Quick answer: The spread in case assembly workstation quotes comes from what each supplier counts, not from build quality. Split bench, fixtures, tool suspension and commissioning into four lines, then fix volume, fixture ownership, dates and retention.
Table of contents
- Four quotes make one case assembly workstation
- Volume and fixture ownership before price
- Lead time split into design build and commissioning
- Payment rhythm and what the retention hangs on
- FAQ
1. Four quotes make one case assembly workstation
In March 2025 a Ningbo plant replaced bench assembly with 32 case assembly workstation units. Five suppliers quoted 416,000 to 743,000 yuan against near-identical configuration sheets. The gap was not steel price but what each folded into a rate.
A case assembly workstation comes from four documents: bench and aluminium frame, fixtures cut for one case type, tool suspension with air and power, commissioning with training. The first two carry about 70 percent of the money; the rest reads installation included, then gets billed by the man-day. It closed at 684,000 yuan, 268,000 over the cheapest bid.
| Quote line | Unit | 32 stations | Usual omission |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bench and aluminium frame | yuan per station | 218,000 | Profile 2.4 cut to 1.8 kg per metre |
| Fixtures | yuan per case type | 186,000 | Second case type re-quoted |
| Tool suspension, air, power | yuan per position | 124,000 | Four balancers for 32 positions |
| Commissioning and training | yuan per man-day | 96,000 | Travel, lifting, lost output billed apart |
That 96,000 yuan line was missing from round one. The annex priced commissioning at 1,200 yuan per man-day; 32 stations, two people, eight days adds 19,200 yuan, before two days of stopped output.
2. Volume and fixture ownership before price
Profiles need a die, fixtures need design hours, and those one-off costs set the minimum order. Below four stations, the 8,600 yuan fixture fee per case type still applies; across 32 stations and two case types it falls to 540 yuan each.
Fixture ownership matters more than the last 3 percent of discount. A case assembly workstation fixture is cut for one body size: 620 by 460 by 230 mm, 0.5 mm clearance per side, location blocks in 10 mm acetal. Whoever holds the drawing decides whether a redesign in three years costs money again, so the contract needs one sentence barring reuse on a third party's case.
Profile dies are separate, 4,000 yuan per cavity, waived if the section already runs. Mixed production widens the pitch to 1,800 mm for an 800 mm case, 300 mm more than the 620 mm build. Line trolleys join the enquiry through ABS trolley case supply terms.
3. Lead time split into design build and commissioning
Thirty-two case assembly workstation units run 63 days to rate production: 7 for drawing release, 18 for profile cutting and anodising, 22 for fixture machining, 12 for assembly, 3 for factory acceptance.
The critical path is the fixture. Standard profile arrives in 5 days; wire cutting and fitting takes 22, and one hole change adds 4. Write the date as fixture first-article sign-off plus 22 days, not order plus 60.
| Milestone | Days | Deliverable |
|---|---|---|
| Layout and drawing release | 7 | Plan view, fixture opening drawing |
| Profile cutting and anodising | 18 | Frame sub-assembly |
| Fixture machining, first article | 22 | First-article location report |
| Assembly and factory acceptance | 15 | Cycle-time record |
Liquidated damages run at 0.3 percent of contract value per day late, capped at 5 percent. If drawing release slips 10 days, liability must be apportioned or the penalty never lands. Keep the 3-day factory acceptance, where 210 seconds per unit and 0.5 mm repeatability are measured.
4. Payment rhythm and what the retention hangs on
Payment rhythm on a case assembly workstation order sets your place in the queue. This plant accepted 30 percent on order, 35 before shipment, 25 within 30 days of acceptance, 10 percent retention for 12 months. Below 20 percent down, a small shop schedules you next month.
What retention hangs on matters more than its size. Attach it to four measured items: 210 seconds per unit, bench flatness within 2 mm per metre, 500 lux at the working face, earth resistance below 4 ohms.
Bank acceptance paper at 6 months costs about 2.8 percent to discount, so price it early. Wear parts are balancer cables and quick-change couplings, and a spare-parts list with 48-hour attendance beats another 2 percent of retention.
Conclusion
The price hides in the unit of each line: station, case type, position, man-day. Volume and ownership decide what a redesign costs in three years, dates decide when the first case comes off the line, terms decide who chases whom. Put those four into the annex, and buying a case assembly workstation becomes an executable agreement.
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.
Related Reading
- How cycle time is calculated on a case assembly workstation
- Placing material, tools and bench at a station
- Procurement and first-article terms on a fuze packing line
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