Most UV printer quotations arrive late because the request for quotation did not contain the information that decides the machine class. The supplier guesses platform size, then the buyer reacts to a number that was never comparable with the other two bids, and a week disappears before anyone discusses the substrate.

This guide sets out the fields a UV printer quote actually depends on, in the order that matters: what determines the machine class, which substrate data changes the configuration, how to specify printheads, ink channels and fixtures, and how to normalise three quotations so the comparison is about production rather than about presentation.

Why do two quotes for the same machine class differ?

Configuration decides the price, not the series name.

Two quotations can carry the same series label and differ by printhead count, ink channels, fixtures, curing arrangement and service scope. Those five choices, not the badge on the frame, decide the total and the production you can sell.

Suppliers also quote at different points in the conversation. One prices a standard configuration from a catalogue; another prices an engineered configuration after a review of your substrate list. Both may be honest, but they are not comparable. When a UV flatbed printer specification is quoted as "up to 35 square metres per hour with up to eight Ricoh Gen5 or Gen6 printheads", that single sentence hides several commercial decisions: how many heads you actually buy, whether white ink and varnish run in the same pass, and whether the fixtures are included or quoted separately.

The practical fix is to ask every supplier to quote against one document - your RFQ - and to return the same fields in the same order. When the returned sheets line up, differences become visible instead of rhetorical, and the conversation moves from "why is yours higher" to "we specified four heads here and six there".

RFQ fields that decide the machine class

Four numbers decide whether you are buying a compact machine or an industrial flatbed: the largest part footprint, the maximum media thickness, the weight per square metre, and the parts you must clear per shift. Everything else in the request refines a class that these four have already chosen. Get them wrong and the quotation will describe a machine you cannot run.

Start with the footprint. A 3200 mm by 2000 mm platform prints a full board in one pass and removes the alignment work that tiling introduces; a compact platform accepts smaller parts and fewer of them per cycle. Then add thickness: a 1 mm to 100 mm range covers rigid boards, jigs and thicker substrates, while thin films need a different handling arrangement. Weight matters because it decides the table, the loading method and sometimes the frame; a 50 kg per square metre limit is a production constraint, not a footnote.

Finish with throughput expressed as parts, not as square metres. "Up to 35 square metres per hour" is a machine capability at a specific resolution and pass count; the number that pays your rent is accepted parts per shift after loading, fixturing and inspection. Tell the supplier both numbers and ask them to state which assumption they used.

Which substrate and artwork details belong in the RFQ?

List substrates with coatings, thickness and storage.

Substrate data decides the ink strategy, the preparation step and the sample test. A list of material names is not enough; thickness, coating and storage change whether ink adheres.

Write the list in the form your production team uses. For each substrate, state the material, the thickness range, whether it is coated, laminated or film-protected, and how it arrives - palletised, boxed, with interleaving paper, or in a condition that already scratches. PVC and ABS panels, acrylic, wood and MDF, glass, ceramic tile, metal and aluminium, leather, corrugated board, stone, canvas and foam board each behave differently, and a supplier can only configure the ink and preparation step if they know which of those you are running.

Artwork matters because it decides ink volume and layers. State whether you need white ink for transparent or dark substrates, whether varnish is required for protection or effect, and whether raised or embossed detail is part of the product - the configuration must support the layer sequence, not just the colour set. If your artwork includes fine text, gradients or small logos, say so, because resolution targets change the pass strategy and therefore the throughput assumption the supplier will quote against.

How should printheads and ink channels be specified?

Name the model, the count and the channel layout.

Ask for the printhead model, the number of heads and the ink channel layout in writing. These three items decide colour, white ink and varnish capability, and the resolution you can hold at speed.

Industrial UV machines are built around standard piezo printheads, and the technical documentation published by the component maker is a legitimate reference: Ricoh's industrial inkjet head documentation describes how head geometry and channel configuration affect drop placement and throughput. Because these heads are standard industrial hardware, a supplier who refuses to name the model is withholding information you need for spares planning, not protecting a trade secret.

Specify the channel layout against your product, not against a colour wheel. CMYK plus white plus varnish is a common production set for decorated rigid media; the question is whether the quoted configuration can run white and varnish within a single workflow, and what that costs in speed. If your jobs mix transparent and opaque substrates in the same shift, state that, because it changes the pass strategy and the cleaning routine between jobs. Where the machine is intended for cylindrical parts, the same logic applies to fixtures and rotation: the AJ360i prints CMYK plus white and varnish at 720 by 1200 DPI on objects from Ø60 mm to Ø170 mm as standard, with custom tooling up to Ø240 mm and up to 60 pieces per hour.

What should the fixture and loading section contain?

Object geometry, quantity per cycle and who builds the jig.

Fixtures decide cycle time and repeatability, and they are usually quoted separately. State the geometry of every product family, how many pieces must load per cycle, and whether the jig is included, priced as an option, or expected to be produced locally.

For flat parts, describe how the item is held: vacuum, edge clamps, a reusable jig, or a printed template for placement. For cylindrical and tapered items, describe diameter, taper angle and length, because clamping and rotation depend on all three. A machine intended for drinkware will normally be quoted with a set of standard fixtures plus an allowance for custom tooling; a machine intended for mixed flat work may need one reusable jig per product family instead.

Also settle who owns the fixture design. If your supplier builds the jig, ask for the drawing so a second jig can be made later without re-engineering. If you build it locally, ask for the mounting interface, the vacuum port layout and the maximum permissible height, so your design does not clash with head clearance. Fixture ownership is a small commercial detail that becomes expensive when a product line is transferred or duplicated.

Which site and utility constraints belong in the RFQ?

Power, floor loading, extraction and compressed air.

Utilities decide whether the machine can be commissioned on the date you promised. State supply voltage and phases, floor loading, access route and extraction options before the configuration is frozen.

Give the supplier the electrical supply you actually have, including whether a transformer or stabiliser is needed, and ask them to confirm the machine's requirement in the same terms. Describe the route into the building: door widths, lift capacity, ramp gradients, corridor turns and the distance from the unloading point to the final position. A 3200 mm by 2000 mm platform machine needs a planned path, and discovering a doorway problem after the crate is on the dock is the most expensive kind of surprise.

Add the environmental items: extraction or filtration expectations for the inks you will run, acceptable temperature and humidity range in the production room, and material storage space for substrates and consumables. Ask for the site preparation requirements in writing as part of the quotation, and treat them as an acceptance dependency rather than a courtesy note.

How should service, training and spare parts be quoted?

Separate lines for training, response and parts.

Ask for training days, response structure, spare-parts availability and consumable pricing as separate lines. Bundling them hides the differences that matter in year two.

Training should be quantified: how many days, how many operators, on site or remote, and which tasks are covered - daily start-up, cleaning, calibration, file preparation, fault diagnosis. AndresJet includes three days of on-site training in its service structure, and technicians covering Thailand, India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, South Europe and the United States; confirm the equivalent for your own region and get it in writing.

Response structure should name who is contacted first and what happens if the first response fails. Spare-parts availability should be stated as a period measured in years, with the parts list that the period covers, and with consumables separated from durable components. A guarantee of eight years of spare-parts availability is a planning asset; an assurance that support "never stops" is not, because it cannot be scheduled against.

Finally, ask for a sample test before the order. Printing your material, with your artwork, under recorded settings is the cheapest risk reduction available, and it produces the acceptance criteria you will use later. At AndresJet the first three samples are printed free of charge, which also gives you a look at how the supplier handles technical questions before money is involved.

The ten fields that make quotations comparable

Normalise every quotation to the same ten fields before you look at totals, then score them. A field left blank is not a discount; it is an unquantified risk that will be settled later, usually at your expense and on the supplier's terms. Comparison only works when both sheets answer the same question in the same order.

Once the table is complete, two quotes can be compared on evidence. Where a supplier cannot fill a field, ask what they need in order to fill it, and record the answer; a supplier that improves the sheet is a supplier that will improve the relationship.

What should be checked before signing the quotation?

Configuration annex, acceptance criteria, staged schedule.

Before signing, attach the configuration sheet as an annex, agree acceptance criteria in measurable terms, and fix the schedule as stages, so a deviation is identified in month two.

The acceptance criteria should reference the sample test you already approved: substrate, artwork, settings, and the properties you will check, such as adhesion, edge registration and colour agreement. Where you need a sampling rule for incoming components or materials, the acceptance-sampling methods published by NIST provide a defensible basis for deciding how many units to inspect.

Check the regulatory and logistics paperwork too. In the European Union, machinery placed on the market is covered by the Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230, which replaced the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC and applies from 20 January 2027; a machine shipping today is declared under the directive, and the declaration should name the act it is issued under. The European Commission's pages on machinery legislation and CE marking explain the obligations in plain language. On the commercial side, use an Incoterms 2020 rule with a named place, and check your own market's import procedure - the US Customs and Border Protection guidance for importers and the European Union's Access2Markets service are practical references for what has to be prepared before the container arrives.

With the annex, the acceptance criteria and the staged schedule agreed, the quotation stops being a price list and becomes a production commitment - which is the only form in which it can be managed.