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Annual volume and your tightest tolerance help us quote tooling and unit price accurately the first time.
Engineering guide
How stamping tooling cost and MOQ work
A stamped part’s real cost is the unit price plus the die cost spread over every part the die will make. So annual volume, not the first order, decides whether stamping is cheaper than laser cutting. Divide the tooling cost by the parts you expect to buy over the die’s life, then add it to the unit price.
The formula
Effective cost per part = unit price + (tooling cost ÷ total parts over the die’s life).
The table below uses example figures to show the effect of volume. They are illustrations, not a quote — tooling cost depends on part size, stations and material.
| Parts over die life | Example tooling | Tooling per part | Example unit price | Effective cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5,000 | US$ 5,000 | US$ 1.00 | US$ 0.08 | US$ 1.08 |
| 50,000 | US$ 5,000 | US$ 0.10 | US$ 0.08 | US$ 0.18 |
| 500,000 | US$ 5,000 | US$ 0.01 | US$ 0.08 | US$ 0.09 |
When laser cutting is cheaper
Laser cutting and bending need no die, but each part costs more to make. For a few hundred parts a year, laser cutting almost always wins. As annual volume grows into the tens of thousands, the die pays for itself and stamping wins. We look at your annual volume and quote the route that is cheaper for you.
What to send for an accurate quote
- Drawing (PDF plus DWG/DXF or STEP)
- Annual volume (EAU) and expected batch size
- Material, thickness and temper
- Tightest tolerance and where it applies
- Whether a die already exists and who owns it
- Target unit price, if you have one
Frequently asked questions
Why do you ask for annual volume?
Because it decides the die design. A die for 10,000 parts a year and one for a million are built differently, and the cheapest choice for you depends on that number.
Related pages
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