Setup cost is fixed. Material and machine time are not. That single fact is why the price per part falls so sharply as quantity rises — and why the right process, tooling and inspection strategy change with volume.
Representative pricing for a medium-complexity aluminum part — 80 × 60 × 25 mm, pockets, holes and threads, 6061-T6, as machined, CMM report on critical features. Your part will differ, but the shape of the curve is consistent.
| Quantity | Price per part | vs 1 piece | Setup share | Typical lead time | What changes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 pc | $145 | — | 55–65% | 3–7 days | Programming and setup dominate entirely |
| 10 pcs | $58 | −60% | 25–35% | 7–10 days | Setup spreads; material still bought in small lots |
| 50 pcs | $32 | −78% | 12–18% | 10–14 days | Fixtures amortized; better material pricing |
| 200 pcs | $21 | −86% | 5–8% | 15–20 days | Setup nearly irrelevant; cycle time dominates |
| 1,000 pcs | $14 | −90% | 2–3% | 20–25 days | Production-lot material; dedicated fixture pays off |
| 5,000 pcs | $11 | −92% | <1% | 30–35 days | Volume material pricing; multi-part fixture |
| 10,000 pcs | $9.80 | −93% | <1% | 35–45 days | Dedicated fixture + second-operation cell |
Aluminum, 6061-T6. Prices include material, machining, standard inspection and export packing; finishing, freight and special packaging are separate line items. Stainless steel typically adds 15–30%; titanium and engineering plastics are quoted per project.
The steep part of the curve is between 1 and 200 pieces, where setup is being spread across the batch. From 200 to 1,000 the gain comes from better material pricing and real fixtures. Past 1,000 the curve is nearly flat — what remains is material and cycle time, and those do not care how many parts you order.
The full breakdown — material, programming, setup, cycle time, finishing, inspection: CNC machining cost per hour
Setup is spread thin and material is bought at better pricing, but the design can still change between batches. This is the band where most products actually launch.
Dedicated tooling, production-lot material and SPC process control. At this volume the questions that matter are consistency, traceability and schedule reliability.
From one piece up to 100, you are buying validation, not volume. The pricing is dominated by setup, and the goal is usually speed and correctness rather than unit cost.
Design validation, fit checks, engineering samples. Lead time 3–10 days. Programming and setup dominate the price — this is normal and not a reason to shop around on rate.
Pilot production, customer samples, field trials. Lead time 7–14 days. The price per part falls steeply here — often 50% below single-piece pricing.
Bridge production while tooling is being made, or the first real production quantity for a low-volume product. Lead time 10–15 days.
If you need something between these bands or outside them, send the drawing and the quantity — we quote the quantity you actually need, not the nearest band. More on small batch machining economics →
Because setup, programming and fixturing are fixed costs that do not change with quantity, while material and machine time scale linearly. At one piece, setup can be 55–65% of the price. At 1,000 pieces it is 2–3%. The same program, the same fixture and the same tooling produce every part in the batch — so the cost of preparing them is spread across the whole run.
Order the quantity you will realistically consume in the next 3–6 months, not the quantity with the best unit price. The largest per-part savings happen between 1 and 300 pieces. Beyond 500 the curve flattens enough that inventory carrying cost and the risk of a design revision usually outweigh the unit price difference.
No. A single prototype is a normal job, and so is a 10,000-piece production run. What changes with volume is not whether we will take the job but the price structure: at low volume you are paying mostly for setup, at high volume mostly for material and cycle time.
Yes, and it is often the sensible approach. A common pattern is 5–20 pieces for validation followed by a production batch once the design is confirmed. If you know the production quantity up front, tell us when you request the prototype quote — we can often design the fixture so the later batch benefits from it.
Send a STEP file and a 2D drawing with tolerances, the material and grade, and the quantity you need. You get a line-item quote within 24 hours, with the next price break shown so you can see whether stepping up is worth it.