Machine shops and manufacturers: licensing production and quality records

• Work orders and travelers: what was made, on which machine, and what went wrong
• Inspection and QC records: what failed and how you responded
• ERP history: orders, routings and scheduling
• The email and notes around them: how your people solved problems

Much of what is in a job shop's CAD folder belongs to customers and may be covered by their NDAs or purchase terms. Some buyers refuse data held for clients. Process documents you authored yourself, like setup sheets, inspection plans and work instructions, are far simpler to license. Sort the two piles first. See CAD data.

Expect a floor of 20 to 30 staff plus several years on record. Certain buyers only count US-based office employees, and that can disqualify a shop whose staff are mostly on the floor. Check each buyer's counting rule.

Nobody quotes a figure specific to manufacturing. For businesses still trading, buyers advertise roughly $100K to $2M (self-reported), and Pewter mentions $450,000 paid to an engineering firm of 70. Ten years on a single ERP plus tidy quality records beats a shop that switched software last year.

Less than most owners expect. By the buyers' own estimates the owner's part is roughly 1 to 3 hours: a scoping call, deciding what is in and out, and approving the export. The buyer can usually work with your IT person or provider on the export itself.

Start with the match quiz using your headcount and systems, and get every promise in the written offer.