Outsourced work · Grinding · Surface treatment

CNC outsourced processing, quoted right.

Cylindrical grinding, surface grinding, hardening, nitriding, coating, passivation — 80+ outsourced services as reusable calculation formulas. Auto-detected from the technical drawing, auto-applied to the part.

At most CNC job shops, 30–40% of part cost doesn't come from the actual milling, turning or stamping — it comes from outsourced processing: grinding, hardening, coating, passivation, inspection.

Today this is hand-maintained: Excel sheets with €/kg rates, manual entry on every quote, forgotten minimum charges, wrong drivers. goCAD replaces that with reusable reference formulas that pull straight from the drawing — for milling, turning and sheet metal alike.

Process groups

What goCAD quotes as outsourced work.

Grinding

CNC grinding

Cylindrical, surface and internal grinding. Calculated from grinding area, number of increments, feed and cutting speed — including 30% tool-overrun supplement and 40% process safety factor for tool changes and wheel dressing.

Hardening

Heat and hardness treatment

Vacuum hardening (up to 1100/1200 °C), plasma nitriding, gas nitriding, gas nitrocarburizing, case hardening, tempering, annealing, ageing, deep-freezing, laser hardening, induction hardening.

Coating

Surface treatment & coating

Blackening, passivation (incl. thick-layer), blasting (graded by batch), powder coating. PVD coatings like DLC and WC/C "Hardslide" sliding layers — quoted by area (€/dm²).

Prep

Pre- & post-work

Degreasing before hardening, masking / shielding for selective treatment, oxidation after nitrocarburizing, straightening after heat treatment. Fixed price per part or weight-based.

Inspection

Certificates & inspections

Material certificate 3.1, spectral analysis, hardness test, coating thickness measurement, first-article inspection report (FAI). Fixed price per item, optionally graded by quantity.

Logistics

Shipping & handling

Packaging, marking, intermediate transport between the shop and the service provider. Each step its own position with its own logic — no flat surcharge that hides the margin.

How it works in goCAD

From drawing to quote — automatically.

You set up your outsourced-process catalog once. After that goCAD detects the relevant requirements straight from CAD and the technical drawing and applies the matching formulas to every part.

01

Automatic detection from the technical drawing

goCAD reads grinding symbols per DIN ISO 1302, hardness specs like HRC 60 ±2, surface specs (Ra, Rz), coating notes ("DLC 2 µm"), heat-treatment notes and inspection requirements automatically from PDF and CAD — and assigns the matching outsourced services.

02

Formula-based, reusable

Every process follows a clear pattern: unit_price = MAX(60 / quantity, driver × rate + handling). The minimum amount protects against losses on small batches; the variable part scales with weight, area, time or fixed price.

03

Straight into the quote, cross-process

The calculated outsourced service appears as its own line item in the quote — driver, rate and minimum amount transparently shown. Works identically for milling, turning and sheet metal. No more separate Excel sheets per process.

Example · CNC cylindrical grinding

How goCAD calculates a grinding operation.

Machine occupancy time for a grinding operation is made up of three blocks: effective grinding time, secondary times (return + approach), process safety factor.

Formula · CNC cylindrical grinding
runtime = ((A_total × 1.3 × i) / (f × v_cw × 1000) + (i × return_time / 60) + (approach_time / 60)) × 1.4
A_total
Grinding area (mm²)
i = 15
Increments (12 cutting + 3 spark-out)
v_cw
Workpiece cutting speed (m/min)
f
Feed per revolution (mm/rev)
×1.3
Tool-overrun supplement (30%)
×1.4
Process safety factor (40%)
Worked example · 5,000 mm² grinding area

Grinding time (base): 0.41 min · Secondary time (15 returns + 1 approach): 1.33 min · Subtotal 1.74 min × 1.4 safety factor = 2.44 minutes occupancy. On small areas secondary time is typically higher than the pure grinding time — that's exactly what goCAD models.

From the catalog

80+ reference processes, ready to go.

All rates per 2026 market level, customizable per project. Each process has its own driver (weight, area, time or fixed price) and its own minimum charge.

Process Rate Unit Driver
Vacuum hardening up to 1100 °C 4.55 €/kg Weight
Plasma nitriding up to 0.4 mm 4.45 €/kg Weight
Gas nitriding up to 0.6 mm 3.15 €/kg Weight
Case hardening up to 1.5 mm 3.25 €/kg Weight
Laser hardening per effort €/h Time
Induction hardening per effort €/h Time
DLC coating (PVD) Indicative €/dm² Area
WC/C sliding layer "Hardslide" Indicative €/dm² Area
Material certificate 3.1 Fixed €/pc Fixed price
Blasting (from 100 kg batch) graded €/kg Weight

70+ more processes in the catalog · all formulas transparently editable per project

Cross-process

Works for milling, turning and sheet metal alike.

Outsourced services are modelled independently of the host process — what matters is the driver, not whether the part comes off the milling spindle or the laser cutter.

CNC milling

Grinding + hardening

Milled parts with precision functional surfaces combine cylindrical / surface grinding with vacuum hardening. goCAD detects hardness specs and grinding symbols, assigns the follow-up processes and quotes occupancy time + material throughput.

CNC turning

Cylindrical grinding + coating

Turned parts with shaft or axle function typically go from turning into cylindrical grinding and then into DLC or WC/C coating. The full process chain is reflected in the quote.

Sheet metal

Blackening + powder coating

Sheet-metal parts that need blackening, passivation or powder coating are quoted with the same reference formulas as milled parts — the driver here is typically area, not weight.

Frequently searched

Answers on CNC outsourced processing.

What is CNC outsourced processing?
CNC outsourced processing covers all machining steps that aren't done in-house but at an external service provider — typically grinding (cylindrical, surface, internal), hardening (vacuum, plasma, induction, laser), surface treatment (blackening, passivation, DLC coating) and inspection certificates. In goCAD these external services are stored as reusable calculation formulas and applied to the part automatically.
How do you quote CNC cylindrical grinding?
For CNC cylindrical grinding, machine occupancy time is made up of grinding time, secondary times and a process safety factor: runtime = ((A_total × 1.3 × i) / (f × v_cw × 1000) + (i × return_time/60) + (approach_time/60)) × 1.4. goCAD applies this formula automatically — area, increments and cutting parameters come from geometry and machine park. A 5,000 mm² part typically takes 2.44 minutes.
How is CNC surface grinding quoted?
CNC surface grinding follows the same logic as cylindrical grinding: grinding area with 30% tool-overrun, number of increments (cutting + spark-out), feed and cutting speed. Secondary times (return per stroke, approach per face) and a 40% process safety factor for tool changes and wheel dressing are added. goCAD has the surface-grinding formula built in and applies it automatically when grinding faces are detected.
Which surface treatments can goCAD quote?
goCAD stores 80+ reference processes: vacuum hardening (up to 1100/1200 °C), plasma nitriding, gas nitriding, gas nitrocarburizing, case hardening, tempering, ageing, deep-freezing, blasting (graded by batch), blackening, passivation, thick-layer passivation, DLC and WC/C coatings (PVD), laser and induction hardening, plus inspection certificates. All as reusable formulas, quoted by weight (€/kg), area (€/dm²), effort (€/h) or fixed price per part.
Are CNC additional processes detected from the technical drawing automatically?
Yes. goCAD reads CAD data and technical drawings automatically and detects typical indicators for outsourced processing — grinding symbols per DIN ISO 1302, hardness specs like HRC 60 ±2, surface specs (Ra, Rz), coating notes ("DLC 2 µm"), passivation requirements, heat-treatment notes. The matching processes are assigned to the part automatically — for milled, turned and sheet-metal parts alike.
Does outsourced-process quoting also work for sheet-metal parts?
Yes. The logic is cross-process: sheet-metal parts with blackening, passivation or powder coating are handled the same way as hardened turned parts or ground milled parts. goCAD applies the appropriate reference formula — the driver (weight, area, time, fixed price) is defined per process; the host process of the part doesn't change the outsourced calculation.

Bring your outsourced-process list — leave Excel behind.

We set up your €/kg rates, minimum charges and drivers during onboarding. After that every outsourced service is auto-detected, calculated and added to the quote.

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