Job shop or production shop: which one fits your part?

Sending an RFQ to the wrong type of shop is one of the most common reasons quotes come back high or not at all. The difference between a job shop and a production shop is not size. It is how the shop is set up to make money.

Job shops

Job shops are built for variety. They run many different parts in small quantities, change setups often and are good at figuring out how to make something new.

Good for: prototypes, one off parts, repair parts, short runs, fixtures, engineering changes.

Pricing: higher per piece because setup and programming are spread over few parts.

Production shops

Production shops are built for repetition. They dedicate machines or cells to parts that run again and again, often with bar feeders, pallet systems or robots.

Good for: hundreds to many thousands of parts, repeat orders, blanket orders with scheduled releases.

Pricing: lower per piece at volume, but they may not want small orders at all.

Side by side

	Job shop	Production shop
Typical order	1 to a few hundred	Hundreds to tens of thousands
Setup changes	Many per week	Few, machines dedicated
Strength	Flexibility, problem solving	Consistency, piece price
Weakness	Higher piece price	Less interest in small orders

How to decide

• One part or a prototype: job shop.
• First article now, production later: ask a production shop whether it will run the prototype too. Some will, to win the program.
• Steady repeat orders: production shop, and share annual volume in the RFQ.

What to tell either shop

Give the real quantity now and the expected yearly quantity. A shop that knows a part will repeat can plan fixtures and programs that bring the price down over time.