Why is a direct factory plastic case supplier quote higher than a trader?

Answer: Because the tooling is shown, not hidden. A trader folds it in, so the figure looks lower until 3,000 units become 30,000.

Can the MOQ drop to 100 units?

Answer: Yes, if colour is limited to natural or black and the price carries a 20 to 35 percent premium, since changeover now rides on 100 pieces.

Is 28 days a fair tooling lead time?

Answer: For a single-cavity tool of moderate complexity, yes. Two cavities push it past 35 days, and revisions are what slip.

What is the minimum factory audit?

Answer: Press count and tonnage, tool ledger, resin records, and wall thickness measured on the floor.

Payment terms or unit price first?

Answer: Milestones, then terms, then price. A price pushed too low returns as thinner walls.

Direct Factory Plastic Case Supplier: Quotes, MOQ and Lead Times

Quick answer: A direct factory plastic case supplier quotes in four blocks: material, moulding, finishing and tooling. MOQ follows press tonnage and cavitation, and lead time splits into tooling, trial shot and production.

How a Direct Factory Plastic Case Supplier Prices a Quote
Press Tonnage and Cavitation Set the MOQ
Tooling, Trial Shots and Production Milestones
Four Hard Numbers to Check on a Factory Audit
Unit Price, Tooling Cost and Payment Terms
FAQ

1. How a Direct Factory Plastic Case Supplier Prices a Quote

A one-line unit price hides where the money sits. A direct factory plastic case supplier splits the same figure into material, moulding, finishing and tooling, and each block is negotiated apart.

Material is shot weight, resin grade and scrap factor: a 1.45 kg PP body at 9.8 CNY per kg with a factor of 1.06 lands near 15 CNY. Moulding is press time, so 180 CNY per hour over a 52 second cycle gives about 2.6 CNY. Finishing covers trimming, hardware and foam.

Block	Basis	Room to negotiate
Material	shot weight x price x 1.06	weight by design, not wall
Moulding	press rate per hour	cavitation and cycle
Finishing	labour plus hardware	split and self-source
Tooling	cost divided by volume	payment and ownership

Tooling explains the rest. A 38,000 CNY tool adds 12.7 CNY each over 3,000 units and 1.3 CNY over 30,000, which is how two quotes for one drawing differ by a factor of two.

2. Press Tonnage and Cavitation Set the MOQ

MOQ is arithmetic: clamp force decides whether the body moulds without flash, and cavitation decides how much changeover each unit carries.

A 250 tonne press running one cavity needs about 3 hours to change and set a mould: 540 CNY at 180 CNY per hour, or 1.8 CNY a case across 300 units and 0.18 CNY across 3,000. That is the 300 unit floor. A 400 tonne press with two cavities sits near 500, while a 650 tonne press moulding a 4.2 kg body can quote 200.

Direct factory plastic case supplier: white lid clamped onto orange base, wide white latch folded shut, side handle beside a ribbed rail

Press	Cavities	Shot	MOQ
250 t	1	1.45 kg	300
400 t	2	2.1 kg	500
650 t	1	4.2 kg	200

Colour is the hidden floor. Natural or black resin runs on demand, while any other shade costs a purge of 8 to 12 kg charged as scrap, so 300 pieces in light grey becomes a purge fee or an MOQ of 800.

3. Tooling, Trial Shots and Production Milestones

Lead time is a chain of dates, not a promise. Tooling runs 28 days, the T1 shot 5 days, two or three revisions at 3 days each and production 18 days, so first shipment lands near 60 days.

Write those dates into the contract with a progress payment on each. Then measure the samples: five wall points against a 2.8 mm nominal with ±0.15 mm tolerance, a lid-to-base gap of 0.6 to 1.0 mm, and a 1 m drop with no corner crack.

4. Four Hard Numbers to Check on a Factory Audit

Audit the floor, not the showroom. Press count comes first: of 22 machines, how many reach 400 tonnes decides whether a one-piece body is possible. The tool ledger follows, with cavity count and service record per mould.

Direct factory plastic case supplier: orange-rimmed case open, black gasket in the lid, two white latches, foam holding a display and orange cable

Resin records come third, with grade, batch and regrind ratio, since 20 and 50 percent loads can halve falling dart impact. Measurement comes fourth: three cases at random, calipers on the walls, and salt spray that ran 48 hours.

A supplier that produces all four on the spot is a factory; one that has to call back is usually a trading layer.

5. Unit Price, Tooling Cost and Payment Terms

Negotiate block by block. Material falls through ribs and geometry, never thinner walls, while finishing falls by moving foam in house.

Tooling falls only when ownership changes: 38,000 CNY in full makes the tool portable and puts revisions first, whereas an amortised tool keeps the price low and the buyer waiting. A 30 day quote validity and 30 day terms with a 30 percent deposit are the usual pairing.

Conclusion

Buying from a direct factory plastic case supplier means turning one price into four cost blocks, an MOQ into press hours, and a lead time into dates that can be tracked. Quotes compared block by block are what make the audit worth the trip, and why the direct factory plastic case supplier is chosen on evidence.

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.