Cost-down

Related terms

Should-cost

Should-cost is an estimate of what a part should cost to make, built bottom-up from material, machine time, labor, overhead, tooling, and margin. Buyers use should-cost models to judge quotes and find cost-down targets, and suppliers use them to explain where a price comes from.

DFM

DFM is design for manufacturability, the review of a part design against the limits of the process that will make it, before tooling is cut. It checks wall thickness, draft, radii, tolerances, and material choice. DFM changes are cheap before steel is cut and expensive after.

EAU

EAU is estimated annual usage, the number of parts a buyer expects to order in a year. Suppliers use EAU to choose the process, tooling, cavity count, and material buys, so it moves the quote more than almost any other RFQ field. Overstated EAUs lead to overbuilt tooling and disputes.