What a Factory-Direct Shear Quote Should Contain

A quotation is a specification document wearing a commercial costume, and the way to read it is to ignore the price until the specification is complete. This article is the contents page of a proper shear quotation at the heavy end of the range — what each section should contain, what a missing section tells you, and how to compare two quotations that arrive with different structures. The reference machine is the Q91-630, the continuous-HMS class, but the contents apply to every machine in the range.

Section One: The Specification

The first section should read as an engineering document, and it has five parts:

Model and class. The quoted model, its rated force, and the published boundary rows — continuous and occasional plate figures. For the 630 that is 60 mm continuous, 80 mm occasional, at 60 to 80 tons per day. If the quotation quotes different boundary rows than the published figures, the difference must be explained as a configuration choice or questioned as a brochure number.

The material list it was quoted against. Your heaviest routine pieces, the plate thickness that shows up weekly, the baled proportion if any. This is the input every other section follows, and a quotation without it is guessing at your feed.

The duty declaration. The shift pattern and material mix the build is specified against, restated in writing. At this class the declaration is the specification — frame, hydraulics, cooling and wear strategy all key to it.

The configuration decisions. Blade length, tank geometry, motor rating and power package, each with the reason chosen against your site. These are decisions, not options, and they belong in the document.

The blade specification. Steel grade, hardness, reversible-edge count, and the expected life at your declared duty and material. Ask for the expected life figure — a supplier that publishes one is describing a build process.

Section Two: The Site Package

The second section is what your contractors build from, and it is the part buyers skip:

• Electrical scope — voltage, frequency, spare kilowatts, starting method, confirmed against your supply.
• Foundation data — drawings with anchorage matched to the declared duty, delivered the week the order is placed.
• Transport data — crate dimensions and weight, so the route into your yard is confirmed with numbers rather than at the port.
• Site requirements — overhead clearance, pit conditions, discharge arrangement, anything the installation assumes about your yard.

A quotation that cannot answer those four questions is a price sheet, and the machine that arrives will be specified by someone who never saw your site.

Section Three: The Commercial Terms

The third section is where the price lives, and it should contain: the configuration the price is quoted against (so a later change is a change order rather than a renegotiation), the delivery terms — EXW, FOB or CIF to your port — the payment structure, the lead time confirmed in writing against the configuration, and the warranty scope. The commercial package should also name the commissioning support: test runs on your material, operator training across shift teams, and whether on-site installation is included or quotable.

None of that is negotiation material until sections one and two are complete. The specification is the purchase; the price is what the specification costs.

Section Four: The Spares and Wear Schedule

At heavy duty the fourth section decides the machine’s second half: the expected life of each wear part at your declared duty, the replacement procedure for each in hours and crane time, what ships with the machine, and the resupply channel. Spare blades shipping within 48 hours by DHL or FedEx is a channel; the shelf set sized to your shift pattern is a plan. The quotation that includes this section is describing a maintenance program; the one that omits it is describing a sale.

Comparing Two Quotations

When two quotations arrive with different structures, the comparison method is simple: map both onto the four sections above and compare section by section. A quotation missing a section has not withheld it — it has not done the work, and the missing section is where the machine’s fit lives. The price comparison happens last, between two complete specifications, and it is usually the smallest difference on the page.

Send the material list, the duty declaration and the site facts with your inquiry, and the written quotation comes back within two business days with all four sections complete. If your numbers point at a different class, the quotation will say so — the recommendation follows the material, in both directions.

The Specification Section, in Detail

The first section of a heavy-class quotation carries more rows than buyers expect, and each row is a decision someone made against a declared duty. The model and force rating are the identity; the boundary rows are the material; the bale capability is the mill-intake answer, specified rather than assumed because plant intake includes baled material as routine. The blade specification — steel grade, hardness range, edge count, expected life at your duty — is the decade-long cost line, and it should be as precise as the frame.

Read the section as an engineering document rather than a summary. If a row could have been copied from any other quotation — a generic blade specification, a duty basis that does not restate your shift pattern, a bale capability with no density or wire detail — then the section has not been written for your operation, and the machine behind it is a default rather than a specification.

What a Missing Section Tells You

A quotation that arrives without the site package has not seen your yard; one without the spares schedule has not planned the machine’s second half; one without the duty basis has not engineered the build. None of those absences is dishonesty — they are the specification conversation that has not happened yet, and each is closable in one email.

The test of a complete quotation is simple: could your electrical and foundation contractors build from it, and could your maintenance technician plan a blade change from it? If the answer to either is no, the missing piece is exactly the piece that decides the machine’s fit — and the line-by-line guide maps what each section should contain.

The Comparison Method

Two quotations from different factories arrive with different structures, and the comparison method is structural rather than numerical. Map both onto the four sections — specification, site package, commercial terms, spares schedule — and compare section by section. A section present in one and absent in the other is not a scoring difference; it is a specification conversation that has happened in one channel and not in the other. The missing section is where the machine’s fit lives, and it is closable in one email.

The price comparison happens after the structural one, between two complete documents, and it is usually the smallest difference on the page. This is why the factory-direct question matters commercially as well as technically: the channel with two links in the specification chain produces a complete document faster, and the complete document is what makes the comparison honest.

The Document as a Standard

The four sections are a standard you can hold any factory to, and holding to it is not aggressive — it is the specification conversation the machine deserves. A factory that welcomes the questions is describing a build process; a factory that treats them as obstacles is describing a sale. The distinction is visible in the first exchange, and it is the cheapest quality signal available before the deposit.

Keep the standard for the second machine too. The quotation that arrives complete on the second purchase is completing a document your operation already knows how to read — and the line-by-line guide is the map both documents follow.

Buyer FAQ

What is the first section I should read?

The material list the quotation was written against. If your feed is not in the document, nothing else in it is about your operation.

Why is the duty declaration in the specification rather than the contract?

Because the build follows it. At this class a two-shift machine and a one-shift machine differ in frame, hydraulics, cooling and wear strategy — the declaration is the specification, not paperwork.

What if the quotation omits the spares schedule?

Ask for it. At continuous-HMS duty the wear-part schedule is the difference between a maintenance program and a repair history, and it is a specification item rather than an afterthought.

Can I compare quotations on price alone?

Only after both are complete specifications. Map both onto the four sections first — the price difference between two complete quotations is usually smaller than the specification difference between an incomplete one and a complete one.

How quickly does a complete quotation come back?

Within two business days of the material list, duty declaration and site facts — with the specification sheet your electrician and foundation contractor can work from. And if a section is missing, ask for it in writing — a factory produces it, a price shop deflects, and the response is the cheapest quality signal available before the deposit.