Contract Programming

[tsaladyga]

I have the opportunity to do some Contract programming for a reputable company here. I am new to the contract programming thing, can you all give me advise on what I should charge?

According to the customer, it will be pretty basic 2d lathe and mill. They make tool holders 40 Cat and 50 Cat. I would be writing about 200 programs.

Should I charge by the hour or by the program?

Thanks all,

Todd

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

Charge what the market will bear.

 

Factor in your expenses like , Software Maintenance, Hardware updates, take into account Fed and State Tax, you'll have to throw in some money for FICA, State Disability, add in cost if you need to be onsite vs. at home in your jammies and slippers, it's not really a number that anyone can give you. I mean I've seen the range go from $45/hr up to $150+ depending on the work.

 

Sorry I can't be more specific, just too many variables.

[crazy^millman]

Like APPs said many thing go into the equation with contract programming. 200 programs could be a ton of work. What do you need to provde? Tool list, Set-up sheet, NC program and/or Mastercam program? How much support will be required after they are made? Can they make basic changes or will you need to do everything like tool number changes? Do you need to support part revs? Do they have post processors? Do you have to provide tooling from scrtach or support existing tools? Are they going by your recommndations for tools or making you stick to tools they say you must use? Too many things to consider to say if hourly or by part. I did learn a long time ago to not limit myslef and start things on a trail and see what was fair for the customer and for me. I then went from there if you are not able to make a living doing it then not worth.

[Guest SAIPEM]

I have the opportunity to do some Contract programming for a reputable company here. I am new to the contract programming thing, can you all give me advise on what I should charge?

According to the customer, it will be pretty basic 2d lathe and mill. They make tool holders 40 Cat and 50 Cat. I would be writing about 200 programs.

Should I charge by the hour or by the program?

Thanks all,

Todd

 

If you have any real assets at all then you'd better have General Liability insurance and possibly even Professional Liability Insurance before agreeing to do any work.

You can still be sued and lose even if you have done nothing wrong.

 

Professional Liability insurance is commonly referred to as insurance that covers errors of omission.

I like to be able to sleep at night so I carry both.

[danielm]

A good rule of thumb for me is to see what shops are paying thier programmers and just double it. When you consider benefits with paid holidays, vacation, sick time that the independent does not get, it adds up.

 

$70/hr is not unresonable if you're good. That means that you know how/when to use the X6 HSM toolpaths, Multi-ax, got good setup sheet support figured out etc..

 

Ooops...I just read the part about basic 2D lathe and mill. Contract programmers would do well to make $30 here in the PNW.

 

HTH

[rx8pilot]

I have hired a number of contract programmers over the years. I can say this - it is all about your speed and focus followed by the quality of your program. I don't care about your software expenses or taxes - that is your problem as a contractor. The purpose of the contract programmer is to get CNC machines up and running efficiently at a cost that is palatable to the client. That means that the not only do the machines need to be turning something, it cant be breaking tools or cutting air. It also can't take 10 hours to program a square block with a hole in it because you were messing around with a software bug from the latest update. Also, if you are truly self sufficient and don't need to ask a boatload of questions to get started - that goes a long way. Our "go-to" guy is the most expensive option, but he gets it done right without taking my time. I have hired others that spend half of the time picking my brain for details that gets me questioning why I am paying them.

 

A shop that needs 200 programs probably knows what it "should" take in terms of time spent and they will be sensitive to that. I know I am. The guy I use the most, charges $75/hour for our prototyping work that is generally quite sophisticated on multi-axis machines. That quickly got out of hand after he spent a few weeks on the clock, so now we give him a budget to work with and he must assess whether or not he wants to take it. In general it probably averages between $50 and $65 per hour but it is based on his speed. When he is done, the quality of the program is graded critically. For a prototype, I don't really care how it was made. With a production part, the order of operations, speed and feeds, tool choices, air cutting, approach to workholding, etc, is critical and has a LOT to do with what I am willing to pay a contractor.

 

Think of it this way - If I paid a programmer $100/hour and got a program that is very easy to setup/operate, documented, and has a cycle time of 10 min it would be WAY cheaper than a $30/hour programmer that makes the same part that is difficult to setup, has no documentation and has a cycle time of 16 min.

 

In short, it depends. I don't pay for learning curves or software bugs. I pay for programs that work and I don't think I am unique in this way. Your resume that tells the world about your decades of experience making miracle parts doesn't really factor in either. Like all businesses, it's about the bottom line when it comes to the rate you can charge. Good luck.

[RaiderX]

Make absolutely sure what is expected from you (a clear definition of your responsability's). I have dropped many customers due to giving my contact info to an oporator that wants you to hold there hand. constant calls when the information was already provided. this could be ok if you are hourly but wont look good to the person signing your check. so then you end up spending time explaining your cost.