Questions we are asked
every week

One drawing. There is no minimum area and no minimum value.

In practice a single small part costs more in packing and freight than in fabrication, and we will say so before you order rather than after.

25 to 40 days from the approved drawing to the crate, for most jobs. Three things move that number:

• The drawing check, which we do in 48 hours.
• PVD colour, which runs in batches and can add 5 to 10 days.
• Trial assembly, which is in the schedule and not an extra.

We quote in days after drawing approval, because before approval the parts do not exist even on paper.

By the drawing: material, cutting, forming, welding hours, finishing, trial assembly, packing. We quote in lines rather than one lump sum, and the breakdown is yours on request.

Two quotes 20 per cent apart are usually not 20 per cent apart. One of them excludes freight, setting out, trial assembly or the second review round.

PDF to read, DWG or DXF to cut. A sketch with dimensions gets a first price. Hand-drawn is fine if the dimensions are on it.

If the drawing has no tolerance block, the first thing we send back is a question about tolerance. That question is not a delay, it is the specification.

On a 1.2 mm panel with a 20 mm return: ±0.5 mm on cut length, 1.2 mm per metre on flatness, ±0.5° on a fold angle.

Tighter is possible. It is a second operation, and it is quoted as one — a mirror finish on a loose panel is the classic example.

Yes, at two levels. A flat finish sample in a standard finish is free. A formed sample — a real corner with the real joint — is charged, and the price is quoted with the sample so there is no surprise.

For hotel work we recommend a 1:1 mock-up corner rather than a small sample. A 100 mm plate cannot show you what a 1,200 mm panel does under a downlight.

Terms are stated on the order acknowledgement, and the signed contract prevails. For a first order we normally ask for a deposit with the order and the balance against the shipping documents.

We do not ask for the full amount before production, and we do not ship on open credit to a first order.

FOB Shenzhen or Guangzhou is the default. CIF, CFR and DAP are quoted on request.

If you have your own forwarder, give us the booking contact and we will work to their cut-off instead of ours.

Yes — ours or yours. Send yours first; a one-page mutual NDA is normally signed the same week.

An NDA does not slow the quote down. We can read a drawing and answer within 48 hours under NDA.

Two cases, and they are not the same case.

• Our error — wrong dimension, wrong finish, wrong quantity. We remake it and we pay the freight.
• An approved drawing that was wrong — we quote the remake at cost, and tell you what the change costs before we cut.

This distinction is why the drawing approval is written down rather than agreed on a call.

Yes. ISO 9001 certifies that we have a process. It does not certify that your panel is flat.

Ask for the six records instead — mill certificate, spectrometer test, first-part check, weld record, colour record and trial-fit sign-off. Those have numbers on them.

Yes, by appointment, with five working days notice. Two to three hours, no charge, and bring a drawing so the visit has a purpose.

The visit page has the routes, the hotels and what we cannot show you.

Because the lowest quote for this work is usually a quote for less work: less trial assembly, fewer review rounds, thinner material, packing that survives the sea but not the site.

Ask any supplier what is excluded. The answer tells you more than the total.