Fabricatorby Chibi

For machine shops

Quote PDF-only RFQs the same day.

No redrawing in CAD, no chasing the customer for a STEP file. Send the PDF. You get a STEP model, the critical specs, and a flag on any dimension we're unsure of. The drawing stays the reference.

Book a demoSee how it works
Fabricator showing the STEP model of an aluminium bearing block, built from a customer's PDF drawing, beside its thread: the tap depth was flagged, the shop confirmed it with the customer, and the STEP is ready for the quoting tool.

Sound familiar?

An RFQ with a PDF and no model.

When an RFQ comes in as a PDF, does someone at your shop redraw it before quoting, or chase the customer for a STEP file?

  • “Please quote 25 pcs per the attached drawing.”

    RFQ, Monday 9:12

  • “Sorry, we only have the PDF.”

    Reply to “do you have a model?”

  • “Rev B attached. Quote needed by Thursday.”

    RFQ, Monday 11:40

The problem

Either way, it costs a day.

  • Redraw it.

    Someone rebuilds the part in CAD before anyone can price it. That's quoting time spent drawing.

  • Chase a STEP.

    Email the customer, wait for an answer, and hope they have a model to send.

  • Lose the day.

    Meanwhile the RFQ went to other shops too, and faster quotes tend to win the work.

95%

of Waltz Brothers' RFQs arrive as PDFs, not models. Source: Paperless Parts case study

How it works

Send the PDF. Quote from the model.

Fabricator builds a real model in FreeCAD from the customer's drawing and exports STEP for your quoting tool. Your estimator checks it instead of redrawing it.

  1. The specs that drive the quote.

    Attach the PDF the way it came. Fabricator reads the drawing and lists what you price from: material, finish, quantity, envelope, tolerances and GD&T.

    Fabricator's chat after a PDF-only RFQ for the AR-1042 bearing block: a table of critical specs read from the drawing (6061-T6, clear anodize, 25 pieces, 80 × 50 × 30 mm, Ø22 H7 bore, flatness 0.02) and one flag on an unreadable tap depth.

  2. A flag, not a guess.

    When a callout is smudged or ambiguous, it says so and marks it on the model. Confirm it with the customer and it rebuilds.

    A Fabricator thread with the FreeCAD model of the bearing block: the four M5 tapped holes are highlighted in orange because the depth on the scanned drawing reads 12 or 18.

  3. The drawing stays the reference.

    The customer's PDF sits next to the model, so whoever checks the quote checks it against the source, not against our reading of it.

    The customer's scanned PDF drawing of the AR-1042 bearing block open in Fabricator's viewer, beside the thread that is modelling it.

In practice

A month of CAD work in two days.

In an internal trial, a product designer re-ran a month of past client jobs through Fabricator and got through them in two days. On one design that was already finished, it found a problem and made the part better.

Worth it

Quote more RFQs without another hire.

The usual fix is another estimator or CAD drafter, and RFQs keep arriving while you look for one. Fabricator takes the redrawing off the team you already have.

Hire another drafter

  • A long search, then onboarding
  • One more person redrawing parts
  • PDF-only RFQs still wait in line

Add Fabricator

  • Try it on one of your own RFQs in the demo
  • Your estimators check instead of redraw
  • PDF-only RFQs quoted the same day

Bring us an RFQ.

In the demo we run one of your real PDF-only RFQs, live. Bring a drawing you would normally redraw. Commercial drawings only: no ITAR or CUI.

Book a demoor write to company@chibi.sh