"Can you quote for 3,000 units of each?"
A brand client wants a price for three products: a cleanser, a toner and a moisturiser, 3,000 units each in 100ml bottles with pumps they will supply. The owner opens last year's quote for something similar and starts adapting it. Current ingredient prices need looking up. The moisturiser needs a batch size that does not fit neatly into any vessel. The toner fills fast; the moisturiser is thick and slow. The client's pumps need checking for fit on your filler.
It takes most of a day. A second brand client asking for something similar next week gets a quote built slightly differently, by someone else, at a different margin.
Every quote starts from zero
The costs that go into a contract manufacturing quote are well understood by the people doing it. They are not held anywhere a tool can reach, so each quote reassembles them.
- Ingredient costs are looked up from recent invoices each time.
- Batch sizes and vessel fit are worked out mentally.
- Filling speeds and labour per unit are estimates that vary by person.
- Charges for setup, cleaning, testing arranged on the client's behalf and storage are applied inconsistently.
- Minimum order quantities and how you price below them are not written down.
What slow quotes cost
Brand clients often ask several manufacturers at once, and the first sensible quote has an advantage. Inconsistent quotes cause awkward conversations when clients compare notes, and some jobs are underpriced without anyone knowing until the invoice is compared with the costs. The owner's time goes into arithmetic rather than into relationships and development.
Requotes are a hidden load. Brand clients often come back asking for a different quantity, a different pack size or a version without their own pumps, and each variation is rebuilt by hand. A founder comparing options wants three prices, not one, and each one is another hour.
A quoting tool built on your costs
- Ingredient prices come from your current purchase prices, and formula costs are calculated from the formula for stock products, or from a draft formula for custom ones.
- Your vessels, their capacities and your batching rules are set up, so the tool works out batch sizes and the number of batches for the quantity asked.
- Filling rates and labour are set per product type and pack format, from your own experience, and refined as actual runs are recorded.
- Packaging is priced from your supplier prices, or marked as client-supplied with any handling charge you apply.
- Setup, cleaning, storage and other charges are added according to your rules, and your minimums and small-run pricing are applied consistently.
- The tool produces a draft quote with the working behind it, for the owner or sales lead to check, adjust and send.
| Cost | In a spreadsheet | In the quoting tool |
|---|---|---|
| Ingredients | Looked up each time | Current purchase prices |
| Batches | Worked out mentally | From your vessels and rules |
| Filling and labour | Estimated per person | Your rates per pack type |
| Extras and minimums | Applied inconsistently | Applied by your rules |
Quotes without the day of arithmetic
A request becomes a draft quote quickly, and the person checking it spends their time on the judgement calls: is the client's pump suitable, is this a client worth a sharper price. Similar jobs are quoted consistently. After production, actual costs can be compared with the quote, so the next one is better.
The owner no longer has to be the only person who can quote.
Is quoting like this for you?
- Only one or two people can quote a job.
- Quotes take a day or more to prepare.
- Similar jobs have been quoted at different prices.
- Some jobs turned out to earn less than expected.
- Minimums and small-run charges are applied case by case.