Direct answer: A five-part RFQ checklist for stamped and deep drawn parts. Written for buyers and design engineers.

Why a complete RFQ matters

A complete RFQ does not need a long email. It needs seven things: the drawing, the material grade, the quantity, the finish, the critical tolerances, the required documentation, and the correct revision of any customer-specific requirement.

Every missing line costs a round trip. Three round trips typically cost a week or more, before the supplier has started on the tooling.

The items buyers most often leave out: the measurement position for wall thickness, whether the OD or the ID is the functional diameter, the packaging specification, the volume ramp, and the revision of the customer requirement.

This is the checklist we would send you. Copy it into your own RFQ.

Sources: balford.net/resources/checklists/ and balford.net/contact/.

1. Drawing and model

Controlled 2D drawing and 3D model, at the same revision
Material grade, temper and thickness
Annual volume and first-batch quantity
Critical dimensions, datums and functional requirements
Surface finish, plating, heat treatment and masking areas
Required documentation: PPAP, IMDS, RoHS, REACH, material certificate
Packaging, shipping and compliance targets
Existing samples or assembly context, if available

An RFQ with these eight lines is complete enough to quote without a clarification loop.

2. The five questions to ask about every quotation

What draw ratio, blank size and press tonnage did you calculate?
What is the forming route, and how many operations does it take?
Which dimensions are set by the tooling, and which drift with material lot and springback?
If the first article is out of tolerance, what is the remedy, and who pays for the die change?
What is the lead time split between building the tool and producing saleable samples?

Those three numbers - draw ratio, blank size, tonnage - explain most of the difference between two very different quotations for what looks like the same part.

3. Wall thickness: the most common first-article dispute

Drawing thins the wall where it passes over the die radius. A drawn part is close to nominal at the bottom centre, thinnest in the lower wall, and slightly thick again at the top edge because the flange compressed as its circumference shrank.

That gradient is the physics of the process, not a defect.

A wall thickness callout without a measurement position cannot be held by anybody: the supplier and the customer measure at different heights and both are correct.

Fix it on the drawing. State the height, for example: 0.5 mm +/-0.05 measured 10 mm from the base.

One line on the drawing removes the most common sampling argument in deep drawing.

4. Material and process detail that changes the price

Exact grade and temper, not just "stainless". 304, 316L and 430 lead to different routes, tooling and prices.
Which diameter is functional: OD, ID or both. If one can be free, the tool has more tolerance to work with.
Cosmetic requirement on the outside wall. Draw marks are inherent to forming; say so early if the wall will be visible.
A thread on a drawn wall needs controlled thickness, normally an ironing pass first.
Whether an intermediate anneal is acceptable if the draw ratio requires it.

Material is usually the largest single line in a stamped or drawn quotation.

5. Documentation and compliance

PPAP level required, and whether an IMDS submission is required
RoHS and REACH declarations
Material certificates and traceability records
The correct revision of any customer-specific requirement
Destination country and Incoterms

The customer requirement revision is a common cause of a rejected IMDS submission, because it is often already out of date when it is sent.

6. IMDS: the four high-risk points on stamped parts

Missing plating layers in the material structure
Wrong component / material structure
Incorrect weight
An outdated customer requirement revision

Stamped and deep drawn parts fail IMDS on structure and weight far more often than on chemistry. Four points cause almost all of the rework:

Our 15-step IMDS compliance checklist is published at balford.net/imds-compliance-checklist/.

7. Supplier audit checklist

Quality system evidence: ISO 9001:2015 and any IATF 16949 practices
Process route: tooling, stamping, deep drawing, machining, plating, heat treatment
Inspection equipment and measurement methods
Material traceability and supplier data records
Sample and PPAP process
IMDS / REACH / RoHS support process
Tooling maintenance and change control
Export, logistics and payment responsibility

Ask which operations the supplier performs in house and which are subcontracted. An honest answer here predicts how the rest of the project will go.

Printable version

This document is also available as a PDF: RFQ Checklist for Stamped and Deep Drawn Parts (PDF).

RFQ Checklist for Stamped and Deep Drawn Parts