1.Material Cost Volatility Tracking for Fabrication
Scatter plot with trendline · 2026
A CNC fabrication estimator needed to quantify severe volatility in steel prices to protect job margins. Using a scatter plot dashboard, they visualized the monthly co-movement of price changes between "Iron & steel MoM %" and "Steel mill products MoM %". The analysis revealed a strong positive linear relationship with a 0.89 correlation. Data points showed that single-month price jumps could reach 16%, with larger combined movements highlighted by a color scale reaching up to 20+. This concrete data allowed the estimator to justify shorter validity windows on a cnc machining instant quote and implement material-indexed pricing clauses for custom cnc machining parts.
What it shows:
Quantifying material price correlations justifies dynamic pricing models and shorter quote validity.




