From drawing to delivery
How It Works & Quotation
What happens between sending a drawing and receiving parts: what is evaluated, what a quotation separates, what is paid when, and what you own at the end.
- Evaluation and quotation are free
- A quotation is valid 60 days
- 30% deposit to start production, 70% before hand-over
How it works
From a drawing to a delivered part
A custom silicone project runs in stages, and each stage ends with something you can check before the next one starts.
We coordinate the project and the partner silicone factory does the tooling and the production. The sequence below is the same for a new mold and for a part on an existing factory mold; the second case simply skips the tooling stages.
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Drawings and confidential communication
You send a 2D or 3D drawing, a STEP file, a sketch or a sample, together with the requirements that matter: material and hardness, colour, quantity, target market, logo and packaging. Drawings are treated as confidential project material.
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Factory evaluation
The partner factory reads the drawing for tooling feasibility: geometry, wall thickness, undercuts, tolerances, material and how the part will be molded. Open points come back to you as questions, not as guesses.
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First estimate or formal quotation
With a finished drawing you receive a formal quotation. With a sketch or an unfinished design you receive a first estimate and a list of what is still open; the formal quotation follows the finished drawing.
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Confirmation and mold payment
When you accept the quotation, the order is confirmed in writing and the mold cost is paid at 100%. The tool is then scheduled and built.
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Tool and physical sample
The tool is built, and a physical first sample is molded from it and shipped to you. The sample is the part you judge: fit, feel, colour and finish.
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Your approval
You confirm the sample in writing, or you send the points that have to change. The confirmed sample becomes the reference the factory keeps and production is measured against.
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Separate mass-production order
Mass production is a separate decision and a separate order, placed after the sample is approved. It runs on 30% deposit and 70% balance.
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Inspection and delivery
Production is checked against the confirmed sample, the confirmed drawing, the key dimensions and the agreed function. You or your third party may inspect before shipment, in person or by video, and then the goods are shipped.
Reading a quotation
What a quotation separates
A quotation is built from line items, so you can see what you are paying for and what you can leave out.
These are the items a quotation can name, as they apply to your part:
- Mold cost, including the first sample and one international courier shipment of that sample
- Unit price at each quantity tier, stated separately for every tier
- Minimum order quantity, and any per-colour minimum
- Packaging, in the form you asked for
- Any dedicated logo tool, where the logo needs one
- Testing, if the project needs it and if it is not already available for the material
- Shipping and the duties at destination, which depend on the destination, not on the part alone
Items that are not in a quotation are not included in the price. If a line is unclear, ask before the order is placed; it is easier to change a quotation than a shipment.
Terms
Validity, price hold and payment
Quotations are issued in USD and are valid for 60 days. Once the mold is paid for, the quoted unit price at each quantity tier is held for 12 months for the first mass-production order.
The standard payment structure is 30% deposit to start production and 70% balance before hand-over; for sea freight the balance is settled against a copy bill of lading. The commercial terms that apply to your order are the ones written in its quotation and contract.
Design help, where it is needed, is a separate paid service with its scope, price, deliverables and revision rounds agreed in advance. A pre-tooling look-and-feel sample can be quoted separately and is not credited against the mold cost.
Send a drawing, a sketch or a sample on the inquiry page. For the tooling side in more detail, see custom silicone tooling; for how parts are checked and tested, see quality and testing.