Guides / Process

What to Put on a Metal Stamping RFQ: A Print and Data Checklist

September 24, 2026

A stamping shop cannot quote what it does not know. Leave out annual volume and they price the worst case. Leave out finish and they assume the cheapest option, then requote when you correct it. Every gap costs you a round of emails and a slower quote.

This is the list of what a stamping RFQ needs to come back accurate the first time, split into what belongs on the print and what the print never carries.

Why incomplete RFQs come back high

A press shop prices unknowns with a safety margin, not a guess in your favor. Send the same part with different assumptions and the quotes can spread by 40% or more. A shop that does not know your volume prices for a short run. A shop that does not know your finish assumes bare metal. A shop that does not know your release pattern assumes you want it all at once, which changes how they plan the press.

None of this is the shop being difficult. A stamping quote commits press time, die design and material buying weeks or months out. Missing information gets priced as risk, and risk is expensive.

The RFQ package is the second step of our guide to how to source stamped parts, which then covers estimating the price, comparing quotes and lead time.

On the print

A stamping print needs to answer these without anyone asking:

• Material and grade. Steel type and temper, or the specific alloy. “Steel” is not a material callout. “1008 CS Type B, dead soft” is.
• Thickness and tolerance on thickness, since stamping tooling is built around a specific gauge.
• Critical dimensions, marked as critical, with their tolerance. Not every dimension needs the same tolerance, and marking the ones that do tells the shop where the die needs to be precise and where it does not.
• Hole position and size tolerance, separately from the outline tolerance if they differ.
• Flatness callout, if the part needs to sit flat after forming. Stamped parts spring back, and flatness after forming is a real spec, not an assumption.
• Burr direction and maximum burr height. Which face the burr can be on, and how big it can be, changes die design and sometimes adds a deburr operation.
• Bend radii, referenced to material thickness. A radius that is too tight for the grade and thickness will crack, and a shop that catches it on the print saves you a failed first article.
• Finish, spelled out: mill finish, passivated, plated and to what spec, painted and to what color and spec.
• Part marking, if you need a date code, lot number or logo, and where it goes.

Data the print never carries

This is the half of the RFQ that gets left out most often, and it is the half that sets the quote.

• Annual volume, or your best estimate. This is the single biggest driver of both die design and piece price.
• First order size. A shop may quote differently if the first release is small while annual volume is large, because tooling has to be paid for somewhere.
• Release pattern. Weekly releases against a blanket order, one shot per quarter, or a single buy. This changes how a shop plans press time and inventory.
• Split across plants, if any. If two of your plants both take this part, say so and give the split. It affects packaging and sometimes shipping terms.
• Target price, if you have one. Shops do not have to hit it, but a target tells them where to focus: a simpler die, a different material temper, or a note that your target assumes a volume they should confirm.
• Start of production date. Tooling lead time plus sample approval has to fit before this date, or the quote needs to say it cannot.

Secondary operations

State every operation after the press, or assume the quote does not include it:

• Tapping, threading or inserting hardware
• Welding, whether spot, projection or another process
• Plating, painting or another coating, and to what spec
• Deburring beyond the burr height callout on the print
• Assembly of more than one stamped component
• Cleanliness requirements, especially for parts going into sealed or lubricated assemblies
• Who sources any hardware that gets assembled in, you or the shop

Every one of these is either included in piece price or quoted as an adder. Leaving it out does not remove the cost, it just means you find out later.

Quality and paperwork

What the industry and the part require, stated plainly:

• PPAP level, if this is an automotive part, and which elements you need submitted
• First article inspection format you expect, and how many samples
• Material certifications, mill certs or specific test reports
• Lot traceability, if you need parts traceable to a coil or a production date
• Packaging standard, returnable containers, dunnage, or a customer-specified pack pattern
• Labeling, if there is a specific format for cartons or containers

A shop that has to guess at paperwork either quotes it high to cover the unknown, or leaves it out and you find the gap at PPAP submission.

Tooling section of the RFQ

Tooling questions belong in the RFQ, not in a follow up call after the piece price comes back:

• New die, or transfer of an existing die from another supplier. A transfer changes both timeline and price, since the new shop has to inspect and often requalify the tooling.
• Ownership, stated up front. If you expect to own the die, say so, because it changes how the shop quotes design and how the purchase order gets written.
• Storage and maintenance expectations. Most buyers leave the die in the shop’s press area and expect normal maintenance in the piece price, but say so if you expect something different.
• Expected life, if you have a target, so the shop can price tool steel and station count to match.

For the mechanics of tooling price and ownership terms, see what stamping tooling costs and who owns the die.

A copy and paste RFQ template

Use this as the body of your RFQ email or upload, filled in:

Part name / number:
Material and grade:
Thickness (with tolerance):
Finish:
Critical dimensions and tolerances: (attach print)
Annual volume (estimate is fine):
First order size:
Release pattern:
Target price (optional):
Start of production date:
Secondary operations:
PPAP / quality requirements:
Tooling: new die / transfer / owner:

Attach the print and send this block with it. A shop can turn a complete RFQ into a real quote in days instead of a week of back and forth clarifying what you meant.

Where we fit

Send your print and this data through our RFQ form and we match it with up to three stamping shops that run the right die type, press tonnage and volume band, then reply within 24 business hours. We do not stamp parts and we do not take a cut of the order. If you have not picked a process yet, start with progressive die vs transfer die vs deep draw, since the process you need changes which shops are worth asking.

Frequently asked questions

Keep reading

• Stamping Press Tonnage Calculation: The Formula Shops Use and Where It Falls Short
• Stamping Die Maintenance: How Tool Life Is Managed and the Questions Worth Asking