Can a Plastic Boxes and Cases OEM/ODM Factory refund the tooling fee?

Answer: Most rebate it against volume, 50 percent at 50,000 pieces, the balance at 100,000. Fix the trigger and base.

Is the 3,000-piece MOQ per design or per colour?

Answer: Per colour. Three colours mean three start-ups and three purges, each losing about 900 pieces.

Who owns the body design on an ODM order?

Answer: Where the plant develops it, design and utility model stay with the plant; the buyer holds a licence.

Can a Plastic Boxes and Cases OEM/ODM Factory compress the 65-day lead time?

Answer: To about 48 days by staging the tool cut and approving the first article by video plus courier sample, at a surcharge near 15 percent of tooling.

What is the minimum factory audit?

Answer: Press tonnage, tool register, drying logs, first article sheets and finding closure; the first three decide whether the plant can run the job.

Plastic Boxes and Cases OEM/ODM Factory: Quote, MOQ, Lead Time

Quick answer: Buying from a Plastic Boxes and Cases OEM/ODM Factory rests on three terms: a six-line quote, MOQ split by tooling, and 65 days to a first batch, 18 on repeat orders.

How a Plastic Boxes and Cases OEM/ODM Factory Splits Responsibility
The Six Lines Every Quote Should Show
How MOQ Is Multiplied from Three Variables
Sampling and First Article Approval
Lead Time, Partial Shipments and the Factory Audit
FAQ

1. How a Plastic Boxes and Cases OEM/ODM Factory Splits Responsibility

OEM: the buyer issues drawings, the plant cuts the tool and moulds to them. ODM: the plant owns the geometry, the buyer changes colour and liner.

The gap is structural risk, not machining cost. One OEM dimension change needs a change note and 12 days to re-cut an insert; an ODM colour change releases on one sample sign-off. Fix who changes structure, who holds the tool, who rules on disputes.

Item	OEM	ODM
Structure	Buyer draws, plant advises	Plant designs, buyer approves
Tooling	New tool, quoted in full	Insert change only
Ownership	Buyer's once paid	Stays in plant

2. The Six Lines Every Quote Should Show

A Plastic Boxes and Cases OEM/ODM Factory quotes six lines, starting with P20 tooling at about CNY 86,000 for one cavity, CNY 124,000 for two, CNY 180,000 with a slide core, rated at 300,000 shots. A 1.9 kg PP body on a 650-tonne press at 95 seconds uses about CNY 17.9 of resin; hardware and printing add CNY 4.

Plastic Boxes and Cases OEM/ODM Factory: white cases on a steel bench in a moulding shop, nearest one side-on, latch in focus

Line	Basis	Buyer checks
Tooling	Cavity count and slides	Trials, repairs, relocation
Unit price	Shot weight times resin	Resin index clause
Post-processing	Per piece	Who pays rework
Inspection	Per man-day	AQL and sample size
Amortisation	Upfront or per unit	Ownership after payback

Amortisation hides money: the same CNY 86,000 tool is CNY 1.72 per piece over 50,000 units and CNY 0.43 over 200,000. Pay it upfront, or write a CNY 1.3 step-down after 50,000.

3. How MOQ Is Multiplied from Three Variables

Colour, material and tool ownership multiply. A colour change burns 40 minutes of purging and 12 kg of compound, about 900 pieces, so each colour is a separate start-up.

Natural PP starts at 3,000 pieces; a V0 or antistatic grade needs 5,000, sold in 25 kg bags with slower purging. Existing tooling with a masterbatch swap allows 500, but a new tool only pays back from 5,000. A Plastic Boxes and Cases OEM/ODM Factory is asked this most often.

Cutting MOQ is a design exercise: one tool across three sizes, five colours cut to two.

4. Sampling and First Article Approval

A prototype costs CNY 2,800 in 7 days; T1 arrives 28 days after kick-off with 5 pieces at plus or minus 1.5 mm on the diagonal.

Plastic Boxes and Cases OEM/ODM Factory: open white case, foam bonded inside the lid, die-cut insert in the lower half, three latches and a valve

First article approval rules the order: 8 pieces, 12 critical dimensions covering cavity depth, latch centres, lid flatness and wall thickness, three signed sets. Then a 200-piece pilot through 50 latch cycles, 30 lid openings and a 1.2 m six-face drop.

5. Lead Time, Partial Shipments and the Factory Audit

The first order runs 65 days including tooling; a repeat with stock tool and resin takes 18 days, plus 12 for a modified grade.

Milestone	Days	Deliverable
Tool to T1	28	5 samples, dimension report
Correction to T2	12	5 samples, repair log
First article	3	FAI report, three signed sets
Pilot run	9	200 pieces, assembly record
First batch	13	15,000 pieces, inspection

Partial shipment belongs in the contract: 45,000 a month in three lots of 15,000 by sea, against capacity of 450,000 a month. Audit five records: press tonnage, tool register, drying logs, first article sheets, finding closure.

Conclusion

Buying plastic boxes is a comparison of terms, not unit prices. Split the quote into six lines, negotiate MOQ against colour and tool ownership, and break the schedule into milestones. Once tool ownership and the signed first article sit in the contract, most disputes never start, and the Plastic Boxes and Cases OEM/ODM Factory answers on conditions rather than price.

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.