What to Send When You Start a Manufacturing Project

Most teams delay the first email because they think the drawing has to be perfect. It does not. The useful first step is sending enough context for an engineer to see the constraints — not a polished sales deck.

The minimum that usually works

Any one of these is a reasonable start:

• A CAD file — STEP, IGES, or native format if you have it
• A PDF drawing with dimensions on the critical features
• A physical sample — even a broken prototype tells us what failed
• Clear photos with a ruler or known object for scale, plus a short note on what the part must do

A paragraph in plain language often matters more than a missing tolerance block: load, environment, expected volume, and what went wrong with the last supplier.

What speeds up the review

You send	Why it helps
Target quantity (even a range)	Separates prototype routes from tooling routes
Material preference, if any	Or "open to recommendation" — both are fine
Where the part lives	Temperature, moisture, UV, chemicals, user contact
What must mate or align	Multi-part products fail at interfaces, not in isolation
Your deadline	Lets us say early if the schedule is realistic

You do not need a BOM, a brand story, or a finalized color palette for the first technical read.

What we do with it

An engineer reviews what you sent against our own CNC and mold floor and the specialist workshops we manage. You get back:

• Whether the part is realistic in the material and process you had in mind
• What would change in a DFM pass before tooling money moves
• Whether the next step is prototype, sample, or tooling — and what that costs in time, not just price

Design fee quotes, when they apply, credit fully toward production. Tooling belongs to whoever pays for it. One engineer stays on the project through shipment.

Before sensitive files

If the drawing is not public yet, say so in the first message. We review NDAs before you upload restricted data — that is normal, not a delay tactic.

When we are not the right fit

We will say so early: wrong process, wrong scale, certification you require that we do not hold, or a geometry we cannot stand behind in production. That saves you weeks compared to a factory that says yes and disappears.

If you have a sample or drawing sitting in a folder, start a project — a useful answer usually comes back within one business day.