What is the smallest logo run on an OEM Custom Case?

Answer: Laser marking starts at 50 units with no plate charge; screen and pad printing at 200 units, in-mould labelling at 1,000.

Does the colour have to be Pantone matched?

Answer: Above 1,000 units, yes. ΔE of 1.5 or less reads as a match by eye, and 2.0 is the instrument limit.

Can the EVA die cost be avoided?

Answer: Under 100 units, EPE lamination saves the 400 to 900 CNY die but adds 6 to 9 CNY of labour per case.

How long does it take with all three changes?

Answer: About 40 days, since the first article waits for tooling, masterbatch and die. Split the batches and 500 units ship in 25 days.

What sets the minimum order on an OEM Custom Case?

Answer: The change route, not the shell: screen 200 units, colour 500, EVA liner 100, label 1,000, and the highest governs.

OEM Custom Case: Logo, Colour, Interior Options

Quick answer: An OEM Custom Case has three change points — shell colour, lid logo and interior liner — each with its own threshold: 25 kg of masterbatch, a plate from 300 to 15,000 CNY, a die from 400 to 900 CNY, so price tooling against volume before fixing a date.

Three Change Points and Their Costs
Interior: EVA Dies and Cutting Yield
Logo: Four Methods and Plate Costs
Colour: Masterbatch and Batch Shift
Stacking All Three: Risk and Sign-Off
FAQ

1. Three Change Points and Their Costs

An OEM Custom Case changes in three places: shell colour, lid artwork, cavity liner. Each sits on its own cost line — a plate, a masterbatch, a die — so one blended fee hides which gets cheaper with volume. At 2,000 units a 600 CNY screen costs 0.30 CNY per case.

Route	One-off cost	Minimum	Added time	At 2,000 units
Screen print	300–600 CNY per colour	200 units	3 days	0.15–0.30 CNY
Colour change	from 25 kg masterbatch	500 units	4–6 days	0.20–0.40 CNY
EVA liner	400–900 CNY die	100 units	7 days	0.20–0.45 CNY

Sequence follows volume: liner below 500 units, colour at 2,000, in-mould labelling past 5,000. Reverse that on one OEM Custom Case and the die is paid while the colour waits on resin.

2. Interior: EVA Dies and Cutting Yield

Liner cost on an OEM Custom Case sits in the cutting, not the foam. A 45 degree die follows the cavity, and one 1,000 by 2,000 mm board yields 65 percent when nesting is loose or 78 percent when tight, a gap of 260 boards across 2,000 units. Dies run 400 to 900 CNY, reground after 30,000 strikes.

OEM Custom Case: white shell open on a steel bench, six grey foam pockets holding sample bags and modules, three long slots in the base

Density tracks piece weight: 45 kg/m³ holds 0.08 MPa at 30 percent compression, 70 kg/m³ holds 0.15 MPa, and anything over 8 kg needs 55 kg/m³. Cut at cavity depth minus 6 mm of preload.

EPE lamination needs no die, adds 6 to 9 CNY of labour and pays below 100 units.

3. Logo: Four Methods and Plate Costs

Start with the curvature. A flat lid takes screen printing at 300 to 600 CNY per colour, three colours maximum, over 100 abrasion cycles; a curved lid smears, so it moves to pad printing at 200 to 400 CNY per colour.

In-mould labelling fuses a 0.1 mm PP label into the shell so nothing wears off, but the recess costs 8,000 to 15,000 CNY and adds 12 days at a 1,000 unit minimum. Laser marking needs no plate: 0.05 to 0.1 mm deep, 0.8 to 1.5 CNY per part.

Method	Tooling	Colours	Abrasion	Volume
Screen print	300–600 CNY per colour	1–3	100 cycles	200+
Pad print	200–400 CNY per colour	1	80 cycles	200+
In-mould label	8,000–15,000 CNY	4	none	1,000+
Laser mark	none	one	none	50+

One test decides for an OEM Custom Case: will the logo change within three years. If so, skip in-mould labelling.

4. Colour: Masterbatch and Batch Shift

Colour on an OEM Custom Case begins with a bag: 25 kg of masterbatch at a 2 percent let-down colours 1.25 tonnes of resin, 2,000 housings at 1.2 kg. Under 1,000 units the rest sits 6 months in a dry cabinet and damp masterbatch streaks the shell.

OEM Custom Case: black briefcase shown closed and open, two red latches, 250 x 210 x 70 mm outline, 32 mm lid and base depth

Purging sets the clock: light to dark 5 to 8 kg and 2 to 4 hours, dark to light 12 kg and 4 to 6 hours, none reusable. A 10 °C melt swing moves ΔE by 0.8, and Pantone matching passes at 1.5.

5. Stacking All Three: Risk and Sign-Off

Stack all three and the risk lands in the intersections: colour changes resin, the logo changes the tool surface, the liner changes the cavity. Sign-off points go from 3 to 7, the schedule from 25 days to 40.

New resin means ink adhesion is retested, and cure temperature drops 5 °C
A label recess loosens lid flatness from 0.3 mm to 0.5 mm
A liner removes 6 mm of depth and lifts closing force from 60 N to 85 N
Inspection moves from AQL 2.5 to AQL 1.0

Accept at ΔE 2.0, 100 abrasion cycles, 30 percent compression without set, each backed by a signed first article. Schedule from the longest path: tooling 12 days, masterbatch 6 and the die 7 running in parallel. Cutting to 30 means 500 units in natural resin first, then 1,500, at 0.8 CNY per case.

Conclusion

Options on an OEM Custom Case are an amortisation exercise first: a 600 CNY screen is 3 CNY a unit at 200 and 0.30 CNY at 2,000, a 900 CNY die 9 CNY at 100 and 0.45 CNY at 2,000. Put the sign-off points, the ΔE limit and the compression figure into the contract annex, and never book tooling as a unit cost.

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.