Can a Military Flight Case order go below 300 units?

Answer: Yes, with tooling charged separately. Unit price rises 20% to 35%, and scheduling waits for a gap in a larger run.

Which line item is most often missing from a quote?

Answer: Chargeable weight and destination charges. Low-density cargo bills on volumetric weight, so an 11.5 kg case may settle at 48 kg.

How many sample rounds are normal?

Answer: One appearance round and one or two function rounds. A fourth usually means the drawing was never frozen.

What happens if inspection fails?

Answer: Critical defects reject the lot, major defects allow full sorting at the supplier's cost, and minor defects can be accepted with a price adjustment.

Can lead time be compressed below 20 days?

Answer: For 300 units with tooling on the shelf and a standard colour, 18 to 22 days is realistic.

Military Flight Case Procurement: Quotes, MOQ and Lead Times

Quick answer: A Military Flight Case quote should arrive in six cost blocks — shell material, frame, foam insert, hardware, packing and freight — with the MOQ set by tooling amortisation, usually at 300 units. Sampling takes 7 to 15 working days, production 25 to 35 days.

What the Six Cost Blocks of a Military Flight Case Are
MOQ and How Tiered Pricing Is Built
Sampling and Production Lead Times
Inspection Plans and Sample Sizes
Payment Terms and Risk Sharing
FAQ

1. What the Six Cost Blocks of a Military Flight Case Are

Most first inquiries fail at one point: the buyer asks for a single all-in price. Two shells of identical size and colour can differ by thirty percent once frame thickness, foam density and latch brand diverge.

Cost block	Typical share	Basis of quote
Shell material	25–32%	Weight times resin price
Aluminium frame	15–22%	Profile metres plus anodising
Foam insert	10–15%	Volume plus CNC hours
Hardware set	8–12%	Per set, valve included
Packing	4–6%	Carton and pallet
Freight and insurance	6–10%	Volumetric weight and lane

A 1200 x 500 x 400 mm rotomoulded body at 11.5 kg needs about 3.2 m of frame profile and a quarter of the price in material. Freight is the trap: the same body bills at 48 kg volumetric, four times its actual weight. Quotes should stay valid for 15 days, and the contract must say who holds the tooling once amortisation ends.

2. MOQ and How Tiered Pricing Is Built

Minimum order quantity follows tooling amortisation. A 1200 mm class injection mould costs CNY 280,000 to 450,000; a rotomould CNY 60,000 to 90,000 but yields 40 to 60 units a day from one cavity. Spread CNY 300,000 over 300 units and each carries nearly CNY 1,000.

Military Flight Case: blue case open on a steel workbench, ribbed lid upright, black foam trays holding olive pouches, shelf racking behind

The ladder runs 300 to 499, 500 to 999 and 1,000 plus, at 8% to 14% between steps; 1,000 units drop the tooling burden to CNY 300 apiece. Three lengths from one width family can share a mould base, and a cavity set costs about 35% of a full tool, so a 150-unit line item still gets scheduled.

3. Sampling and Production Lead Times

Lead time runs from the date the confirmed sample is signed back and the deposit lands, not from the order date.

Stage	Typical duration	Deliverable
Drawing review	3–5 working days	3D model, wall thickness
Appearance sample	7–10 working days	One colour-matched shell
Function sample	12–15 working days	Sealed, drop-tested unit
Trial moulding	20–25 working days	First shot and report
Mass production	25–35 days	Staged shipments

The critical path is anodising and foam: a jig cycle takes seven days, and a three-compartment insert needs three hours of machine time. In the September to November peak a 30-day order stretches to 45 days, so write liquidated damages at 0.3% of undelivered value per day after a 15-day grace.

4. Inspection Plans and Sample Sizes

Sample to GB/T 2828.1 general level II: zero acceptance on critical defects, AQL 1.5 on major and 4.0 on minor. A 1,000-unit lot maps to 80 pieces, and that number belongs in the contract.

Military Flight Case: large blue case on a wheeled trolley, three metal catches facing the camera, pull handle raised, empty racking behind

Five checks carry the risk: immersion at 1 m for 30 minutes; a 0.3 bar hold losing under 5% in ten minutes; 500 latch cycles still closing one-handed; hinge pin torque at 2.5 N·m; a 1.2 m drop on every face with internal dimensions within 2 mm.

5. Payment Terms and Risk Sharing

For a Military Flight Case programme, payment decides who carries risk first. The common package is 30% deposit, the balance against a bill of lading copy, and tooling at 100% up front; a third-party inspection report as the release trigger restores some symmetry.

Under FOB the buyer books space and insures at about 0.12% of cargo value; under CIF check the policy for transhipment cover. Above CNY 500,000, fix the exchange rate at signature.

Conclusion

Buying a Military Flight Case is not a unit-price argument but the purchase of a verifiable cost structure, a traceable schedule and an enforceable acceptance rule. Compare the six blocks, put tooling ownership in writing, and tie sampling to payment. Do that, and the Military Flight Case delivered will match the one quoted.

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.