What is a cost breakdown?

A cost breakdown is the estimate written out line by line: material, machining for each setup, setup time, programming, subcontracted operations such as anodising and, where relevant, tooling and other one-off costs. Each line shows its inputs, such as time multiplied by rate or weight multiplied by price per kilo. At the bottom sits the cost per part, often for several quantities, because one-off items, when allocated across the batch, are shared by more parts as the quantity grows. Margin and selling price sit outside it: the breakdown stops at cost.

How does the cost breakdown work in practice?

A breakdown lets you check a price and explain it. When a buyer asks why a part costs more than expected, you can point to the line, for example an extra setup or a subcontracted finish. When two colleagues have estimated the same part differently, it shows which input differs, not just that the totals do. For an investment question it shows which lines a different machine or fixture would change. How much detail it holds depends on your costing method: if tooling or overhead sits in the hourly rate, it does not appear as a line of its own.

What is the cost breakdown often confused with?

A cost breakdown is not the quote: the quote gives the customer a selling price per quantity, the breakdown supports the cost beneath it. Nor is it the manufacturing route: the route fixes the sequence of operations, the breakdown sets a cost against them.

How do you see the cost breakdown in Blake?

In Blake, material, machining, finishing, setup and programming are separate lines, per part and per batch, with quantity breaks and an hourly rate per machine. Subcontracted operations come in as their own line from your subcontract library; a missing price stays open. Every result is labelled as an estimate. More on estimating.