This is what a buyer checks before they shortlist a metals and metalworking supplier.
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 · Written for aluminium producer or extruders selling to business buyers
What does a buyer check before ordering aluminium sections or sheet?
What a buyer needs to identify the product
These are the fields a buyer scans before deciding whether you are worth contacting. Missing one of them usually ends the visit without an email.
- 1
Alloy and temper
The two together determine strength, formability and corrosion behaviour.
- 2
Product form
Extrusion, sheet, plate, foil and castings are different plants.
- 3
Dimensional tolerance standard
Fabricators plan around tolerance, not nominal size.
- 4
Maximum extrusion circle or sheet width
A hard filter on the enquiry.
- 5
Finish options
Mill, anodised, powder coated and brushed change lead time.
- 6
Die status and ownership
New die, existing die or transferred die are different projects.
- 7
Minimum order quantity per profile
Extrusion economics are driven by run length.
The documents buyers ask for
Not all of them belong on a public page. Naming the ones you can issue is what separates a supplier who can be audited from one who cannot.
| 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 |
Where aluminium sites lose the enquiry
Each of these is common, cheap to fix, and costs an enquiry that never arrives — so nobody ever reports it.
Die ownership and transfer terms unstated
It is the question that decides whether a fabricator will move to you at all, because the tooling represents years of investment.
Maximum extrusion circle not published
Extruders are defined by press size. Omitting it produces enquiries for profiles you cannot run and loses the ones you can.
Finish options listed without lead time
Anodising and coating routinely dominate the lead time. A buyer planning a build needs the figure to compare offers honestly.
What the enquiry form should ask
A form that collects these can be answered properly the first time. A form that collects a name and a message cannot.
Enquiry form — aluminium
Enough to reply usefully, short enough that a buyer finishes it.
- 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.
Documents and standards named here are the ones buyers in this industry commonly ask for; requirements vary by market, customer and contract, so treat this as a starting checklist rather than a compliance list. Clearer pages can help discovery and evaluation. They do not guarantee rankings, AI citations, enquiries or revenue.
Illustrative
An enquiry from this search looks like: Profile drawing or product form · Annual volume and order pattern · Delivery location and schedule · Alloy and temper required
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