Manufacturers

Manufacturing claims are built on process development, tooling, materials and trials, and the projects from one year to the next are related. Once the first claim has been made and the technical case written, the work of the next claim is to update it. That makes the fee predictable, and it makes a percentage fee that rises with the claim for much the same work a term to question at renewal. The technical case matters too: process improvements are where the line between routine engineering and qualifying work is drawn, and the people who draw it should be the engineers who did the work.

• How are your fees calculated?, and whether the basis changes for a repeat claim
• How do you decide what qualifies?, with an example of process work you would leave out
• Who will do the technical work?, and will they visit the floor
• Do you claim every year by default?

Everything qualifies, where routine production is swept in with development. No one speaks to your engineers, because the claim is written from cost records. Uncapped success fees on a claim that has grown with a new line. Each has a fair version: a business whose whole activity is developing one new product, a repeat claim where last year's interviews still hold, a claim that will stay small. The red flag pages say how to tell.

Fixed fees and capped fees suit a repeatable claim; on the shared example a $35,000 fixed fee is less than 20% of any claim above $175,000. Hourly fees can suit the update of a technical case already written. A contingent success fee still suits a first claim where the business is unsure what qualifies. The how to negotiate fees guide covers asking for a cap at renewal, and the case study below shows a manufacturer who did. Illustrative figures.