Why do Mobile Tool Cabinet quotes differ so much?

Answer: The base differs. Net weight, coated area and machine time give three numbers, and 17 200 of tooling is 860 per unit at 20 against 172 at 100.

Can the 20-unit minimum go lower?

Answer: Yes, but tooling cannot spread. Ten units carry 1 720 each, over 40 percent of the price.

Who pays for the tooling?

Answer: Normally the buyer, who owns it. A shared deal must state ownership and confirm repeats carry no charge.

Can 23 days be compressed to 15?

Answer: Only by overlapping stages. Coating and assembly in parallel save four days, and rush coating runs at 1 800 a day.

What is the minimum RFQ?

Answer: Outer size with tolerance, load per drawer, a colour reference, and batch size with annual volume.

Mobile Tool Cabinet Procurement: Quotes, MOQ and Lead Time

Quick answer: A Mobile Tool Cabinet quote splits into net weight, coated area and machine time, with tooling on its own line falling from 28 percent of price at 20 units to 7 at 100. Lead time runs five stages plus a buffer, so 100 units ship in 23 days.

How a Mobile Tool Cabinet Quote Is Built
Batch Pricing and Tooling
Five Lead Time Milestones
Fields to Fix in the RFQ
Payment and Inspection
FAQ

1. How a Mobile Tool Cabinet Quote Is Built

A quote has five blocks: blanking and bending, welding, coating, slides with locks, and assembly. The first three follow sheet size, the last two follow configuration, so ask which base the figure uses.

Net weight is the common base. A 1.2 mm two-door body weighs 78 kg and prices at 19 to 24 per kilo. Coating is quoted by developed area: 6.8 square metres, 0.12 kg of powder each, cured at 180 degrees for 15 minutes.

Cost block	At 20 units	At 100 units
Blanking and bending	420	385
Welding and dressing	260	235
Coating	130	112
Assembly and packing	118	96

Hardware hides behind one word: a 45 kg slide costs nearly twice a 25 kg one, and 100 mm castors differ from 75 mm in plate thickness.

2. Batch Pricing and Tooling

The minimum order quantity on a Mobile Tool Cabinet is set by tooling, not press capacity: a bending die at 3 200, a welded jig at 8 600 and a punching die at 5 400, or 17 200 before the first unit.

Mobile Tool Cabinet: orange case open on a workshop bench, plain orange lid, black foam with square cutouts, tools at right, pegboard bins behind

Across 20 units that adds 860 per cabinet, 28 percent of the price; at 50 it is 344, at 100 it is 172 and at 300 it is 57. Tripling from 100 to 300 cuts the unit price 7 percent, so the next saving comes from steel and hours.

Batch	Tooling per unit	Unit price
20	860	3 070
50	344	2 444
100	172	2 212
300	57	2 047

Pay tooling once and keep repeats free of it; a repeat adds drawers, and any shell change reopens the die.

3. Five Lead Time Milestones

A Mobile Tool Cabinet runs blanking at 3 days, bending and welding at 6, coating at 4, assembly at 5 and packing at 2. Ask for delivery only and the answer covers assembly alone.

Assembly is calculated: four slides, one lock and four castors take 25 minutes, so two fitters finish 30 a day and 100 units clear in five. Coating is tighter at 12 parts per jig, 95 minutes a pass and 72 parts a day.

Five stages add to 20 days and a 3-day buffer gives 23. A 15-day request overlaps coating with assembly and costs 1 800 a day of rush line time.

4. Fields to Fix in the RFQ

The tighter the RFQ, the fewer assumptions sit inside the price. Group the fields into size and load, material and colour, hardware and inspection, delivery and terms.

Mobile Tool Cabinet: orange case open on a scarred timber bench, scratched ribbed lid, black foam tray holding chrome spanners, an orange meter beside

Twelve fields belong on paper: outer size with tolerance, weight ceiling, steel grade, drawers with load each, colour reference, lock type, castor size and brakes, inspection values, packing, delivery point, batch with annual volume, payment terms. Annual volume decides the tooling base.

Write RAL 7035 with a grey-scale grade 4 tolerance rather than light grey on a Mobile Tool Cabinet, or two suppliers price two pigments. Drawer load needs a figure per drawer, since a phrase gives an inspector nothing to measure.

5. Payment and Inspection

Payment runs at 30 percent deposit, 40 on first article, 20 before shipment and 10 retained for 45 days. First-article approval is the last point where hole positions and drawer fit can be corrected.

Inspection follows AQL 2.5 on five cabinets from 100: 5 000 drawer cycles without binding, 5 km of castor travel under 1 mm wear, 48 hours of salt spray without base rust.

Inspection item	Sample	Pass value
Drawer cycling	5 units	5 000 cycles, no binding
Castor travel	5 units	under 1 mm wear at 5 km
Salt spray	2 units	48 hours, no base rust
Packed drop	2 cartons	six faces, no deformation

Conclusion

Procurement separates one-time from recurring spend: tooling is paid once, hours fall with batch size, coating is priced by area, and lead time is promised stage by stage. Those four in the contract make quotes comparable, which matters more than a single discount on a Mobile Tool Cabinet.

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.