If you purchase a standard fused silica glass chip or flow cell from our standard product store, you will pay a standard price for a single piece (plus shipping). However, if you require a custom glass chip, our quotation will reflect two charges:

• A per-piece fabrication charge, and
• A non-recurring engineering (NRE) charge.

The NRE charge is a one-time fee that covers engineering time on custom-made parts. In other words, it is the tooling and programing costs that are incurred prior to starting the fabrication of a custom chip. NRE costs can be high and will increase as the custom chip, under design, becomes even more complex. In many cases, the NRE fee may even exceed the per-piece fabrication charge.

How can you minimize NRE charges?

You can of course eliminate the NRE fee completely by selecting a standard product from our website. Ask yourself if you really need a 120-micron wide channel when a similar chip with a 100-micron wide channel is readily available?

In order to minimize the NRE fee associated with the fabrication of a custom chip:

• -        Use a 2” x 1” rectangular substrate (We use this size for our standard glass chips),
• -        If possible, start with one of our standard chip designs and add (or subtract from it). This will often lower the NRE fee (and possibly even the per-piece fabrication cost),
• -        If we have previously fabricated a custom design chip for you, try to re-use part of it to lower the new NRE charges,
• -        Use symmetry to your fullest advantage. The NRE associated with symmetrical designs is often lower than that associated with non-symmetrical designs.
• -        Do not over specify the tolerances associated with your design (Over-specifying tolerances will affect both the NRE and the piece price).

We will gladly recommend changes to your custom-chip to help minimize the NRE fee after reviewing your initial design.