Contract Manufacturing, Job Shop Quoting & Make-to-Order worked example

Engineering Quote Burden at 99% engineering availability for quoting: a worked example

Push engineering availability for quoting up to 99% and the picture changes. This example computes every intermediate figure at that operating point. sizing engineering support for RFQs and deciding which opportunities require paid engineering review

The inputs for this scenario

  • Engineering hours per technical RFQ: 2.8 hr / RFQ (unchanged)
  • Technical RFQs requiring engineering review: 22 RFQs (unchanged)
  • Engineering availability for quoting: 99 % (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 90)
  • Quote reuse and confidence factor: 85 % (unchanged)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (gross engineering quote hours requested = engineering hours per technical rfq × technical rfqs requiring engineering review) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 51.84 hr for usable engineering quote hours, the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 61.6 hr for gross engineering quote hours requested.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 0.62 hr for engineering hours lost to limited availability.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 9.15 hr for engineering hours at risk from uncertainty.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where engineering availability for quoting sits at 90% and the headline result is 47.12 hr, this scenario comes in 10% above the baseline at 51.84 hr.
  • It computes the usable engineering hours a set of technical RFQs will actually consume, after scaling the raw hour request by engineering availability and by a reuse-and-confidence factor. The value of this scenario is the size of the gap it exposes: that gap, priced out over a year, is the budget you can justify spending to close it.

Results at a glance

  • usable engineering quote hours: 51.84 hr (headline result)
  • gross engineering quote hours requested: 61.6 hr
  • engineering hours lost to limited availability: 0.62 hr
  • engineering hours at risk from uncertainty: 9.15 hr

Run it with your numbers

  • Every input above is editable in the live Engineering Quote Burden calculator, which recalculates instantly and can be shared with the inputs intact.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.