Monday the order package goes out to the machining shop; Wednesday the first question comes back: could the STEP files be included, because the zip contains only PDFs. Thursday brings question two: which revision is leading, because the drawing and the file name contradict each other. And on Friday the planner calls, because officially the lead time has not even started.
This ping-pong is not bad luck but a pattern. Sending files to a subcontractor without a fixed agreement on what belongs in the package is guaranteed to produce questions. In this article you pin down one delivery profile per supplier: which formats, which folder structure, which naming and which overview goes along. From then on every package leaves the door complete in one go, with a toolbox like Thundercad to keep the export work short, and the question emails stay away.
Why the questions are always the same
Collect a few months of subcontractor questions and four kinds remain. A format is missing: the machinist needs STEP but received only PDFs. A file is missing: position 12 is in the BOM but not in the zip. The revision is unclear: the drawing says B, the file name says something else. And there is no overview: forty files without a list that says what is what and how many of each to make.
Every question means a round of email, and every round easily costs a working day of lead time: the question has to be noticed among the other mail, someone has to figure out the answer, export it and reply, and the subcontractor has to pick the job back up. Meanwhile the order sits still, because a shop only schedules a job once the package is complete. The most expensive delay in outsourcing is rarely in the making; it is in the waiting for answers.
Pin down a delivery profile per subcontractor
The solution is unspectacular: agree once with every regular subcontractor what a complete package is, and stick to it on every order. Such a delivery profile fits on half a page and answers five questions:
- Which formats for which kind of work: 2D, 3D or both?
- Which folder structure: everything in one folder, or a folder per format or per operation?
- How does the revision appear in the file name, and what is leading in case of doubt?
- Which overview is always included: which positions, quantities and materials?
- How are changes delivered once the order is already running?
The details differ per discipline, and that is exactly the point: no two suppliers need the same thing.
| Subcontractor | Typical package | Where it usually goes wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Laser cutter | DXF per sheet thickness, PDF for reference | thickness not readable from the file name |
| Machining shop | STEP per part plus PDF with dimensions and tolerances | STEP and PDF revisions drift apart |
| Coater | PDF with main dimensions, colour and areas to mask | full drawing set sent along, relevant info buried |
| Welding shop | PDF drawing set of the assembly plus STEP | positions on drawings and overview do not match |
Which 2D flavour to agree on, and why, is a story of its own; for that, read DWG or DXF? What your shop, supplier and customer really need. And what to check before a 3D model leaves the building is covered in Sharing STEP files with customers and suppliers, without the worry. For the profile, all that matters is that a choice is written down, so nobody has to think about it again on every order.
Complete is a check, not a feeling
"I think everything is in there" is not a check. Complete means: every position in the BOM of the outsourced assembly is covered in the agreed format, the revisions are consistent with each other, and an overview is included. So check the package against the BOM, not against your memory: the list knows which parts exist, you only know the ones you remember.
Keep this up for a few orders and you will notice the check finds less and less, which is the best sign there is. The question emails do not stop because the subcontractor pays less attention, but because there is nothing left to ask.
Agreeing on a profile is one thing, delivering on it every order is another. With Batch Publish, Thundercad converts all drawings of an assembly in one run into the formats you agreed with your subcontractor.
Try 30 days freeExport in bulk, folders that fill themselves
The profile decides what belongs in the package; the export decides how much work that takes. Exporting drawing by drawing easily burns an hour per order on open, save as, pick a folder, next. With forty positions and three formats that is not an exception but arithmetic: a hundred and twenty separate exports.
With Batch Publish you export the drawings of a complete assembly in one run to PDF, DWG, DXF and STEP, including when the files live in Vault. And Export Folder automatically drops every export into a fixed folder structure, for example a folder per format or per supplier. The structure you agreed in the profile then appears by itself, identical on every order.
That also removes the temptation to send half a package "to save time". When exporting everything is just as fast as exporting half, complete wins every time.
Keep the profile alive
A delivery profile is an agreement, not a law of nature. When a question does come in, treat it not as an incident but as a gap in the profile: answer it, update the profile, done. That way every question is the last of its kind.
If something changes while the order is already running, deliver the complete package again in the same structure, with a clearly marked revision, and explicitly declare the old package obsolete. Sending loose files afterwards feels faster, but it splits the truth across two zips, and that is when the emailing really starts.
And with a new subcontractor? Start from your standard profile and walk through it together in the first conversation. Five questions, ten minutes, and the first package lands right the first time.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get a subcontractor to agree on a profile like this?
Usually you do not need to convince him: incomplete packages cost him time as well. Simply ask what he needs to start the job without questions, capture that in the five points and confirm it briefly by email. From the next order onwards it tests itself.
What about rush orders, is the profile not too much work then?
Rush is exactly when the profile pays off: there is no time for a round of question emails. Because the choices are already made and the export runs in bulk, a complete package is barely slower than half a package, and only a complete package can go straight onto the shop floor.
Is this worth it for small orders of a few parts?
Yes, because the question email costs as much time on a small order as on a big one, while the margin is smaller. With Batch Publish and Export Folder even a small package is ready and complete in a few minutes; with the free 30-day trial of Thundercad you can verify that on your own orders.