Toll Manufacturing Minute with CPS: What to Include in a Tolling RFQ — And Why the Details Drive the Cost

TL; DR: EPISOde OVERVIEW

You’ve found a toll processor you want to work with. You put together an RFQ and sent it over. Then, instead of a quote, you get a list of questions.

This is more common than most buyers realize, and it’s not the processor being difficult. A quote is only as accurate as the information behind it. When key details are missing, the number comes back with assumptions baked in, and those assumptions can unravel once processing starts.

In this episode of the Toll Manufacturing Minute, Charlie Casale, Senior Business Development Manager at Custom Processing Services, gets specific about what a complete tolling RFQ looks like — and what’s almost always missing.

Why Incomplete RFQs Create Downstream Problems

An RFQ gap doesn’t always surface immediately. Sometimes it shows up early in a conversation. Sometimes it shows up mid-production, when a customer sends in 20-pound bags instead of the 1,000-pound bulk sacks the quote assumed. Suddenly what was planned to be a one-person job ends up requiring two.

“The packaging is probably the single biggest effect,” Charlie noted. “There are so many different details in any tolling project that we really need to spend the time, ask the questions, and get the answers so we can build an accurate scope, meet your requirements, and provide you an accurate proposal.”

Budget numbers can be provided despite incomplete information — but those numbers naturally come with caveats. The goal of a complete RFQ is to reduce the gap between the budget estimate and the final production cost.

The Material Itself: Where Every RFQ Starts

Beyond the obvious question of what the material is, there are properties that significantly affect not only how a toll processor can work with it, but how they price that work.

• Friability: Two materials with identical chemical compositions can behave very differently in a mill depending on what happened to them before arrival. Friability affects throughput rate and process efficiency.
• Bulk density: Materials tend to get lighter as they’re milled. If a customer sends in a 1,000 kg sack but the finished product has a lower bulk density, that same sack may only hold 800 kg of processed material. Knowing the final product’s bulk density up front is what allows a toll processor to specify the right packaging for the pack-out weight the customer needs.
• Moisture content: For milling, moisture affects friability. For drying, it’s the primary specification: a toll processor needs to know the incoming moisture level and the target endpoint (for example, reducing from 10% to below 1%).
• Lot-to-lot variability: A pilot trial uses one lot. Full production involves many. Variability in friability from lot to lot shows up as variability in throughput. At CPS, we look for production trials that include multiple lots specifically to characterize this.

Hazard Classification and the SDS: Non-Negotiable

Every new project at CPS starts with an EH&S review of the safety data sheet. It’s not optional, and an RFQ without it can’t move forward.

From a safety standpoint, the two primary considerations are combustibility and toxicity. CPS has combustible dust handling systems rated for specific levels of combustibility. For toxic materials, the plant uses enclosed stations with dedicated dust collection to protect operators.

In the battery and energy materials space specifically, highly reactive metal alloys can be a limiting factor. CPS evaluates each material on its own merits — 95% of submissions clear the EH&S review — but the SDS is how that determination gets made.

Particle Size Specification: The Most Technically Nuanced Part

Particle size targets are where RFQs most often fall apart. “I want it at 200 microns” is not a specification; it’s a starting point for a conversation.

A complete particle size specification includes:

• Whether the target is a median (D50), an average, or a top size — or a full distribution spec (D10/D50/D90)
• The measurement method used to establish and verify the spec (sieve analysis vs. laser diffraction, and which instrument)
• A reference sample with a customer PSD printout so the toll processor can calibrate to the same result
• Acceptable tolerances, including whether a distribution produced on the processor’s equipment can be approved if it differs slightly from what the customer’s equipment produces

Packaging, Testing & Labeling

The difference between bulk packaging and small bags isn’t just a logistical question. It’s a labor question. Opening 50 twenty-pound bags to get the same feed as one 1,000-pound sack requires more people and more time, and that shows up directly in the per-pound processing cost.

The same applies on the output side. Pack-out in 10-pound bags costs more than pack-out in 50-pound bags. CPS will always flag this for customers who don’t realize there’s a cost implication — because sometimes a requirement that looks fixed turns out to be flexible.

CPS will always define a sampling plan and certificate of analysis (CoA) requirements for any project. But when customers specify their own requirements, those details belong in the RFQ.

Testing once every five sacks and testing twice per sack are not the same cost. Putting one label on a package and putting four or five labels on a package are not the same cost. Lot traceability and lot integrity requirements add documentation and handling time.

None of these details are unreasonable to ask for, but all of them have a meaningful impact on what it costs to deliver.

Volume, Campaign Structure, and Lab-to-Production Translation

Annual volume forecasts affect equipment allocation. When a large customer signals significant volume, CPS plans production capacity around it. Significant forecasting errors in either direction create operational disruptions.

Campaign structure also matters: one large annual run is more efficient than the same volume split across quarterly campaigns. Where flexibility exists on the customer side, it often translates to lower per-unit cost.

For customers transitioning from lab or pilot scale to production, Charlie was direct: lab-scale data is useful context, but it’s not directly transferable to a quoting foundation. Equipment differences change the particle size distribution. What a customer’s lab mill produces and what a CPS production mill produces may have the same D50 but a meaningfully different shape of distribution. CPS requires its own trial data before committing to a production quote.

Summary: What a Complete RFQ Includes

When asked for his single piece of advice, Charlie put it plainly: the devil is in the details. A complete RFQ covers:

• Material identity and safety data sheet (SDS)
• Starting and target particle size, with full specification (D50, top size, or full D10/D50/D90 distribution)
• Bulk density of the finished product
• Flowability and moisture content
• Incoming feed packaging and outgoing pack-out requirements
• Testing frequency and CoA requirements
• Labeling requirements
• Lot traceability or lot integrity requirements
• Annual volume forecast and preferred campaign structure
• Any temperature, atmosphere, or process constraints

CPS’s processing specification document captures all of this before production begins regardless of what the original RFQ contained. But the closer the RFQ is to complete, the more accurate the initial quote — and the fewer adjustments required down the line.

Putting together a tolling RFQ and want to make sure you haven’t missed anything? Reach out to CPS for a consultation to get started today.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Who: Charlie Casale, Senior Business Development Manager, Custom Processing Services (CPS)
• Topic: What to Include in a Tolling RFQ
• Core Message: An accurate tolling quote is only as good as the information in the RFQ, and the devil is in the details. Packaging format, particle size specification depth, bulk density, testing requirements, labeling, lot traceability, and hazard classification all have an impact on tolling quotes.
• CPS Differentiators: 
  • CPS's processing specification document captures every production detail — feed packaging, testing frequency, labeling, lot traceability — before processing begins, regardless of what the original RFQ contained.
  • CPS proactively flags cost implications of operational decisions (packaging size, campaign structure, testing frequency) so customers can make informed trade-offs — including flagging requirements that may be adding cost without adding value
  • Five plants, 40+ processing lines, and capabilities spanning milling, blending, drying, extraction, extrusion, liquid bottling, and more — including ultrafine and nano-scale milling for energy and advanced materials applications