Does a case mould quote normally include trial shots?

Answer: Most include two rounds and exclude a third caused by design changes. Put the free count and extra-round rate in the contract before signing.

Can the first order be only 200 units?

Answer: It can, but amortisation per unit rises sharply. A 500-unit first order with tooling spread across three batches keeps the price curve flatter.

Is it safe to leave the tool at the supplier?

Answer: Safety comes from clauses, not trust. State the maintenance interval, the removal notice period and the liability for breach, then ask for a condition photo quarterly.

What if 45 days cannot be agreed?

Answer: Find the blocking stage. If steel purchasing is the issue, switch to an in-stock grade; if polishing is, split the work across two inserts; if trial slots are, reserve press time early.

Case Mould Quotes: 6 Cost Lines and a 45-Day Schedule

Quick answer: The gap between two case mould quotes comes from how cost is split, not from the headline price; ask for six separate lines, put ownership and a 45-day schedule in the contract, then tie three payments to verifiable outputs.

Six Cost Lines in a Case Mould Quote
MOQ and Mould Ownership in the Contract
A 45-Day Schedule From Steel to Production
Payment Terms, Sampling Fees and Mould Payments
Five Quote Traps and What to Check
FAQ

1. Six Cost Lines in a Case Mould Quote

A single-cavity case mould for a 520×380×210 mm interior and a 3.0 mm wall usually quotes 80,000–140,000 RMB. When two quotes differ by 30,000 RMB on one drawing, the gap is rarely steel; one has hidden machining hours, trial shots or freight in the lump sum.

Split the figure and a case mould quote resolves into six blocks, each mapping to something countable.

Cost line	How it is usually written	What to ask
Cavity and core machining	One mould	Hours or piece rate, and the CNC versus EDM split
Mould steel	Good quality steel	Grade, pre-hardened hardness, nitriding included or not
Mould base and standard parts	Included in mould	Base size, ejector pins and springs itemised
Heat treatment and finishing	Extra	Nitrided depth, polishing grit
Trial shots and rework	Two samples	Sample quantity per run, free rework limit
Packing and freight	Collect	Wooden crate or steel frame, who loads and insures

The steel row is where vagueness pays. P20 pre-hardened stock at 30–34 HRC with a 0.05 mm nitrided layer belongs in the technical annex; good quality steel belongs nowhere.

A supplier who puts 3.8 t mould weight, φ12 mm cooling channels and a 60 mm ejection stroke in the proposal usually opens the measurement log at trial too.

2. MOQ and Mould Ownership in the Contract

MOQ negotiates how tooling cost is amortised, not the unit price. On a case mould rated for 300,000 shots, a 300-unit first order pushes amortisation above 300 RMB per unit; raising it to 500 units with 2,000 more within 12 months flattens that curve.

Case Mould: four red tool cases stacked in shrink wrap, a worker beside them, yellow and blue tape plus a red heat gun.

Ownership needs three clauses, or the tooling stays on the supplier floor after the last payment clears. The title clause passes ownership to the buyer once paid in full, with the mould number and cavity photos attached. The storage clause sets custody responsibility plus a maintenance record every 50,000 shots. The transfer clause allows removal on 30 days notice, moving costs at actuals. Without them, a supplier who changes presses or runs your case mould for another customer leaves the buyer nothing to point at.

3. A 45-Day Schedule From Steel to Production

The 45 days are not a promise; they are six stages worked back from the ship date.

Day 0–3: drawings frozen, DFM report returned, 1.5° draft and parting line confirmed
Day 4–13: mould base and steel arrive, base roughed, drilled and tapped
Day 14–22: cavity finishing and polishing, mating surfaces hand-fitted to 0.02 mm
Day 23–25: T1 trial shot, 30 sample parts produced
Day 26–37: rework, then a 200-unit pilot run for assembly and drop checks
Day 38–45: production release, first parts run continuously for 72 hours

Attach a verifiable deliverable to each stage rather than a bare date. Five of the 30 T1 samples should be sealed and signed by both sides, so later dimensional disputes settle against those parts.

4. Payment Terms, Sampling Fees and Mould Payments

Payment structure moves cash flow more than a 3% difference in the headline figure.

Case Mould: red plastic cases stacked in tall rows on a workshop floor, white cross labels on the lids, windows and a pendant lamp behind.

A common split is 40% down, 30% on a passed trial and 30% within 30 days of acceptance. Push the down payment below 30% and steel purchasing slips down the queue, dragging the schedule with it. An 18,000 RMB sampling fee, credited in full once production passes 500 units, is easier to agree than free samples. Keep the tooling invoice apart from the goods invoice, so an unpaid case mould balance cannot block a shipment. Add the steel index clause here: repricing at ±6% movement, with a stated base date. Close with the acceptance criterion — 5,000 consecutive shots with no flash and no sink marks.

5. Five Quote Traps and What to Check

Quote traps are rarely clever; five checks neutralise most.

Trap	What it sounds like	What to check
Low entry price	Twenty percent below the market	Demand line-by-line pricing, compare hours and steel grade
Blurred ownership	We look after it better	Contract states title transfer and removal conditions
Uncapped trials	We rework until you are happy	Free rework count plus a rate for extra rounds
Schedule excludes rework	45 days, fixed	Rework days counted separately, with a stated extension cap
Downgraded steel	Equivalent performance	Match incoming slip, mill certificate and spectrometer report

A quote twenty percent under the field usually moves trials and freight to per-event charges; three rework rounds recover the discount.

Walk the steel rack and the subcontracted heat treatment paperwork on a plant visit; if they match, the steel line is real.

Conclusion

Quoting compares definitions, not totals. Six itemised cost lines, ownership and schedule as verifiable clauses, and payments tied to sealed samples make two offers genuinely comparable. Run it once and the spread on a case mould narrows from thirty percent to under ten.

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.