Form templates / Manufacturing & Industrial
Custom Manufacturing Inquiry Form
A custom manufacturing inquiry form has to capture a specification, not a description. Material, tolerance, quantity, finish and a drawing - because everything else is guesswork.
For manufacturers, fabricators and industrial suppliers.
Tolerance is the price
The same part in the same material can differ in cost by an order of magnitude depending on tolerance. A drawing without one gets quoted at whatever the estimator assumes, and the assumption is either too tight to be competitive or too loose to be accepted.
So this template asks for tolerance explicitly, with a "standard" option for people who genuinely don't need one. It also asks about prototype versus production quantity - the other question that changes the process, the tooling and the price entirely.
Fewer calls, better numbers
A phone call is a fine way to build trust and a terrible way to collect specifications - nobody remembers everything, and nothing is written down. Collect the facts in writing first, and use the call for the part that actually needs a human.
You'll also stop quoting jobs you didn't want: when the form asks about budget and timing, the mismatches disqualify themselves.
Specifications, tolerances and quantities in writing
An RFQ described on the phone is an RFQ you'll re-quote. Material, quantity, tolerance and delivery date belong in fields, where they can't be misheard and can be forwarded to the shop floor exactly as received.
The same discipline suits internal forms - maintenance requests, visitor registration, incident reports - where consistency is what makes a month of records readable.
Price the right jobs
Every quote costs you time whether or not you win it. Asking about budget and timing up front isn't rude - it's how both sides avoid a week of conversation about a job that was never going to happen.
Edit it like a document, publish like a link
Add questions, remove questions, change the order and the wording, set your accent colour. When you save, the form is live at its own address - share it by link, QR code or a button on your site, and read the answers in your dashboard.
What this template asks
- Your name
- Company
- Email address
- Phone number
- What is it?
- Describe what it does and how it's used
- Which processes do you think are needed?
- Material
- Tolerance required
- Surface finish or coating
- Link to drawings or CAD files
- What stage are you at?
- Quantity for the first order
- Expected annual volume
- Is there existing tooling?
- When do you need the first delivery?
- Any certification needed?
- Do you have a target price per part?
- Anything else?
More Manufacturing & Industrial forms
Questions
Can customers attach drawings?
Not yet - ask for a link to a shared folder, which is how most engineers already send STEP and DXF files. The structured answers tell you whether you can quote before you open them.
Should I ask about annual volume?
Yes - a 50-off enquiry that becomes 5,000 a year is a different quote, and knowing lets you propose tooling. This template asks about both the first order and expected repeat.
Can I ask for photos or files?
Not yet - uploads are on the roadmap. In the meantime, most people ask for a link to photos, or reply to the response with an email asking for them. Everything else about the job is captured here.
Can I see where each quote request came from?
Yes. Add a hidden tracking parameter to the link (for example one link on your site and another on your Google profile) and it's stored with the response.
How fast can I put this live?
About a minute. Pick the template, change the wording, press save - saving is publishing - and you get a link to share.
Can we use this behind the scenes as well as with customers?
Yes, and many do: the same account can hold a public RFQ form and internal forms for maintenance or visitors. Only your team needs logins.
Publish your custom manufacturing inquiry form today
Start from this template and change anything you like. Free to begin.