SOURCING GUIDE
No middleman: why your CAD file should go to the shop that cuts it
A documented failure mode of cheap online quoting: you upload a proprietary assembly to “a manufacturer”, and the file is forwarded to an unknown network of subcontract shops because the quoting party owns no machines. NDAs in this situation are aspirational — you cannot police recipients you were never told about.
The two kinds of “supplier”
A workshop owns machines and employs the people who run them. A broker or trading company owns email addresses. Both list on directories and both appear on quote platforms. The distinction is not size — a two-person screw machining shop is a workshop; a forty-person sales office with no shop floor is not.
Verifying before uploading
The machine-park test again: ask who machines the part and which machines. Named equipment, a floor contact and an address you can visit = workshop. Vague “network of vetted partners” language = broker. That framing alone (“which machine cuts my part?”) is a reliable filter, which is why every profile on this site that carries equipment shows the verbatim machine notes — and why the machine index exists.
What platform IP policies actually cover
Quote platforms promise file security; they generally do not promise who inside their network may see geometry, and their terms typically permit routing to participating suppliers. That is compatible with “vetted” and incompatible with “never leaves one building”. If the drawing is the product, the only enforceable posture is: one named workshop, NDA with a real entity you can find, access limited to the people machining it.
Frequently asked
Is using a marketplace for a secret part ever safe?
Risk-managed only: split the assembly (buy components as anonymous commodity parts, do integration in-house), or keep sensitive features on drawings never uploaded. Anything else relies on terms you cannot audit.
Do local shops respect NDAs better?
A named workshop has reputation on the street and one address to protect — the incentive structure is simply aligned. Ask, but note an NDA from a broker with undisclosed recipients is close to worthless.
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