to have a plan for how it is held.
- Tolerance and inspectionIf the drawing carries anything tighter than ±0.02 mm, the shop needs the metrology to prove it, not just the confidence to accept it.
- Certificates and quality systemMill certificate to EN 10204 3.1, heat lot traceability, AS9100 or ISO 13485 where your customer requires it. Asked for only when your RFQ asks for it.
- RegionMatched inside your preferred region whenever a good fit exists there.
- Current capacityA shop that is booked past your date is not a match, however capable it is.
What we will not promise
Every sourcing service has limits. Ours are these, and we would rather you read them here than discover them later.
- The lowest priceWe match on fit. A shop that is right for a Grade 23 implant part is rarely the cheapest quote you will ever see.
- Three quotes every timeIf one shop fits, you get one. Padding the list with shops that will decline helps nobody.
- A quote we controlThe shop sets its own price and lead time. We do not mark it up and we do not negotiate it for you.
- Delivery performanceOnce you place the order, the shop owns it. We will happily help if an introduction goes wrong, but we are not a party to your contract.
- A shop we have audited on siteWe qualify shops on evidence, references and what they cut. We are not an auditing body and we do not claim to be one.
Questions about the process
What happens if no shop is a good fit?
We tell you, within 24 business hours, and we say why. That answer is more useful than three quotes from shops that will struggle with the part. If it is a stock problem rather than a capability problem we will say that too, because the fix is different.
Do shops pay to be ranked higher?
No. Placement is not for sale and there is no premium tier. Shops pay for a request they choose to take, after they have seen an anonymous preview of it. Nobody can buy their way to the front of a match.
Why only three shops?
Because a drawing sent to twenty shops gets twenty rushed quotes and no attention. At 3 the shops know the list is short, so they read the part properly. If only one or two fit, you get one or two.
Can I ask for a specific region?
Yes. The RFQ form has a preferred supplier region field and we match inside it whenever a good fit exists. If nothing in that region fits the part we will tell you rather than quietly match outside it.
What stops a shop taking my files and not quoting?
A shop only gets your files after it takes the request, and taking a request is a paid action for them, so there is a cost to idle curiosity. If you tick the NDA box on the RFQ, files are held until an NDA is signed with you directly.