Why Machine Shops Rarely Publish a Minimum Order Quantity
Ask a machine shop for its minimum order quantity and you will usually get an evasive answer, and the evasiveness is honest. Unlike injection moulding or casting, machining has no tool that has to be paid for and no minimum batch the process imposes. A shop can make one part. The question is whether one part is worth making.
Where the real minimum comes from
Four things set the floor, and none of them is the machine.
Setup cost. Programming, fixturing and proving the first part are paid once. On one piece you pay all of it. On a hundred it is a rounding error. This is the whole reason small orders feel expensive.
Material stock size. Material is bought in bar or plate. If the smallest practical purchase yields twenty parts, an order for five means paying for stock that sits on a shelf. Some shops absorb that, some charge for the full length.
Secondary process minimums. Anodising, plating and heat treatment are subcontracted, and subcontractors have batch minimums and minimum charges. A plating line does not run for six parts at a sensible price. This is often the real constraint on a small order, not the machining.
Administrative cost. Quoting, purchase order, inspection, documents, packing, export declaration and a shipment. That work is close to fixed regardless of quantity, which is why many shops have a minimum order value rather than a minimum quantity.
The shape of the price curve
| Quantity | What dominates | What changes if you double it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 5 | Setup, entirely | Piece price falls sharply |
| 10 to 50 | Setup still significant | Piece price falls noticeably |
| 100 to 500 | Cycle time and material | Piece price falls modestly |
| 1000 and above | Cycle time, material, process choice | Little change without a process or design change |
The practical consequence is that the biggest saving available to you sits between one piece and roughly fifty, and it costs nothing to capture beyond ordering slightly more than you need. Beyond a few hundred pieces, quantity stops being the lever and design becomes the lever instead. The design changes guide covers what to do then.
How to buy small quantities sensibly
Ask for a price break table, not a price. Request 10, 25, 50, 100 and 250 in the same quote. It costs the shop almost nothing extra and it shows you exactly where the curve flattens. Frequently the 50 piece price is close enough to the 25 piece price that ordering 50 is obviously right.
Separate setup from piece price. If setup is a visible line, you can see what a repeat order should cost when the setup is already done and the fixture already exists. Then ask, in writing, that the repeat price reflects that.
Ask what happens on a repeat. Will the programme and the soft jaws be kept? For how long? A shop that stores fixtures for twelve months is worth more than one that reprograms every time.
Combine part numbers. If a shop has a minimum order value, three small parts in one purchase order and one shipment often clears it when one part alone does not. It also spreads the freight and the customs entry, which is where small orders really hurt on landed cost.
Do not split an order to get a price. Ordering 100 as four lots of 25 to smooth cash flow means paying setup four times unless the shop explicitly agrees to run them as one batch and ship in stages. Ask for a blanket order with scheduled releases instead.
When a small order is the right call anyway
There are cases where paying a bad piece price is the correct decision:
- Proving a new supplier. A first order is an experiment. You are buying evidence, not parts, and evidence is worth paying for. This is the core of the second source playbook.
- A fit or function check before committing a drawing to production.
- A spare for equipment that is down. The piece price is irrelevant against downtime.
- A bridge batch while a larger order is in transit.
In all four, ask for a first article inspection even though the quantity is small. Small orders are exactly where process variation shows up, because the process has not settled.
What to ask a shop directly
- Do you have a minimum order quantity or a minimum order value?
- What is your setup charge for this part, as a separate line?
- Can you quote 10, 25, 50, 100 and 250 so I can see the break?
- Do any of the secondary processes have a batch minimum I should know about?
- If I reorder within six months, do you keep the programme and the fixture, and what does that save?
Question four catches the most people. A shop can machine twelve parts happily and then discover that the anodiser will not run a batch that small at a sensible price, which turns a small order into an expensive one after the fact.
The short answer
There is no technical minimum for machining. There is a point below which the price per piece stops telling you anything useful about production cost, and that point is usually somewhere between twenty and fifty pieces for a typical part.
Order above it when you can, ask for the break table when you cannot and combine part numbers to clear a value minimum rather than inflating a quantity you do not need.
When you want a price break table rather than a single number, say so on the RFQ. Send the drawing here and ask for quantities at several breaks.
Frequently asked questions
Can I order a single machined part?
Technically yes, almost anywhere. Whether it is sensible depends on the setup cost, which you pay in full on one piece. For a fit check or a functional prototype it is usually worth it. For a production part it rarely is, because the piece price bears no relation to what you will pay later.
Why do some suppliers quote an MOQ anyway?
Usually it is a commercial minimum rather than a technical one. Below a certain order value the administrative work, the quoting, the inspection and the shipment cost more than the job earns. Ask whether the minimum is a quantity or a value, because a value minimum can often be met by combining parts.
Does a low quantity mean worse quality?
It can mean less consistency, because the process has not settled. The first few parts off a new setup are where variation lives. This is exactly why a first article inspection matters more on a small order, not less.
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