Dental outsourcing to Mexico: how to compare landed cost
Compare dental milling quotes using production, shipping, import-related costs, receiving work and accepted units—not the unit price alone.
A lower manufacturing price is only one input. Compare the cost of accepted work reaching the same point in your lab's workflow.
For a US laboratory considering milling in Mexico, use a worksheet that separates quoted items from assumptions. This guide proposes an operating-cost comparison, not a PROCA price list, tariff estimate or promise of savings.
Define the output before calculating
Specify the material, product type and delivery state. A design file, an intermediate restoration and a finished item are different outputs. Your comparison must include the tasks left for your own team in each option.
Also decide whether you are comparing a particular batch or a recurring production arrangement. A favorable pilot shipment does not establish the cost of every future order.
Use a complete comparison formula
Comparable cost per accepted unit =
(production + separately charged design + freight + insurance
+ applicable import/brokerage charges + internal receiving/finishing
+ measured exception costs) / accepted units
Add only applicable items and avoid double-counting amounts already included in the supplier's quote. Keep currency and the actual exchange-rate convention visible where a conversion is needed.
Costs associated with a rejected unit, repeat work or a return should be recorded under the agreement that actually applies. Do not insert an invented industry-average failure rate to make a proposal look attractive.
Batch size changes freight allocation
Consider a purely hypothetical example: a shipment costing $40 contributes $4 per unit to a ten-unit batch and $1 per unit to a forty-unit batch, before any other cost. These figures are arithmetic illustrations, not shipping quotes or suggested order minimums.
Consolidation can also require waiting for more cases. Your worksheet should show that timing choice rather than treating a larger batch as automatically preferable.
Put receiving work on the same basis
If one quote leaves finishing to your lab, measure the actual technician time and consumables involved. If another includes more finishing, check whether the received result matches the agreed specification.
Use your own cost allocation method consistently. A decision based on an arbitrary hourly figure can be as misleading as one based on production price alone.
Resolve cross-border responsibilities separately
Ask the appropriate specialist to determine applicable product, establishment and entry requirements for the proposed arrangement. FDA's registration and listing guidance is a starting reference for roles and activities, not a determination that a particular PROCA product or shipment is authorized.[1]
Do not assume a duty exemption, a universal low-value threshold or zero brokerage cost. Confirm current treatment for the actual product and shipment with the responsible importer or broker before turning an estimate into a commercial commitment.
Request a comparable PROCA quotation
Provide product mix, approximate batch sizes, destination ZIP code, required finishing and the workflow stages your lab wants to retain. Ask for inclusions, exclusions and validity conditions to be explicit.
Your decision can then distinguish manufacturing price, delivered cost and scheduling risk. Those are related questions, but they are not interchangeable.
Does nearshore manufacturing always save money?
No such conclusion follows from geography alone. The actual quotation, operating work and shipment conditions must support it.
Are the example amounts PROCA prices?
No. They illustrate allocation only. Request a current, case-specific quotation.
Plan your next step
Request a manufacturing quote · Zirconia pilot evaluation · Define the lab-to-lab agreement
FDA — Device Registration and Listing. https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/how-study-and-market-your-device/device-registration-and-listing (accessed: 2026-09-09). ↩︎
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