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I am an end user. I have had plenty of experience sending large routing/CNC orders to fabricators (cut-out designs on flat 4'x8' metal substrates). The process was always easy. I would send the fabricator a full size line drawing (some preferred PDFs while others preferred DXFs or other CAD extensions). They would get back to me almost immediately with a quote. I always assumed the person doing the quote had a program that automatically measures the number of cut-outs and the linear charge by "tracing" the image's line drawings. The program computes all measurements, angles, etc. and produces a number and/or price for the fabricator to give me.
I now have a project that requires the precision of a Waterjet. Nearly every company I have contacted has been a whole different and frustrating experience. I cannot verify this because I am doing everything by phone (my city does not have a waterjet fabricator) but it almost seems as if many of these companies hire an OUTSIDE salesperson to handle their quotes. Usually, in my experience, it has been an older gentleman whom either has problems opening basic computer files, or has admitted they have no CAD experience. Each time, they ask me to send additional specific details (in addition to the PDF or DXF files I could send them) that include exact measurements of each length, width, angles and arc radius for every curve of EVERY single element on the NEST!!! The sales guy says he needs this information to be able to handle the quote. This is VERY surprising to me because one could simply look at the DXF file and get ALL that information OR I always assumed that there was software that they can use that computes the quote for every single element and all the angles/length within a nest.
Is this the way Waterjet quotes are handled? Am I just unlucky? is there not a program that computes quotes automatically? Why would they need such details and why would quotes take up to a week to get back?
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