A supplier brief is a short document with a single job: to let the supplier check the specification line by line against the published pages, without having to guess, infer or ask for the missing half. This guide gives that brief a structure that works for sintered neodymium magnets on this site: four required items, three questions that should always be asked, and a list of common errors that turn an otherwise good brief into a second round of correspondence. It is written for buyers who already know roughly what they need, and who want the first message to be the one that gets a confirmation.
The four required items
First, the shape family, named exactly as published: disc and cylinder, block and plate, ring and tube, arc and segment, sphere, countersunk, or custom. Second, the dimensions inside that family's published range — diameter and height for discs, three edges for blocks, outer diameter, inner diameter and height for rings, three customized figures for arcs, diameter for spheres, form and hole size for countersunk shapes, or a dimensioned sketch for custom shapes. Third, the grade temperature series under discussion, named as a series, not just as a grade number without its temperature row. Fourth, the magnetization direction exactly as listed for that shape, copied letter for letter rather than paraphrased. A brief missing any one of the four will be answered with a question, because the missing item cannot be inferred from the other three.
Two habits make the four items reliable. One is to check each item against the detail page for the shape named, not against a general magnet page or a memory of another shape's table, because dimensions, tolerances and directions all belong to shapes. The other is to write the direction and the dimensions in the same message, rather than sending dimensions first and direction later, because a partial brief invites a partial answer and the two halves can drift apart across messages. A brief that arrives complete is checked complete; a brief that arrives in instalments is checked in instalments.
The three questions to always ask
Minimum order quantity and lead time: Please confirm minimum order quantity and lead time before ordering. This site publishes no quantity or timing figure, so the question must be asked rather than assumed, and the answer will be specific to the specification sent, not a general figure that applies to every shape. Coating requirements: please confirm coating requirements before ordering, because coating type names were not transcribed from the company's illustration and no coating type is named on this site; state the operating environment with the coating question so the answer can be specific. Warranty terms: warranty terms are unavailable on the published pages, so please confirm warranty terms before ordering, and state what warranty question matters to the order rather than assuming a term.
Certificates belong in the same group of explicit questions. Certificates are available upon request, and no certificate number, issuing body, scope or validity period is published on this site, so a brief that needs a certificate should name the certificate required and its purpose, rather than asking generally for certificates. Naming the requirement lets the review match the document to the order it belongs to, instead of returning a general answer that may not cover the order.
Common errors that delay a brief
Borrowing a figure from the wrong shape's table is the most common error, and it takes several forms: a ring inner diameter quoted as a countersunk hole, a block thickness quoted as a disc height, a direction copied from another shape's list. The safeguard is mechanical: check every figure and every direction word against the detail page for the shape named in the brief, and do not let a familiar term carry a figure across shapes. Shortening a direction is a second error: axial in segments shortened to axial, or diametrical swapped for radial, changes the specification even when every dimension is correct. Copy direction terms exactly.
Assuming a grade from its name is a third error: a grade number without its temperature row has not been specified for a warm environment, and the shared temperature table should be consulted with the operating temperature stated as a figure. Assuming a coating, a warranty term, a quantity or a lead time is a fourth error, in the same family: each of those items is an open question on this site, and a brief that assumes one will be corrected rather than confirmed. Finally, sending a category name instead of a specification — pot magnet, industrial magnet, automotive magnet — without dimensions is an error of a different kind: category names guide a brief, they do not complete one, and the brief should name the shape and figures behind the category.
A model brief, in miniature
A model brief reads roughly as follows, with the buyer's figures substituted: shape, disc and cylinder; diameter and height inside the disc range; grade series under discussion with the operating temperature stated; magnetization direction copied from the disc list; tolerance named from the disc tolerances; fixing and mating dimensions where relevant; coating question with the operating environment; warranty question; quantity and lead time asked about in the buyer-imperative form; certificate named if required. That brief can be checked line by line against the disc detail page, the shared temperature table and the inquiry checklist, and it can be confirmed, corrected or questioned with precision. A brief that follows this structure for any shape, including custom shapes with a sketch substituted for a table range, will receive the fastest useful answer this site's evidence supports.
Questions to send with any supplier brief
A specification that can be answered names four items together: the shape family, dimensions inside that family's published range, the grade temperature series, and the magnetization direction exactly as listed for that shape. Add the operating temperature and the fixing method where they affect the choice, and ask coating and warranty as open questions. Please confirm minimum order quantity and lead time before ordering. Warranty terms are unavailable on the published pages — please confirm warranty terms before ordering. Certificates are available upon request; no certificate number or issuing body is published here.
An inquiry that names only a grade, or only a size, will be answered with questions rather than a confirmation, because neither item alone is a complete specification. The extra sentence that states the direction in plain words, or that gives the mating dimension for a fixing, is often the sentence that prevents a second round of correspondence, and it costs nothing to include at the start.
Frequently asked questions
Which grade series should I discuss for how to brief a neodymium magnet supplier?
Discuss the grade series against the shared grade maximum working temperature table, using the temperature the magnet will actually see in service, including heat from neighbouring parts. The series run from N35–N52 at 80°C through the M series at 100°C, the H series at 120°C, the SH series at 150°C and the UH series at 180°C to the EH series at 200°C. State the operating temperature as a figure in the inquiry, because a grade name without its temperature row has not been specified for a warm environment, and the review needs the temperature to confirm the series discussion rather than infer it from a name alone.
How exactly should I state the magnetization direction?
Copy the direction exactly as listed for the shape named in the inquiry, and do not substitute a synonym that feels equivalent, because the same word can describe a different arrangement on a different shape. Where a drawing uses a different convention, add a plain-words description of the pole positions alongside the listed term, so the review can reconcile the two without guessing. A direction that is assumed rather than confirmed is a common source of a magnet that is dimensionally correct and magnetically wrong for its fixing, so the extra sentence describing the poles is worth writing even in a short inquiry.
What should I ask about coating, warranty and certificates?
Please confirm coating requirements before ordering, because coating type names were not transcribed from the company illustration and no coating type is named on this site; state the operating environment with the coating question so the answer can be specific. Warranty terms are unavailable on the published pages, so please confirm warranty terms before ordering rather than assuming a term. Certificates are available upon request: name the certificate required and its purpose in the inquiry, because no certificate number, issuing body, scope or validity period is published here, and a named request can be matched to the order it belongs to.
What if my size or combination is not in the published range?
Ask whether it can be made, and send the dimension as written rather than rounding it into the published range. A value outside a shape range, a direction not listed for that shape, or a combination of features from two shapes should be raised as an explicit question, with a dimensioned sketch where the geometry is curved, holed or otherwise not captured by a single size figure. Please confirm minimum order quantity and lead time before ordering. A question asked before ordering costs one message; a forced fit into the nearest published table can cost the whole part, because a magnet that matches its order and fails its fixing is worse than an extra round of questions.