Production
Low and Medium Volume Sheet Metal Production
Most sheet metal work does not fit the extremes. It is not a single prototype and it is not a million pieces a year on hard tooling. It is somewhere between fifty and five thousand parts a year, released in batches, with revisions along the way. That middle is where MJM lives, and it is a harder problem than either end.
High volume shops are built around long runs and will price a 200 piece order to discourage it. Prototype shops will take the order and struggle to hold the tolerance on part 180. We are set up to run the middle repeatably, because most of our 600 plus customers are ordering exactly that.
Run Sizes
Where the Economics Change
Cost per piece does not fall smoothly. It steps down at the points where a different manufacturing approach becomes worth it.
1 to 25 Pieces
Prototype and first article. Laser cut and formed directly from your model with no tooling. Setup is most of the cost here, which is why the tenth part is dramatically cheaper than the first. Good for design validation and field trials. See prototyping.
25 to 250 Pieces
Low volume production. Nesting gets efficient, forming setups get amortized across a real batch, and fixturing starts to pay for itself on welded assemblies. This is the most common order size we see.
250 to 2,500 Pieces
Medium volume. Dedicated weld fixtures, optimized nests, and process documentation make the difference. Piece price drops meaningfully and repeatability improves because the process is locked rather than rebuilt each time.
2,500 and Up
Higher volume production runs on released schedules. At this point the conversation shifts to blanket orders, material buys, and stocking rather than individual POs.
Scheduling
Blanket Orders and Releases
If you order the same parts repeatedly, ordering them one PO at a time is the expensive way to do it. A blanket order commits to an annual quantity and releases against it on a schedule you control.
You get the price of the full annual quantity instead of the batch price, without paying for the whole year up front or finding floor space for it. We buy material against the commitment, which insulates you from spot market swings, and we can hold finished goods and ship on your call off.
Annual Pricing
Priced on total committed quantity, released in the sizes you actually need.
Material Coverage
We buy to the commitment, which stabilizes cost and removes mill lead time from your critical path.
Stocking and Call Off
We hold finished inventory and ship against your release, so the working capital stays on our balance sheet instead of yours.
Kanban and Min Max
For steady runners, we can run to a simple replenishment signal instead of a purchase order every cycle.
Cost Drivers
What Actually Moves Piece Price
Quantity is only one variable, and often not the biggest one. At low and medium volume, these matter more than most engineers expect.
Setup Count
Every bend, every weld setup, and every secondary operation carries a setup. Reducing the number of distinct operations does more at 100 pieces than shaving material.
Material Utilization
Part geometry determines how tightly a nest packs. Small changes to an outline can meaningfully change how many parts come off a sheet.
Tolerance
Tight tolerances are not free. Calling out a precision tolerance where a standard one would work adds inspection and scrap. Our tolerance standards show what we hold as a matter of course.
Fixturing
On welded assemblies, a fixture is a real cost that pays back across the run. Below roughly 25 pieces it usually does not. Above 100 it almost always does.
Hardware and Finish
Pressed hardware and finishing are often a larger share of piece price than the cutting and forming.
Revision Stability
A design that changes mid run scraps material and resets setups. Freezing the print before release is the cheapest cost reduction available.
More on this in our cost drivers breakdown and DFM guide.
Next Step
Send Us a Print
Email your drawing package to sales@mjmmfg.com or call (305) 620-2020. Send STEP or DXF files with a dimensioned PDF and we will come back with pricing, lead time, and any manufacturability notes worth flagging before you release the design.
MJM Manufacturing, Inc. — 5205 NW 161 Street, Miami Gardens, FL 33014. CAGE Code 0YLX1.