- Build-to-print work: the plant cuts to your design and reports against your drawing.
- 6,800 m² across two buildings in Hengli Town, Dongguan — production, inspection, and engineering under one roof.
- Evaluate in this order: identity, capacity, inspection, then commercial terms.
- Price is only comparable once capability has been established.
- Each check is cheap, and each one disqualifies suppliers before you quote.
The sequence that actually reduces risk on swiss CNC machining
The order matters. Most buyers start with price and discover capability later, which is backwards: price is only comparable once capability has been established, because a cheap quote from a plant that cannot hold the tolerance is not a lower price, it is a different product.
Start with identity and capability, then tolerance and inspection, then commercial terms. Each step is cheap, and each one disqualifies suppliers before you spend time quoting with them.
Identity and registration
Ask for the registered name and the registration number. Ours is Dongguan Zhuohang Ltd, Social Credit Code 91441900MA4UWT6X39, verifiable in the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System.
A trading company can usually produce a licence too, but the scope will read as trading rather than manufacturing, and the address will be an office rather than a plant.
Machine depth, not machine count
Total machine count is not the question. The question is how many machines sit in the family that makes your part, because that is the queue your part will wait in.
| Machine family | Count | Representative models | Role in the schedule |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3-axis vertical machining | 50+ centres | Brother SPEEDIO S500Z2N / S700Z2N | Prismatic work at the lowest cost per part |
| 4-axis machining | 20+ centres | Mazak VCE-430AL / VCE-570CL | Indexed multi-face parts without re-fixturing |
| 5-axis machining | 20+ centres | Mazak VARIAXIS i series | Single-setup complex geometry |
| 5-axis mill-turn | — | Mazak INTEGREX i-H series | Turned and milled features in one clamping |
| CNC turning / mill-turn | 25+ lathes | Mazak QT-COMPACT 200MSY L | Round parts, live tooling |
| Swiss-type turning | — | Citizen Cincom A20 / Star SR-32JII / Tsugami B0205 | Long, slender parts at high L/D ratios |
| Precision grinding | 7+ grinders | — | Final tolerance on bearing seats and roundness-critical faces |
| Wire EDM | — | Sodick | Sharp internal corners and hardened material |
Measurement and process control
Ask what instruments are on site and how capability is reported. A shop that quotes "Cpk 1.67" without naming the stage and the sigma estimator has not told you anything — VDA and AIAG use the same index names for opposite periods, so the label alone is ambiguous.
Who owns the problem
Ask who signs off the first article, who owns an engineering change mid-production, and how a nonconforming part is handled and who pays. These are uncomfortable questions to ask and very cheap to ask early.
The contact who answers should be named and reachable. At this plant it is Felipe Iglesias, reachable at [email protected] or +86 13126536955 — a person, not a form.
Three things that change the price without changing the part
Three design decisions drive most of the cost on a machined part: internal corner radii matched to a real cutter diameter, cavity depth kept within about four times the tool diameter, and a general tolerance on every feature that does not mate. Each one changes the tool that can be used, and the tool determines how much material can be removed per minute, which is why these matter more than any process selection.
This should come up when quoting, before any metal is cut, because the changes are usually trivial on the drawing and significant on the machine.
What is certified, and what is deliberately not?
Three certificates, each with a number you can check with the registrar: ISO 9001:2015 (116024/A/0001/UK/En), IATF 16949:2016 (131941/A/0001/SM/En), and ISO 14001:2015 (116024/B/0001/UK/En).
The IATF 16949 certificate excludes clause 8.3 (product design). That is normal for a build-to-print manufacturer and it is stated here rather than left for an auditor to discover: the plant manufactures to your design, it does not originate the design.
What tolerance is realistic, and what does it cost?
Milling and turning hold ±0.002 mm (turning) / ±0.003 mm (milling); precision grinding and wire EDM hold ±0.002 mm. Those are process capabilities, not defaults — a drawing does not need every dimension at the limit, and specifying tighter than the function requires is the single most common driver of unnecessary cost on a machined part.
The practical approach is to mark the features that matter and leave the rest to a general tolerance. A drawing with three tight dimensions and a general note is cheaper to make and easier to inspect than one with thirty tight dimensions, and it usually performs identically in service.
Which entity is responsible for the work?
Dongguan Zhuohang Ltd, Registration No. 91441900MA4UWT6X39, in operation since 2005.
How much capacity sits behind it?
over a hundred machines with depth in every relevant family — 50+ three-axis, 20+ four-axis, 20+ five-axis, 25+ turning centres, plus Swiss-type, grinding, and wire EDM.
The decision in one question
Reach for Swiss CNC machining when you need a precise part in a low-to-mid quantity, from metal or plastic, without paying for tooling. That one sentence covers most of the decision. If the quantity is in the tens of thousands and the geometry allows it, casting or injection moulding becomes cheaper once the tool is paid. If the part is a rough, non-critical shape, a cheaper process may do. But when the tolerance, the surface finish or the material matters, Swiss CNC machining is the process that delivers it without a die or a mould.
The boundaries, stated plainly
Swiss CNC machining cuts away material, so there is waste and a minimum wall thickness to respect. It is not the cheapest way to make a very simple, very high-volume part, and it does not add material back where the design is too thin. It also holds a tolerance that has a floor - a few microns is real, a few tenths of a micron is metrology, not machining. The buyer who knows those boundaries uses Swiss CNC machining where it wins and steps to another process where it does not. Contact Felipe Iglesias at [email protected] or +86 13126536955 to pressure-test your part against that decision.
How to verify the claim in one email
The fastest way to separate a real floor from a brochure is to ask for the machine list and the certificate numbers - and this facility answers in one email. Dongguan Zhuohang Ltd operates 100+ CNC machines across 6,800 m² in Hengli Town, Dongguan: Mazak VARIAXIS I-600 five-axis, INTEGREX I-250H S mill-turn, Brother SPEEDIO, and TSUGAMI, STAR and CITIZEN Swiss lathes. Inspection is on a Hexagon CMM with the 10:1 gauge rule, certification is to ISO 9001:2015, IATF 16949:2016 and ISO 14001:2015, and critical characteristics run at Ppk 1.67 initial and Cpk 1.33 in production.
Worldwide buyers across Europe, the Americas, Asia, Oceania and Africa are supplied from Dongguan. MOQ is 1 piece, lead times run roughly 3 / 7 / 30 days, and the quote from Felipe Iglesias ([email protected], +86 13126536955) comes back with the routing and the capability evidence together.
Take the next step
One drawing and one quantity is the whole hand-off. Send a STEP or IGES model and a 2D drawing with the tolerances, datums, material grade and finish, state the quantity and lead time, and the reply is an itemised quote - material, setup, cycle time, inspection - rather than a round number. If the drawing is incomplete, send what you have and the open questions; the point is to open the conversation, not to wait for a perfect package.
Contact Felipe Iglesias at [email protected] or +86 13126536955. MOQ is 1 piece, lead times run about 3 / 7 / 30 days, and the service area covers Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom in Europe; Brazil, Canada, Mexico and the United States in the Americas; China, Israel, Japan, Singapore and Sri Lanka in Asia; Australia and New Zealand in Oceania; and South Africa in Africa, shipped worldwide from Dongguan.
Tolerance and surface finish reference
±0.003 mm milled, ±0.002 mm turned, and ±0.002 mm ground or wire-cut, all verified on a Hexagon CMM against the datum scheme. Surface finishes span Ra 0.8 to 3.2 µm as-milled, Ra 0.2 to 0.4 µm ground, and Ra 0.05 to 0.1 µm polished. The 10:1 gauge rule governs every feature - the instrument must resolve ten times finer than the tolerance it checks. And the datum is what makes the tolerance real: read against two different datums, the same callout gives two different parts, so state the datum and the convention, ASME Y14.5 or ISO.
What this shop actually runs
Capability evidence should come as specifics, not slogans. Behind this guide is a 6,800 m2 plant in Dongguan, China running 100+ CNC machines with 100+ staff. The machine list by category:
- 5-axis machining centres (10+) - Mazak VARIAXIS I-600 (510/910/510 mm travel, 12,000 rpm, 22 kW, 71.6 N·m, 30-tool BT40) and Mazak INTEGREX I-250H S (B-axis 0.0001°, 24 kW, 124 N·m, 38-tool HSK-A63). Practical for compound-angle parts, single-setup multi-face prismatic work, and aerospace fittings where datum transfer loss is unacceptable.
- 3-axis / 4-axis machining centres (50+) - Brother SPEEDIO S500Z2N / S700Z2N (10,000 rpm, 14/21-tool ATC, 0.7 s tool-to-tool, Z-axis 2.2 G) and Mazak VCE-430A L / VCE-570C L (10,000 rpm, 118 N·m, 24-tool ATC). Practical for prismatic parts, plates, brackets, housings.
- Swiss-type turning centres (10+) - Citizen Cincom A20-3F7 (Φ20 mm, 10,000 rpm), TSUGAMI B0206-III / B0205-III (Φ20 mm, 0.1 µm), STAR SR-32JII / SR-32J Type N (Φ32 mm, 8,000 rpm). Practical for long, slender rotational parts at ±0.002 mm.
- CNC turning centres (20+) - HEADMAN T70M/1250 (720 mm swing, 117 mm bore, 3,000 rpm, BMT75 12-station turret). Practical for shafts, bushings, flanges up to ±0.002 mm.
- Wire EDM (5+) - Sodick AQ535L (550/350/300 mm travel, ±20° taper, 800 kg workpiece). Practical for hardened tool steel, internal splines, sharp internal corners that milling cannot reach.
- Inspection: Hexagon CMM + 20+ gauges - Hexagon CMM for coordinate measurement, plus vision system, profilometer, hardness tester, coating thickness gauge, XRF for material verification. The 10:1 rule (gauge 10x more accurate than the band) is applied to every feature.
- Machine highlights - VARIAXIS I-600: one-setup multi-face 5-axis + MAZA-CHECK auto-calibration; INTEGREX I-250H S: DONE-IN-ONE mill-turn, B-axis 0.0001° + Ai thermal shield; SPEEDIO S500Z2N / S700Z2N: Z-axis 2.2 G + 0.7 s ATC; Swiss-type: guide-bush switchable + 0.1 µm resolution.
Tolerance: ±0.003 mm CNC milling / ±0.002 mm CNC turning / ±0.002 mm grinding and wire EDM. Capability: Ppk >= 1.67 initial on key characteristics, Cpk >= 1.33 ongoing.
Certificates: ISO 9001:2015 (116024/A/0001/UK/En), IATF 16949:2016 (131941/A/0001/SM/En, with design clause 8.3 excluded, stated openly) and ISO 14001:2015 (116024/B/0001/UK/En), issued to Dongguan Zhuohang Ltd, registration 91441900MA4UWT6X39, founded 2005.
Where we ship: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom in Europe; Brazil, Canada, Mexico and the United States in the Americas; China, Israel, Japan, Singapore and Sri Lanka in Asia; Australia and New Zealand in Oceania; and South Africa in Africa — plus other countries and regions worldwide, shipped from our base in Dongguan, China.
Contact: Felipe Iglesias, [email protected], +86 13126536955.
Get a quote with the cost drivers named
Send your drawing to [email protected] or call +86 13126536955. We will tell you which tolerance or setup is driving the number, not just the number.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you hold stock or consignment for repeat orders?
Repeat orders can run against a forecast so stock and, where the part warrants it, dedicated fixturing are held ready. This is a commercial arrangement, not a standard term, so raise it at the second order rather than the first.
Is your IATF 16949 certificate valid for design work?
No. The certificate excludes clause 8.3 (product design). The plant is certified to manufacture to your design and to run the associated process controls, not to originate product design.
What is the single most useful question to ask a supplier?
"How many machines do you have in the family that makes my part?" It is not on any website, it cannot be answered from stock photography, and it predicts delivery behaviour better than any certificate.
Should I audit before or after the first order?
Before, but the audit does not have to be travel. A video walk of the floor, a machine list, and a certificate check resolve most of the question at no cost.
How is an engineering change handled mid-production?
The change is documented against a revision, the affected parts in process are identified, and the revised drawing is confirmed in writing before work restarts. The important part is that the revision in force at any moment is a single, written one.
How is material traceability maintained?
Incoming stock is checked against the mill certificate — composition by XRF, hardness where specified — and traceability is held per heat or per batch as the certificate defines it.
Are you a manufacturer or a trading company?
A manufacturer. The legal entity is Dongguan Zhuohang Ltd (Registration No. 91441900MA4UWT6X39), operating a 6,800 m² facility with over a hundred machines and 100+ staff in Dongguan. Factory visits are welcome.
Continue reading: 3 Axis Swiss CNC Machining · 4 Axis Swiss CNC Machining · 5 Axis Swiss CNC Machining
Standards referenced on this page
- ASTM A582/A582M-12 — Standard Specification for Free-Machining Stainless Steel Bars
- ISO 9001 — Quality management systems — Requirements
- ASTM E8/E8M-21 — Standard Test Methods for Tension Testing of Metallic Materials