What does a buyer check before ordering aluminium sections or sheet?
They check the alloy and temper against the application, the tolerance standard, and the finish, because anodising and powder coating change both lead time and cost. For extrusions they also check whether the die exists or has to be made.
A fabricator is deciding whether to move a profile to a new extruder and needs to know what happens to the tooling.
Reviewed 4 August 2026
Scope and specifications
- Alloy and temper
- The two together determine strength, formability and corrosion behaviour.
- Product form
- Extrusion, sheet, plate, foil and castings are different plants.
- Dimensional tolerance standard
- Fabricators plan around tolerance, not nominal size.
- Maximum extrusion circle or sheet width
- A hard filter on the enquiry.
- Finish options
- Mill, anodised, powder coated and brushed change lead time.
- Die status and ownership
- New die, existing die or transferred die are different projects.
- Minimum order quantity per profile
- Extrusion economics are driven by run length.
Documents buyers may need
| Document | What it proves | Where it belongs |
|---|---|---|
| Mill test certificateAsked at: with delivery | Alloy composition and mechanical properties for the batch | Per shipment |
| Dimensional inspection reportAsked at: first run and on request | Conformity to the tolerance standard | Per shipment |
| Anodising or coating specificationAsked at: where finish is specified | Coating thickness and process, under a named standard | Name it, share on request |
| Die drawing approval processAsked at: before die order | How profiles are approved before tooling is cut | Publish it |
| ISO 9001 certificateAsked at: vendor approval | Quality system, with number and certification body | Publish it |
| Alloy datasheetAsked at: design stage | Mechanical and physical properties of the alloys you supply | Publish it |
| Recycled content statementAsked at: sustainability review | Substantiated recycled content, increasingly requested | Publish it |
Details for a useful enquiry
- Profile drawing or product form
- The starting point for any quote.
- Alloy and temper required
- Determines feasibility.
- Annual volume and order pattern
- Extrusion pricing depends on run length.
- Finish required
- Changes lead time and cost significantly.
- Die status
- New, existing or transferred.
- Delivery location and schedule
- Freight for long sections is a real constraint.
Questions suppliers ask
Should die costs be published?
Publishing the basis is more useful than a price: what drives die cost, whether it is amortised against volume, and who owns the die afterwards. Fabricators are used to tooling costs; what stops them moving is uncertainty about ownership and transfer.
How specific should the alloy range be?
List the alloys and tempers you actually stock or run regularly, and say which are made to order. Buyers filter on alloy first, and a long aspirational list that turns out to be mostly special-order damages trust at the quotation stage.
Is recycled content worth stating?
Yes, with the percentage and its basis, because aluminium buyers are increasingly asked for it by their own customers. An unqualified sustainability claim is worse than none; a stated percentage with a basis is a commercial asset.
Check which documents and standards your buyer needs; requirements vary by market, customer and contract.
Plact Research. Plact's editorial desk for buyer-evidence research. Industry standards, documents and buyer questions are researched and drafted with Plact's AI tools, then reviewed by Praveen Kavuri before publication. Every claim cites the standard, regulation or public source it rests on.
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