Quoting by metal removal rate

[shaneg]

Has anyone out there tried to quote machining projects by metal removal rate of different types of features? if so how did you go about it? software,spreadsheet,etc.
I thought about trying this by doing some research and running some tests, but I don't want to reinvent the wheel.

 

[OldManfE]

You actually do quote your jobs by using the metal removal rate of different features by using a CAM system that has the most up to date information on the processes you use and the cutting parameters based on the material cut.

The CAM system then gives the total cycle time (very important feature of the CAM system that is based on the machine tool and control used), less the load/unload time, so you can use this info coupled with the machine burden rate and labor cost to give the best estimate of cost.

The CAM system will allow you to do "what if" analysis on different processing methods. Also this is a good way to look at tooling improvements based on cycle time reduction.