quote-estimator

AI skill that produces a first-pass quote estimate for a machined or fabricated part — setup time, cycle time per piece, material cost, outside-process cost, suggested price, lead time, and a confidence rating. Designed as a 30-second starting point for a senior estimator who will refine the numbers, not as a final quote.

Use case

Senior estimators at small machine shops spend 20–60 minutes per RFQ producing a numerical quote. For shops doing 100+ RFQs a month, that's a full-time bottleneck. The bottleneck delays customer responses; delayed responses lose business.

This skill collapses the first pass to 30 seconds. The estimator gets a starting structure (setup hrs, cycle min, material $, OSP $, suggested price) plus flagged complexity items they should look at carefully. They tighten or override anything off, and ship the quote 10x faster.

It is NOT a replacement for the senior estimator. The skill is honest about uncertainty (every estimate carries a confidence rating: low/medium/high) and explicitly states it should be reviewed before sending to a customer.

Invocation

• Messaging channels (Slack, SMS, Teams, etc.): @quote-estimator quote a 6061 Al bracket, 3"x4"x.5", 4 mounting holes ±0.005, qty 50, due in 3 weeks
• WebChat: same @ prefix
• REST: POST /api/skill/run with {"name": "quote-estimator", "input": "..."}
• Job task: add a skill task with skillName: quote-estimator and an input template

Minimum useful input

If the user supplies less than this, the skill will ask for the rest:

• Material callout (e.g., "6061-T6 Al", "17-4 PH SS")
• Rough size or bounding box
• Major feature count (holes, pockets, profiles)
• Quantity
• Target lead time

Optionally attaching the drawing PDF gives a much better estimate; without it, the skill works off a text description.

Sample output

| Item              | Estimate          | Notes                              |
| ----------------- | ----------------- | ---------------------------------- |
| Setup time        | 2.0 hrs           | 3-axis mill, standard fixture      |
| Cycle time / pc   | 14 min            |                                    |
| Total run time    | 13.7 hrs          | 50 × 14 min + setup                |
| Material per pc   | $4.50             | 3.5"x4.5"x.6" 6061 stock           |
| Outside process   | $0                | none                               |
| Total cost / pc   | $27.80            |                                    |
| Suggested price   | $42.00            | cost × 1.5 (overhead + margin)     |
| Lead time         | 8 days            | run + 3-day buffer                 |
| Confidence        | medium            | 4 holes ±0.005 within typical      |

Complexity flags:
  - Hole pattern position tolerance ±.005 — easy on a mill but check fixture
  - 50 ea is on the boundary of "small lot" — pricing assumes one setup

Assumptions:
  - 3-axis mill, $85/hr blended rate
  - Standard end mills, no exotic tooling
  - Bar stock available at supplier

What you'd want to know:
  - Surface finish callout? Affects cycle time materially.
  - Threaded holes? Add tap cycle time per hole.
  - Edge break / deburr requirement?

Strengths and weaknesses

Customization

• Shop rates — edit the $85/hr baseline + overhead/margin defaults in the SKILL.md to match your shop's actual numbers. Or pass them as input every time.
• Material price book — update the rules-of-thumb in SKILL.md to your current supplier pricing; the skill will use the values you give it.
• OSP vendor pricing — same: replace the generic line items with your actual vendor's quote sheet.
• Confidence threshold — change what triggers "low" confidence (currently exotic materials, sub-0.001" tolerances, low qty, 5-axis). Tighter rules → fewer high-confidence estimates → estimator reviews more carefully.

Pairs with

• rfq-triage job — when an RFQ comes in, the triage job logs it. Then a human (or another job invoking this skill) gets a first-pass estimate before the estimator even reads the drawing.
• gdt-explainer skill — for the drawing's tight GD&T callouts, this skill flags them; gdt-explainer explains them.
• material-substitute skill — if the customer's specified material is stockout, swap recommendations.

Source

See SKILL.md.