Secondary Operations on an Injection Molding RFQ
A Molding-Only Number Is Not the Finished Part
A secondary-operations RFQ lists every post-mold step as its own line: pad printing, laser marking, packaging. Upload the CAD, name each operation, mark the face or location, attach artwork, and write one acceptance check per step. A molding-only upload is not a finished-part quote.
Read secondary operations process list for the named set. Stay here for the RFQ fields that sit beside the molding line.
The press makes the solid; secondaries make the buy
The STEP file is the molded part. The buy is the printed, marked, packed part. The molding cycle makes the solid. The secondary line finishes what receiving will inspect. If those steps are in your drawing notes or in a quality plan, they are in the buy.
Named process list, not shop nicknames
Painting, silk screening, pad printing, hot stamping, insert installation, assembly, laser marking, ultrasonic welding, and packaging are in scope when you name them. Pad printing is pad printing. Laser marking is laser marking. A note that says decorate the front does not tell review which process, which face, or which artwork revision to hold.
Finish as needed is not a scope. Pad printing is a line, with a face and a revision.
What to Declare Beside the Molding Line
Operation name from the approved set: pad printing, laser marking, packaging
Write only names from the approved set. Pad printing, laser marking, and packaging are the common finished-part lines. Painting, silk screening, hot stamping, insert installation, assembly, and ultrasonic welding use the same field pattern when they are required.
Face or location: balloon, screenshot, Face A
Location is a face, a balloon, or a screenshot with a circle. Front is not a location if the part has two fronts after a rotation. Point to Face A or Balloon 12. For show-face keep-outs, read mark cosmetic vs functional faces.
Artwork revision, color, or content
Silk screening and pad printing: attach artwork with a revision, name the color, and mark keep-outs for gates or ejectors that must not sit under the legend. Laser marking: name the content, the size, and whether the mark is on a textured or painted face. Packaging: name bag, label, kit, or carton notes.
Acceptance check per operation
Acceptance is one sentence. Visual on the show face, contrast readable at a stated viewing distance, insert flush and present, label content matches the pack list. You do not need a statistics table on this page. You need a check that receiving can run.
Sequence when pad printing and laser marking share a face
Order matters when paint, print, and mark share a face. Write the sequence if both are required. Asking for laser marking on a face you also want painted, without saying which happens first, leaves both lines incomplete.
Painting: name the show faces, the color standard if you have one, and whether texture or gloss is part of the accept check. Insert installation: name the insert part number and the boss. Assembly: list the components and the join method. Ultrasonic welding: name the joint and the mating part.
A worked declaration: Pad printing, Face A front, artwork Rev B, one color, keep-out around the USB window, accept as readable legend with no smear into the window. Laser marking, Face D back, content serial plus date code, accept as readable mark. Packaging, bag and label, one per bag. That set is usable. Make it look branded is not.
What to tell sourcing: ask for molding and each secondary as separate lines. If the print shows paint, print, mark, weld, insert, assembly, or pack, those words belong on the RFQ before tooling release.
Adding Secondaries After Approval
Same CAD revision, new RFQ record
The first number did not include the labor or fixtures. Re-quote the same CAD revision with the new line. Do not edit a chat message onto an approved molding record and expect the old lines to hold. The CAD can stay Rev C. The RFQ cannot stay blank.
Fixtures, gates, and keep-outs that move with print
A gate on a pad-print land is a keep-out you should have written before release. Adding print after the tool is cut can force a steel change or a face you will live with. Declare the print before release if the legend cannot sit on a witness.
Compare by line, not by blended total
A molding-only quote was never wrong. It was a different buy. Ask for molding and each secondary as separate lines. That is how you will explain a delta later. A single blended number hides which step moved.
A worked later-add: purchasing accepted a molding quote. Marketing then releases a logo that needs pad printing on Face A. Re-quote Rev C with pad printing, artwork Rev A, and a gate keep-out on Face A. Review will say whether the existing gate plan still works.
What to tell sourcing: a later secondary is a new quote record, not a complaint about the first click. Bring the same CAD revision, the new operation name, and the artwork or insert drawing. Compare the new record to the old one by line, not by a single total.
RFQ Paste Block
Use this list before you ask anyone to approve a number. Each step is a named line or a file.
- List each secondary by name from the approved set.
- Mark the face or attach artwork.
- Write the acceptance check you will use.
- Keep molding and secondary as separate lines.
- Upload CAD through the injection molding instant quote platform.
A worked submit block: Rev C ABS housing. Pad printing Face A, artwork Rev B, one color, keep-out at USB. Laser marking Face D, serial content. Packaging, bag and label, one per bag. Molding and each secondary as separate lines. That package can be reviewed.
For the rest of the file set, read what to upload for a molding quote. Face callouts and artwork crop can sit on a 2D drawing for quote callouts.
If a line is still TBD, write TBD on that line and say the number is not finished. Do not treat TBD as implied.
Common mistakes at submit:
- Listing print and paint with no sequence.
- Attaching a brand guideline PDF with no crop for this part.
- Writing assembly when you mean packaging.
- Uploading a new artwork file after the quote and not changing the artwork revision in the note.