Two foundry quotes on the same part are rarely comparable as received. Before looking at the piece price, normalize five lines: how tooling is treated, what machining is included, whether the alloy was substituted, what finishing covers, and which Incoterm applies. The apparent spread usually narrows sharply once those are aligned.
The Normalizer
| Line | What differs | How to align it |
|---|---|---|
| Tooling | Amortized into piece price or invoiced separately | Restate both as tooling plus piece price at your annual usage |
| Machining | All features, listed features, or as-cast | Price the missing operations before comparing |
| Alloy | As specified or an equivalent the shop melts | Confirm any substitution and its properties in writing |
| Finishing | Included or quoted as a secondary operation | Move it into the same column for both |
| Freight and duty | EXW, FCA or DDP | Compare landed cost, never piece price |
| MOQ and price breaks | Different break points | Evaluate at your actual order quantity |
| Validity | Days or a quarter, different metal basis | Note expiry; an expired cheaper quote is not cheaper |
| Lead time | Tooling, first article and production quoted together or apart | Build one calendar per supplier |
Why the Quotes Arrive Incomparable
It is rarely evasion. Supplier-side quoting is still overwhelmingly manual, so each estimator answers in their own format with their own assumptions about what was implied. The gaps in your request become the differences in their responses.
After Normalizing, Score More Than Price
Once the commercial lines are aligned, bring in capacity at your volume, past on-time performance, certification status and lead-time reliability. A shop that is three percent cheaper and two weeks less reliable is not cheaper.
How Buyer24 Helps
Buyer24 extracts line items from quotes in whatever format they arrive and puts them into a single like-for-like view, so tooling treatment and scope differences are visible before you compare prices. Get started →
FAQ
Should I ask foundries to quote in a fixed format?
Yes, and give them the format in the request rather than asking for a rework afterwards. A simple line structure covering tooling, piece price at stated quantities, machining, finishing, freight terms and validity removes most of the normalization work.
What if one quote includes machining and the other does not?
Price the machining separately and add it to the quote that excludes it, using either the second shop's number or a machining quote of your own. Comparing an as-cast price against a machined price is the single most common error in casting sourcing.
How long should a casting quote stay valid?
Ask for the validity window and the metal-price basis in writing. Aluminium prices in 2026 have been moving with tariffs, energy costs and a record Midwest premium, so validity periods are shorter than buyers who last sourced a few years ago expect.
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