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

Customer Change Cost Calculator

Use this calculator to price customer-driven changes such as drawing revisions, material substitutions, tolerance changes, due-date pulls, packaging changes, and order quantity changes.

What this calculator does

  • Estimate cost caused by customer changes after quote or order release.
  • deciding whether to issue a change order, revised quote, or customer approval request
  • The result estimates the cost that should be recovered for the customer change.

Formula used

  • Variable customer change cost = units affected by customer change × change cost per affected unit × customer-approved change scope
  • Total customer change cost = variable customer change cost + fixed change-order cost

Inputs explained

  • units affected by customer change: Use parts, assemblies, kits, lots, or releases affected by the customer change or drawing revision.
  • change cost per affected unit: Include extra material, labor, machine time, inspection, rework, scrap, outside service changes, and schedule disruption per unit.
  • customer-approved change scope: Use the percentage of the change expected to be covered by the customer or included in the revised commercial scope.
  • fixed change-order cost: Include reprogramming, setup changes, fixture changes, documentation, purchasing, first article, and administrative work.

How to use the result

  • Use it to support change orders, revise pricing, update promised dates, and avoid absorbing customer-driven cost.
  • Treat the result as an estimate until the RFQ package, customer drawing revision, material quote, routing, setup standard, shop rate, outside service quote, scrap history, open capacity, due date, and quoted commercial terms are confirmed for the same job, lot size, and customer order.

Common questions

  • What is the customer change cost calculator for? Use this calculator to price customer-driven changes such as drawing revisions, material substitutions, tolerance changes, due-date pulls, packaging changes, and order quantity changes.
  • What information should I enter? Enter units affected by customer change, change cost per affected unit, customer-approved change scope, and fixed change-order cost using the same quote revision, customer order, lot size, routing, and cost basis.
  • What does the result tell me? The result estimates the cost that should be recovered for the customer change.
  • When is the result only an estimate? Treat the result as an estimate until the RFQ package, customer drawing revision, material quote, routing, setup standard, shop rate, outside service quote, scrap history, open capacity, due date, and quoted commercial terms are confirmed for the same job, lot size, and customer order.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.