Custom Molded Rubber Part RFQ Checklist

The checklist

1. The drawing and the 3D model. The released drawing with its revision letter, as a PDF, and the 3D model as a STEP file if one exists. If you are replacing a part that is already in production, a photo of it helps.
2. The parting line and flash. Mark where a parting line may fall and where it may not, and the flash allowed on sealing or cosmetic surfaces. If you have no preference, say so.
3. The material. An ASTM D2000 or SAE J200 line callout, an AMS or MIL document, or a named compound with its data sheet. The D2000 callout guide explains how a callout reads.
4. The hardness and the color. The Shore A hardness if the callout does not already fix it, and the color if it matters for identification or appearance.
5. The tolerance class. The ARPM class for the part, from A1 high precision to A4 basic, with any dimension that needs a closer class called out on its own. The tolerance class guide explains the four classes.
6. Volume and releases. Your annual usage and how you release it: the quantity per release, how often you release, and any ramp-up. These are your figures, and the quote is written around them.
7. The tooling. Whether a mold already exists, what type it is, and who holds it. On the import route, whether an existing mold can be brought into the program depends on the type of mold, and who owns the tool is set by the agreement for the part.
8. The documents. A certificate of conformance ships with every order. Material certification, a batch test report and AS9102 first-article documentation are available on request, so name the ones your quality system needs.

Also worth sending

• The application: what the part seals or protects, what it touches, and the temperatures and fluids it sees.
• Drawings of the mating parts, such as the groove, flange, panel or shaft the part fits.
• Send your current drawing and annual usage; we quote landed cost.

A part with a metal insert bonded in is a rubber-to-metal bonded part, and a flat part in a sheet material is usually cut to your drawing rather than molded.

When something is not settled yet

You do not need a final volume, a mold or a callout before you ask. Send what you have, mark what is still open, and say whether the drawing is released or still a draft. A Conquest representative replies within one business day.

How the quote names the route

Conquest Seal supplies custom molded parts two ways. On the domestic route the part is molded by one of the domestic molders Conquest Seal distributes for, and that molder is the manufacturer of record. On the import route the part is made to your print through our overseas manufacturing program and imported, and Conquest Seal is the manufacturer of record and issues the certificate. Annual-volume programs to a released drawing fit the import route, and the quote names the route either way. The part types with their own pages are molded gaskets and seals, grommets and plugs and boots.

Download the checklist

Download this checklist as a one-page PDF to send with a drawing or to keep beside a print. It may be reused under CC BY 4.0 with credit to Conquest Seal Corporation and a link to conquestseal.com.

Sources

1. The ARPM Rubber Handbook (ARPM MO-1), Eighth Edition 2020, Association for Rubber Products Manufacturers, chapter 1, Molded Rubber Products: the dimensional tolerance designations A1 to A4, read 2026-10-10. Designations only, no figures reproduced
2. ASTM D2000-18(2024)e1: the public scope in the ASTM store listing, read 2026-09-25