What a Pricing Rule is

A Pricing Rule is a formula that the configurator evaluates to produce a unit price. Rules give the shop flexibility beyond a flat per-in² rate — you can encode volume breaks, rush premiums, complexity surcharges, thickness-driven upcharges.

Menu: Plating → Configurator → Pricing Rules.

Pricing Rules list

Rule anatomy

Each rule has:

Field	Purpose
Name	What this rule does in plain English.
Code	Short identifier.
Coating Config	Which coating uses this rule (1 rule per coating).
Formula	Python-evaluated expression producing unit price.
Complexity Surcharges	One-to-many table of named surcharges with pick-list triggers.
Min Charge	Floor; if formula returns less, use this instead.
Volume Bands	Per-quantity tier (e.g. `1–50: $1.20`, `51–500: $0.90`, `501+: $0.70`).

Formula variables

Inside the formula you can reference:

sa          # net plateable surface area
qty         # quantity
thickness   # target thickness from the coating config
rush        # True if order is rush
material    # 'aluminium' | 'steel' | 'stainless' | 'copper' | 'titanium'
weight      # part weight (kg)
min_charge  # the rule's min charge value (for max() use)

Example formulas

Simple per-sq-in:

sa * 0.75

Volume-tiered (flat rate): leave formula blank, fill in Volume Bands instead.

Rush premium:

sa * 0.75 * (1.25 if rush else 1.0)

Thickness-dependent (aerospace):

sa * (0.50 + thickness * 0.02)   # $0.50 base + 2 cents per µm

Complexity surcharges + base rate:

max(min_charge, sa * 0.60 + surcharge_total)

…where surcharge_total is auto-computed from the Complexity Surcharges subtable.

Complexity surcharges

For each rule, add surcharge lines that the estimator selects in the configurator:

Name	Amount	Multiplier
Extra masking (>5 features)	$25	per-part flat
Mirror finish prep	15%	percentage of base
Low quantity setup	$150	per-order flat

At quote time the estimator ticks which apply; the sum becomes surcharge_total in the formula.

Testing a rule

Open the rule.
Use Test Formula button (if present) or open a Quote Configurator session against a test part.
Watch the Calculated Price field update.
Adjust variables, re-test.

What can go wrong

Formula error → price is 0

Syntax error or undefined variable name. Check the chatter — Odoo posts the exception detail. Fix the formula, re-save.

Price is way too high/low

Unit mismatch is the usual culprit. If surface area is in cm² but formula assumes in², prices are off by 6.45x. Use the same UOM consistently — match the coating's Default UOM for pricing.

Volume bands ignored

If a formula is set AND volume bands exist, formula wins. Blank the formula if you want bands to apply. Can't mix both for one coating.