How We Vet the Shops That Quote You
Written out in full, including the parts we cannot check. If a sourcing site will not tell you its method, the method is usually whoever paid most.
The five checks
A shop clears all five before a motor part request reaches it. They are ordinary questions, and the useful information is usually in how a shop answers rather than in the answer itself.
- 1. The machine list, with countsModel and quantity, not a category. "Three Doosan Puma 2600SY with sub spindle and live tooling" is an answer. "CNC turning centres" is a brochure. For motor work we look for whether turning and milling can happen in one setup, because that is what makes a concentricity callout between two bearing seats cheap instead of expensive.
- 2. How they gauge a boreThis single question separates shops faster than any certificate. A shop that machines bearing seats answers with a bore gauge, an air gauge, a CMM or a roundness tester, and can say whether it checks in process or after the fact. A shop that answers "calipers" is not wrong for every part, it is just wrong for a bearing seat at H7.
- 3. A sample inspection reportAny report, from any past job, with the customer details removed. We are not reading the numbers. We are reading whether the shop records what it measures, which instrument it used and who signed it. Shops that cannot produce one usually do not produce one for you either.
- 4. What they declineWe ask what a shop turns down. A shop that says it takes everything is either very large or not listening. The answer we want is specific: no castings under a certain size, no Inconel, nothing over a certain length between centres, no first article on a two week lead. A clear no is the best predictor of a quote that holds.
- 5. A reference from a buyer, not a testimonialA contact who bought a part, ideally a repeat part, and will talk about what went wrong once. Every supplier relationship has one story like that. The useful signal is what the shop did next.
What disqualifies a shop
Any one of these ends it. There is no appeal process because there is no benefit to us in keeping a shop that does these things.
- Quoting a fit it cannot holdTaking an H6 bore knowing the plan is to hope. This is the one that costs a buyer a programme.
- Going quietA shop takes a request and then does not reply to the buyer within 48 hours, including to say no.
- Refusing an NDAThe buyer asked, the shop took the request anyway, then would not sign.
- A preview that did not matchThe shop reports the part was different from the preview and is right. That one is our failure, not the shop's, and the request is credited.
- Approaching the buyer about unrelated workThe contact details come with the request for that request.
What we cannot verify
Being straight about the limits is more useful than a badge, so here they are.
- Current capacity. A shop's machine list is not its free spindle hours this month. We ask, the shop answers, and that answer ages fast.
- Certificates. We look at the certificate and the certification body. We do not audit the quality system behind it, and an ISO 9001 certificate says a process is documented, not that your part will be right.
- Financial health. Not something we check. On a large or long programme this is worth a credit report of your own.
- Subcontracting. Grinding, heat treatment, anodising and balancing are often outside jobs even at good shops. We ask which operations leave the building and pass the answer on, but we do not vet the second tier.
- The shop floor. No site visit. See the questions below.
How a shop stays matched
There is no permanent list. A shop that clears the checks is matched to requests that fit it. What keeps it there is narrow and boring: it replies inside 48 hours, it declines parts outside its range instead of quoting them, and the buyers it quotes do not come back with a problem it had been warned about.
Because a shop pays per request rather than per order, the pressure runs the right way. A shop that takes requests it cannot win is paying for the privilege, so the ones that last are the ones that read the preview carefully and say no often.
If a shop lets you down
Tell us, even though the order is not ours. Two things follow. The shop stops receiving requests in the category where it failed, immediately and without a discussion. And if you want, we re-match the part to other shops at no cost, with the history attached so nobody repeats the same mistake.
We will not mediate a commercial dispute between you and a shop, and we have no standing to. We will tell you plainly what we knew about that shop before the match.
Questions about the method
Do you inspect the shops in person?
No, and any site that tells you it audits every shop it lists is worth a second look. We check what can be checked from a distance: machine list, gauging, sample reports, references from other buyers and how the shop answers a hard technical question. A physical audit is something you or a third party can arrange before a large programme, and we will say when we think a part warrants one.
What happens if a shop misses the tolerance?
That sits between you and the shop, because the contract is between you and the shop. Tell us as well. A missed fit that the shop had already been told about is the clearest disqualifying signal there is, and it ends the relationship on our side.
Can a shop pay to be matched more often?
No. Shops pay for the requests they take. There is no placement fee, no ranking fee and no subscription that moves a shop up a list. A shop that does not fit a part does not see it at any price.
Do you match shops you have never sent work to before?
Yes, when the fit is obviously right and the shop clears the checks below. We say so on the preview. A new shop with the right lathe, the right gauging and a straight answer about what it cannot do is a better match than a familiar shop guessing at a part outside its range.
Send the part and see the method run
Up to 3 shops, each one through the checks above. Reply within 24 business hours.