Nesting
Arranging flat parts on a sheet so the usable area is maximised, and the step that decides most of the material line on any sheet metal quote.
Nesting is where the material line on a sheet metal part is actually decided. Quote from the area of the part and you have priced a number nobody can buy. Quote from the sheet you purchase and divide by the good blanks it yields, and the figure is real.
The gap between those 2 is larger than most estimators expect. A blank at 45 square inches nested on a 48 by 96 sheet at 83 percent yield costs meaningfully more per piece than its own area suggests, and the difference is drop you paid full price for.
Constraints move the yield more than skill does. Grain direction on a formed part can fix the orientation of every blank and cost 10 points of yield. Common line cutting between adjacent parts can win some of it back. Lot size decides whether this part nests alone or shares a sheet with others.
That is why a quote for 500 and a quote for 50 are commercially different parts even at the same drawing. How to quote a sheet metal part carries one bracket through the whole calculation.