Why does the same part cost $12 at one shop and $28 at another? Because a sheet metal part price is not a number, it is a sum. Here are the line items.
The 6 cost line items
A sheet metal part price almost always breaks down into six items: material, cutting, bending, secondary operations (drilling, tapping), finishing, and finally the amortized setup. The weight of each item varies enormously with the part and the quantity.
1. Material
The most visible item. It depends on three things: the material type (stainless costs 3 to 4 times more than steel, aluminum sits in between), the thickness, and above all the actual sheet area consumed — not the part area.
A 200×200 mm part can consume 260×260 mm of sheet if it nests poorly. That 35% extra material — you pay for it.
That is the whole point of nesting, the way parts are packed on the sheet. Good nesting reaches 80-85% utilization. Poor nesting drops to 55%.
2. Cutting
Billed by machine time. It depends on total cut length (contour plus every hole), the process (laser, waterjet, plasma) and the thickness. A part with 30 small holes costs far more to cut than a solid part of the same size.
3. Bending
Billed by number of bends and handling time. A simple bend is quick. But a part with 8 bends in different directions needs several handling steps, sometimes a tool change, and time climbs fast. Closed bends or bends that interfere with each other are particularly expensive.
4. Secondary operations
Tapping, countersinking, press-nut insertion, deburring: each operation adds time. A simple hole is nearly free, but an M8 tap across 50 parts adds up to real cumulative time.
5. Finishing
Raw, deburred, grained, painted, anodized, galvanized: finishing can double a part's price. Powder coating and anodizing are often outsourced, with a minimum batch cost that penalizes small runs.
6. Setup amortized over the batch
This is the invisible and most decisive item. Programming the cut, setting up the press brake, running the first article: this time is fixed, whether you order 1 part or 500.
| Quantity | Setup per part | Effect on unit price |
|---|---|---|
| 1 part | 100% | Very high |
| 10 parts | 10% | High |
| 100 parts | 1% | Low |
| 500 parts | 0.2% | Negligible |
That is why a one-off part costs $28 and the same part in a batch of 100 costs $9. The part did not change: the setup got diluted.
How to reduce cost
- Group orders to dilute setup.
- Simplify geometry: fewer bends, fewer handling steps.
- Choose the right material: do not use stainless where painted steel will do.
- Think about nesting from the design stage: shapes that pack together reduce scrap.
- Standardize thicknesses and holes to limit tool changes.
Estimate before you quote
DRAWLESS generates, alongside the drawing, an estimate of material consumed and machine time. You know immediately whether a part will be expensive before you even send a quote request — and you can adjust the design to bring the price down.