Whether you’re an individual building something in your shed, or a multi-million pound construction company, the cost of your laser cut components is important. Unfortunately, there isn’t a single straight forward answer about laser cutting cost, but there are a few good reasons why. There are several factors that need to be considered when preparing a quote for laser cutting:
- Materials
- Labour
- Time
- Delivery
- Overheads
Below we’ll explain how these factors contribute to the price you are quoted. It should also clarify why there is no minimum order volume, but we do have a minimum order charge of £75+ VAT.
HOW YOUR QUOTE FOR LASER CUTTING IS GENERATED
We take the drawing of your part and enter it into our software to calculate processing time, weight and generate a laser cutting cost. Next, we nest the part on different sheets to achieve the best use of material so that we only need to charge you for the material used. If you require 20 components but 40 can be fitted on a sheet, you will only be charged for the half sheet required to produce the parts. This means that you can order exactly the quantity you require without paying a premium.
Once the information is in our system, we can change the material, thickness or quantity of your order to recalculate your quotation to compare a variety of options.
MATERIAL COSTS
Material costs are the factor most likely to fluctuate and is the main reason why our quotes are only valid for a limited time. The price of metal varies from day to day depending on demand and availability. We have great buying power and excellent relationships with suppliers, so when we get a great price, we share the savings with you.
TIME
A big consideration for laser cutting cost is the time it takes the laser to cut the required shapes. The time the job takes depends on the material type, grade and thickness. More dense metals and thicker sheet or plate take more time to cut than less dense or thinner sheet.
We use the latest software and laser technology to reduce running time and laser cutting cost to keep the price per part as low as possible.
To calculate a laser cutting cost we enter the drawing of your component into our system
The components are nested on a sheet to make the best use of material
Labour
This is fairly obvious, but your order passes through the hands of several people to get to you and they all get paid! It starts with the person answering the phone or picking up your email order and adding it to our system. The quote is then generated and forwarded to you for your review. If you choose us for your laser cutting service, we then vet the order to make sure that the dimensions and shapes all make sense. If there are any corrections these will be sent to you to be checked and approved. Once everything is approved, we nest your job on a sheet of material, probably with other jobs to create as little waste as possible. It is then queued up for the laser cutting machine to process.
The material is selected from our warehouse shelves and stacked ready for the laser cutting machine to collect and cut. Once it has run through the machine, the cut sheet is ejected onto a bed for the parts to be separated out and individual parts collated. The orders pass to the dispatch team to be checked and wrapped ready for delivery or collection.
The material is selected from the warehouse and stacked ready to be laser cut
OVERHEADS
Another obvious one perhaps, but owning, running and maintaining property and equipment all costs money every day. One of our major daily overheads is electricity. Laser cutting is a power hungry process which must be accounted for when generating a price, with denser materials and thicker sheets using more energy as well as more time to cut.
DELIVERY
Some of our local customers collect their orders, others are delivered to them by us. Most orders are too large or heavy for couriers to deal with, so the majority of our components are delivered by pallet networks. Price for delivery is dictated by size, weight and method.
If you would like to collect your order you will need to inform us when you request a quote. Please make sure you have a suitable vehicle to transport the size and weight of your components! We can provide you with a total job weight if required.
In Summary
We will always do our best to provide you with a great price and a quality product, we use up to date machinery and don’t cut corners by using lower quality materials.
Find out more about how to prepare your drawings to send to us for a quote here: https://lasered.co.uk/technical-information/preparing-drawings/
Contact our sales team for a quote to see how we can help you with your next project.
Fast Quotes
Accurate price, reliable lead time, no hidden extras
To get a competitive laser cutting cost for your next project, don’t hesitate to contact us. We aim to answer quotes sent between 8am and 4.30pm within one hour. Outside these hours we will respond the next working morning.
We accept DXF, DWG and NC files, please send information about which material, thickness and quantities you require.
Please note: We are unable to provide quotes or prices over the phone, please email us your requirements and we will respond as quickly as possible.
