Getting your first quote
The China Manufacturing parts, Inc. quoting experience will accelerate your workflow and make it easier than ever to get your parts manufactured. Once you've created an account, all you'll need to start using China Manufacturing parts, Inc. is a 3D CAD model of the part you want to make. With your CAD model at the ready, follow these steps to get your first quote:
Upload your model by clicking the grey upload box, and select one or more files from your computer. This will automatically create a new quote.
Click Configure to select the manufacturing process, material, color, post-processing, and quantity that you want quoted, and then click Apply configuration. If your part comes back with DFM feedback, you can click over to the Manufacturing feedback tab in the configuration window to review and accept it.
If the quote looks good, click Begin checkout on the right-hand side to fill in your shipping and payment information before placing your order.
Explore additional features
Our aim as a virtual manufacturer is to make the ordering process as seamless as possible by helping you:
Manage and compare individual quotes
Increase team visibility on quotes for streamlined approvals and purchasing
Group and bulk configure large BOMs
Discover new manufacturing capabilities
This section will dive into those features so that you can quickly master our quoting experience.
Manage and compare multiple quotes
Our quotes dashboard makes it easy to group files into distinct quotes, compare the prices based on different configurations, and check out whenever you’re ready without having to remove parts from your cart.
Your quotes are organized in the dashboard by the creation date, and you can edit the name of each quote by clicking into the quote detail page and selecting the pencil icon.
If one of the parts in your quote isn't ready to be purchased or has manufacturability issues that are blocking you from checking out, you can click the ellipsis menu to the right of the Price and select Move to... in order to shift the configured part to an existing quote, or to create a new quote for the part.
Once all of the parts in a quote are configured and priced, you can check out directly from the dashboard by clicking the Begin checkout button on the right-hand side of your quote.
Share quotes with your team
From either your quotes dashboard or your quote detail page, you’re now able to share the quote with collaborators who can view, edit, and/or purchase parts.
The first way to share is to click Copy link, which provides you with an access link that your teammate can paste into their browser’s URL bar.
Alternatively, you can invite new collaborators via email. Once you type in their email address(es) and click Send invitation email, our platform will automatically send them a link to check out the quote.
The quote sharing window also allows you to view and manage collaborators at any time. Once someone purchases the quote, all collaborators on that quote will receive an email confirmation. On the Orders page, you can see who paid for it and the order’s shipping destination.
Forward to Purchaser
You can send quote details directly to your purchasing team.
Forwarding will enable a purchaser to edit, share, download or purchase this quote.
Enter the full email address, and include a note to your collaborator. (optional)
Bulk configure large BOMs
With our Bulk Configuration feature, you can add and manage requirements for a large bill of materials (BOM). If you have multiple parts in your quote with the same manufacturing requirements, you can now apply the same configuration to all of them with a single action.
To bulk configure a selection of parts, navigate to the quote detail page from your dashboard and click the checkboxes on the left. You can also click the master checkbox in the top row to select all files in a quote.
When you make your selections, click Bulk configure parts to specify manufacturing requirements for your parts just as you would for an individual part, and apply the configuration to save it to each part you selected.
Discover other manufacturing capabilities
In addition to our core competencies of 3D Printing, CNC, and urethane casting, we have an excellent network of partners capable of producing parts in Injection Molding and Die Casting. To browse our full list of additional capabilities, scroll through the Process dropdown while configuring your part.
Once you choose one and save the configuration, click Request manual quote and your China Manufacturing parts, Inc. sales representative will be notified that you’re looking for a quote. If you don’t already have a dedicated sales representative, you will automatically be assigned one.
Your sales representative will reach out within one business day to scope out your project and make sure it’s a good fit for our network. If it is, quoting generally takes about 24 hours.
In addition to our manually quoted processes, our quoting engine also offers a wide array of finishing options for machined parts. Once you’ve configured your part for CNC machining and selected your desired material and quantity, you can get instant pricing for one or more finishes.
Tips and tricks to help you get the most out of China Manufacturing parts, Inc.
CAD Files with Multiple Bodies/Assemblies
For CNC machining, we accept CAD files for parts with modeled-in pins and inserts, but we fail other multiple body files. For 3D printing, we do accept multiple body CAD files, although we will provide a DFM warning in case the parts are not properly printable. We do not currently accept assembly files or CAD files that contain multiple bodies for urethane casting, injection molding, or die casting.
Mating Parts
When you place an order that has a mating part not made by China Manufacturing parts, we may request that you provide the mating part or send us a link to the source so our manufacturing partner can test for fit and accuracy. This isn’t always the case, but if the mating part is a custom thread, there’s a high likelihood this ask will be made of you. If we need to source the mating part ourselves, it should be kept in mind this will likely add to the lead time and cost.
Partial Shipments
If you place an order that has different lead times, we will send all parts together on the longer lead. If you would like to receive your parts as they are ready, you will need to place separate orders grouped by the lead time. Because our shipping costs are calculated from the order data, we kindly request you submit separate orders instead of reaching out to separate the parts post-order. This is to avoid shipping cost calculation errors.
Updating the CAD or PDF Files Post-Order
By default, we cannot guarantee that we will accommodate an update to either the CAD or drawing post-order. This is due to a number of reasons including new cost and lead time drivers (tighter tolerances, more difficult geometry, etc.) that will render the initial quote inaccurate. If it is absolutely necessary to make a change, we request you alert us immediately and we will either provide an updated quote and make the change via our Engineering Change Order (ECO) process, or cancel your existing order before it is kicked off. If the order has already been kicked off by our manufacturing partner and you need us to cancel, we cannot guarantee a full refund.
3D Printing Materials and Processes
Unlike CNC orders, we do not review 3D printing orders for manufacturability other than to notify you if the walls of your part are too thin to be reliably printed. In addition to that, tolerances on 3D printed parts cannot be guaranteed though some materials are better than others in that regard. Please check out our Capabilities Guide and/or Help Center to understand the different 3D printing process, materials, and limitations.
Splitting 3D Prints
In some cases, such as a part not having flat surfaces to print on, our manufacturing partners may need to split your model to increase the chances of a successful print. If this is done, the part will be glued together by our MP and sent to you as a whole.
CNC Quoting Process
While most of the CNC parts submitted on our platform are quoted automatically, more complex parts need to be quoted manually by our manufacturing team. Once you configure your part and click "Get exact quote", our manufacturing engineers review your part and any attached 2D drawings to verify production details. We will relay any DFM feedback, tips for cost/time savings, and questions about any features, all via annotations on the 3D viewer. We will also generate the exact costs so you can evaluate. This process takes less than two hours. For more information on CNC DFM and cost drivers, please check out this article and/or our Hardware Guide which goes more in-depth about ways to reduce CNC costs.
Custom Materials and Post-Processes
If you are seeking a material, process, or finishing process that you do not see on our platform, please reach out to us at inquiry.mf@chinamanufacturingparts.com and we will do our best to accommodate your request. Please note this will require a manual quote that could take up to 2 business days to return.
If you have questions or feedback about our quoting experience, please reach out to us via live chat or at inquiry.mf@chinamanufacturingparts.com--we’d love to hear from you!