What is a normal MOQ for Case Assembly?

Answer: 500 at the moulding stage, lower at assembly. Below 500 most plants charge a set-up fee of 300 to 800 yuan.

Can tooling cost be folded into the unit price?

Answer: Yes, with a period and a rule for what follows. 24 months is standard and the end of charges must be written.

Should foam and labels sit inside the quote?

Answer: Better as separate lines. Foam at 3.5 and labels at 0.4 keep a design change to two rows.

How far ahead should a factory visit be booked?

Answer: Five days, so running orders show; a same-morning visit usually sees an idle line.

Why Do Case Assembly Quotes Differ Threefold?

Quick answer: Three prices for one drawing usually differ at the Case Assembly step rather than at the moulding machine. Ask what the quote includes, who pays for and owns the tool, how the lead time breaks down, and what the payment terms are, and the numbers become comparable.

Why One Drawing Returns Three Prices
MOQ and Tooling: Who Pays, Who Owns
Unpacking Lead Time: Mould to Container
Five Lines That Hide Money in a Quote
Sampling and Factory Visits: What to Look At
Payment Terms, Stock and the Contract
FAQ

1. Why One Drawing Returns Three Prices

Send one 2D drawing to three plants and three numbers come back: 18.5, 24 and 29 yuan. The buyer assumes the middle one is high, when in fact the three describe different jobs.

The moulding-only plant quoted body and lid, with latches, hinges, foam and labels outside the sheet. The assembly plant folded in hardware and labour but priced foam apart. The full package plant swallowed cartons, marking and container loading too.

Scope	What it covers	Price	Added after signing
Moulding only	Body and lid	18.5	Latch 1.2 per set, hinge 0.8 per pair
Assembly, no foam	Parts, hardware, labour	24.0	Foam 3.5, label 0.4, carton 1.6
Full package	Foam, label, carton, loading	29.0	Nothing, but any change is billed

So the first column of a Case Assembly enquiry should not be the unit price but the word scope; get that wrong and later comparisons are noise.

2. MOQ and Tooling: Who Pays, Who Owns

The gap between 500 and 5000 pieces is about 4.5 yuan a case, half in tooling amortisation and half in set-up.

Case Assembly: the blue case on white, front facing forward, black hinge seams at both handle roots, two moulded feet under the base

A 32,000 yuan tool spread over 24 months is common. At 2000 pieces a month it adds 0.67 yuan a case; at 500 it adds 2.67, on the same press, purely from volume.

Tool ownership has to be written down. Either the customer pays in full and owns it, and the plant may not run it for anyone else; or the plant pays and keeps it, selling parts only; or both split the cost and share custody. The first is cleanest, the third cheapest and the most argumentative when you change suppliers.

Ask about modification rates early. A rib along the rim or a latch pocket moved 3 mm counts as a change, priced 800 to 4000 yuan. Negotiate it while the drawing is still fluid.

3. Unpacking Lead Time: Mould to Container

A plant quoting 25 days to delivery and one quoting 25 days to shipment are quoting different things. Break the line apart:

Tooling: 12 days for a new mould with two trials, 4 days for an insert change.
First shot: six cases off T1, two couriered, three days round.
Moulding: 52 seconds a cycle, about 900 cases a day per press, six days for 5000.
Assembly: 90 seconds a case with self-check, six operators at 480 a day, eleven days.
Packing: 1150 cases per 40HQ, two days with customs.

That adds up to 34 days for 5000 pieces on a new tool. A plant quoting 25 either owns the tool or runs assembly at night. Put the segments in the contract instead of arguing the total.

4. Five Lines That Hide Money in a Quote

The shorter the quote, the more it hides. These five lines carry the money.

Case Assembly: the blue case centred on light grey, front view, arched handle sitting above the body, rounded corners, one foot visible at each side

Line	Usual wording	The question to ask	Cost of silence
Resin	Market price	Which grade, priced when	800 a tonne equals 0.5 a case
Scrap	Included	Yield at what percentage	92 versus 97 gives 1.1 a case
Packing	Simple export packing	How many per carton	1.6 added at the port
Tooling	One-off	Amortised how long, then what	A second invoice next year
Modification	By negotiation	A cap per change	A tweak becomes new quotation

Resin needs a grade because PP and HDPE sit 1200 yuan a tonne apart, and market price hands the swing to the buyer. Scrap needs a yield base because most Case Assembly rework happens at the station, and whoever carries the yield carries the blame.

5. Sampling and Factory Visits: What to Look At

An 800 yuan sample fee credited against the first order must appear in the reply.

Skip the brochure and look at three places: a numbered tool register, press tonnage against the tool, and a reject area beside the line. A messy register means nobody owns maintenance, low tonnage means thin walls, an empty reject area means no sorting.

The visit is about records, not machinery age. Ask how many pieces the last lot reworked.

6. Payment Terms, Stock and the Contract

Thirty and sixty days usually price 2 percent apart. That is capital cost, not quality, so it buys stability rather than a cheaper price.

Write the stocking clause: masterbatch and hardware at 30 days of safety stock, confirmed orders honoured if resin moves. Without it, orders in a rising market slide down the queue.

Three dates belong in the contract: tool completion, first sample, first mass shipment. Give each a penalty clause and the Case Assembly schedule has teeth.

Conclusion

Most of the gap comes from scope, the rest from amortisation and yield. Put scope first, then pin tooling ownership, lead time and payment terms in writing. Then the three prices sit on one ruler, and buying case assembly becomes a real comparison.

This article discusses only the container (case body) side of specifications and design intent, and does not cover any handling, loading or use of the contents.