What We Are, and What We Are Not
A short, plain description of how this works, because the audio parts market has enough companies describing themselves as something they are not.
We are a matching service
You send one RFQ. We read the drawing, work out what the part actually needs, and put it in front of up to 3 shops whose machines, materials and finishing fit it. Those shops quote you directly and you order from whichever one you choose.
Shops pay us for matched requests. You pay nothing, we take no commission on the order, and we are not a party to the transaction. That is the whole business model, and it is worth stating because it explains what we are and are not motivated to do.
We are not a factory
We do not own machines. We do not own an anodizing line. Nobody here will tell you that your part is straightforward because it happens to suit equipment we already have, because we do not have any.
That is the useful part of this arrangement and also its limit. We can tell you honestly which process suits a part. We cannot make it.
In one line
We find shops that can make an audio part twice, to the same appearance, a year apart.
Machining a faceplate is not hard. Repeating it is. That is the problem the whole site is organised around.
How a shop gets on our list
The list is short on purpose. A long list means buyers get quotes from shops that cannot hold the finish, and shops get RFQs they cannot win.
- Cosmetic controlThe shop anodizes or brushes in house, or uses a finisher it manages and inspects on return. A shop that treats finish as somebody else's problem does not qualify.
- Evidence of cosmetic workParts where appearance was the specification. Not necessarily audio: a watch case, an instrument panel, a camera housing all count.
- Handling and packingFinished faces protected between operations and packed so they arrive unmarked. Most cosmetic rejects are created after the part was made.
- Response timeThe shop replies to buyers within 48 hours, including to say it is not interested.
- Honest quotingThe shop declines a finish it cannot repeat rather than quoting it and missing.
- ConfidentialityThe shop signs an NDA when a buyer asks for one, before files are released.
We do not publish a supplier directory and we do not name the shops on the site. A buyer sees the shops we match them with. Shops see a preview of a request before they pay for it. Nobody's list becomes anybody else's prospecting file.
How the guides are written
The guides are the main thing on this site, and they exist for a practical reason: matching only works when the buyer knows what to ask for. A drawing that does not say which faces are cosmetic will get quotes that are not comparable, and no amount of matching fixes that.
So the editorial rules are narrow:
- Numbers, not adjectivesAn alloy, a grit, a tolerance or a named standard rather than a claim that something is high quality.
- Ranges are labelledWhere a figure is typical rather than guaranteed, the guide says so. Your shop confirms what it can hold on your geometry.
- Standards are namedEIA-310, MIL-A-8625, ASTM B209 and similar, so you can go and read the source rather than take our word for it.
- No invented proofNo client counts, no years in business, no testimonials, no certifications and no logos. This is a new site and the copy reads like one.
- Corrections stay visibleWhen a guide is updated the date changes on the page. We do not quietly rewrite a figure and leave the original date.
- No process biasWe do not own equipment, so there is nothing here written to steer you toward a process that suits our machines.
Two ways in
Buyers send a drawing. Shops that machine and finish cosmetic parts register to receive previews of requests that fit what they run. Either way you hear back within 24 business hours.
Prefer email? Buyers , shops .
Questions about how this works
Do you own a factory?
No. We do not own machines, tanks or a finishing line, and we do not take a margin on your order. We read RFQs and match them with shops that can do the work, and those shops pay us for matched requests.
Why should I trust a matching service over going direct?
You should not, automatically. Going direct is better once you have found a shop that can repeat cosmetic work. The problem we solve is the finding, which is slow and expensive to do by sending the same drawing to twenty shops and reading twenty quotes that are not comparable.
Do you mark up the shop’s price?
No. The shop quotes you directly and you place the order with them. We are not in the transaction, we do not see the invoice and we take no commission.
What happens if the match is wrong?
Tell us and we will say so plainly rather than sending you another shop to keep the process moving. If we do not think anyone on our list is a good fit for a part, we say that instead of matching you anyway. You hear back within 24 business hours either way.
Who writes the guides?
We do, from manufacturing standards, supplier process documentation and the problems that come up repeatedly in RFQs. Where a guide cites a standard such as EIA-310 or MIL-A-8625 it names it. Where a number is a typical range rather than a guarantee, it says so.