Where do engineering hours per technical RFQ come from?

Pull review time from job history: time tickets for quoting engineers, or the engineering allowance in estimates for the last batch of technical RFQs. Split fabrication support from true quote review when the tickets mix them.

Why is availability counted separately from reuse confidence?

They fail in different ways. Unavailable time never reaches quoting while reuse risk is time already spent that rework takes back. Splitting them shows which fix pays: freeing calendar hours or improving the quote library.

What counts as a technical RFQ?

One that needs an engineer to read a drawing, choose a process or estimate a cycle time before the quote can go out. A catalog item priced from a rate card does not pull engineering hours.

Should the reuse factor rise as the quote library grows?

Yes, if retrieval truly shortens reviews. Track engineering hours per technical RFQ each quarter; when the average falls, raise the factor. If it stays flat, the library is not being used and the factor should say so.

Contract Manufacturing, Job Shop Quoting & Make-to-Order calculator

Engineering Quote Burden Calculator

Technical RFQs each pull engineering hours from a quoting window that is never fully open. Enter the hours per RFQ, the RFQ count and the two factors that erode the request to see how many hours survive.

What this calculator does

Usable engineering hours that technical RFQs can draw from a limited quoting window, split into availability loss and confidence risk.

Formula used

Gross engineering hours = engineering hours per RFQ × technical RFQs
Availability loss = gross hours × (1 − availability share)
Usable engineering hours = gross hours × availability share × reuse confidence share
Confidence risk = hours available after availability loss × (1 − reuse confidence share)

Inputs explained

Engineering Hours per Technical RFQ: Engineering review hours per technical RFQ, from time tickets.
Technical RFQs Requiring Engineering Review: RFQs in the batch that need drawing review or process choices.
Engineering Availability for Quoting: Share of quoting time engineering can give to RFQ review.
Quote Reuse and Confidence: Share of reviewed hours reused without rework or repricing.

How to use the result

Best suited to sizing engineering support for an RFQ wave, deciding which RFQs need paid engineering.
Averages hide a long tail: one complex RFQ can consume several times the mean hours. Hours saved by reusing an old quote are not netted out; the reuse factor stands in for them. The result stops at usable hours and does not schedule them against the quoting calendar.

Current U.S. benchmarks

The U.S. prime lending rate is 7.00% (Federal Reserve via FRED, 2026-10-02). Payback and financing math should start from today's rate, not a remembered one.

Common questions

Where do engineering hours per technical RFQ come from? Pull review time from job history: time tickets for quoting engineers, or the engineering allowance in estimates for the last batch of technical RFQs. Split fabrication support from true quote review when the tickets mix them.
Why is availability counted separately from reuse confidence? They fail in different ways. Unavailable time never reaches quoting while reuse risk is time already spent that rework takes back. Splitting them shows which fix pays: freeing calendar hours or improving the quote library.
What counts as a technical RFQ? One that needs an engineer to read a drawing, choose a process or estimate a cycle time before the quote can go out. A catalog item priced from a rate card does not pull engineering hours.
Should the reuse factor rise as the quote library grows? Yes, if retrieval truly shortens reviews. Track engineering hours per technical RFQ each quarter; when the average falls, raise the factor. If it stays flat, the library is not being used and the factor should say so.

Last reviewed 2026-10-01.