Prototype Atlas

What the Prototype Atlas does

The Prototype Atlas sits beside the Component Atlas (what a device is built from) and the Services Atlas (who helps build it). It answers the question every prototype hits: who can make this, how much, and how fast? It covers machining, Swiss turning, EDM, laser tube cutting, flat laser cutting, laser welding, tube finishing and electropolish, centerless grinding, hypotubes, medical tubing extrusion, catheter builds, braiding and coiling, balloons, nitinol shape-setting, guidewires, marker bands, 3D printing, rapid injection molding, silicone and urethane casting, PCB fabrication and assembly, flex circuits, cable harnesses, cleanroom packaging and small-batch sterilization.

How the budgetary estimate works

Each process has a setup band and a per-unit band. The estimate applies a learning curve for quantity, then multiplies by material, complexity, tolerance, lead time, region and documentation factors. The model is deliberately simple so you can see what moved it. It is uncalibrated: the bands are modelling assumptions, not prices collected from the suppliers listed here. Expect a real quote to land anywhere from half to double the likely figure.

Quote a whole assembly from its BOM

Switch to Whole assembly (BOM) and paste the bill of materials. Each line is read as purchased or custom-made. Custom parts get the process, a budgetary band and lead time for a prototype build and for a production run, and a supplier shortlist. Purchased parts get catalog links, because their price is a distributor lookup, not a model output. The roll-up gives a cost per assembly and names the line that sets the lead time. Download it as a CSV to drop into a cost model or a design review. The BOM is read and priced in your browser and goes nowhere unless you send it to our sourcing desk.

The bands get better as real quotes come in. Once a process has 30 logged quotes from our own shop and our partner shops, its lines are re-centred on those quotes and say so, with n. Until then every line is the uncalibrated model.

How our fees work

We price it the way food-delivery apps do: every fee is its own line, and you see them all before you send anything. Parts and delivery are passed through at the shop's and carrier's cost, with no markup. Our only margin is the fee lines:

• Service fee, $50. We confirm the shop, the firm price and the lead time, place the order and track it to your door.
• Express fee, +$25 or +$50. Added when you ask for an expedited job (+$25), a rush job, or a same-day courier or next-flight-out delivery (+$50).
• Multi-shop fee, +$25 per extra shop. Added when a part moves between shops, for example laser cut, then electropolished.

Our fees never exceed $100 per order. Duties, brokerage and tax are billed at cost and confirmed on the firm quote. Nothing is charged until you approve it.

Local first, with a low-cost option in view

Ranking favours shops near your ship-to metro. A local shop can take a courier drop, walk a first article through with you, and turn a revision the same week. The shortlist also keeps at least one international or near-shore option visible when you allow it, because some parts are fine to wait for. Offshore sourcing trades price for customs time, IP exposure and quality-system distance. Weigh all three before you send a drawing.

For AI agents: the Prototype Atlas MCP server

The same engine is available as a Model Context Protocol server, so an AI assistant can parse a request, quote it, compare materials, rank suppliers, draft RFQs and hand the order to our sourcing desk. Its tools: list_categories, parse_request, estimate_quote, suggest_materials, find_suppliers, get_supplier, quote_logistics, draft_supplier_contact, submit_sourcing_request and contact_supplier. The public read-only server at https://10xand.com/mcp, which works as a ChatGPT app or a Claude connector, adds quote_bom for a whole bill of materials and quote_from_drawing for an attached drawing. The supplier list is published as JSON.

All listed suppliers