Sourcing
Finding shops, checking them and deciding who you buy from.
Machined Aluminium Enclosures and Housings: Buyer Guide
How to specify a CNC machined aluminium enclosure: block or extrusion, wall thickness, seal groove, EMI shielding, finish and the choices that set the price.
Automotive Aftermarket Parts: Sourcing CNC Work in Vietnam
A buyer guide to automotive and motorcycle aftermarket CNC parts from Vietnam: materials, heat treatment, finishes, safety parts, branding and batch sizes.
CNC Machined Parts for Automation Equipment From Vietnam
A buyer guide to CNC machined automation parts such as base plates, brackets, grippers and shafts: materials, flatness and hole tolerances, kitting and repeat orders.
China Plus One for Machined Parts: A Practical Playbook
How to add a second source for machined parts without breaking the first: which parts to move, how to run both in parallel and what to measure before you split.
How to Source CNC Machined Parts From Vietnam: A Guide
A step by step guide to sourcing machined parts from Vietnam: choosing which parts to move, writing a quotable RFQ, comparing quotes and placing a first order.
How to Vet a CNC Machine Shop in Vietnam Before You Buy
The questions, documents and evidence that separate a shop that can hold your tolerance from one that will learn on your order. A remote vetting checklist.
How to Write a CNC Machining RFQ That Gets Real Quotes
Most slow quotes are a shop waiting for an answer. Here is every field a machining RFQ needs, why each one changes the price and a template you can copy.
Sourcing Agent or Direct From the Factory? How to Decide
What an agent, a marketplace and a direct factory relationship each cost you in money, control and time, and which one fits the stage your machined part is at.
Where CNC Machine Shops in Vietnam Are Actually Located
Vietnam machining is clustered in the north, the south and a smaller centre. Where each cluster sits, what it grew up serving and which port it ships through.
Cost
What a machining price is made of, and which changes move it.
CNC Machining Quote Breakdown: What Is Inside a Price
A machining quote is setup, material, cycle time, finishing, inspection and packing. Here is how each line is built so you can see what drives your price.
Design Changes That Cut CNC Machining Cost, Not Quality
Ten changes to a drawing that lower a machining quote without touching how the part works: tolerance, radii, depth ratios, finishes and the datum scheme.
Landed Cost for Machined Parts: How to Compare Quotes
Unit price is not what you pay. How to build a landed cost per part so quotes from different countries and different Incoterms can be compared on one line.
Minimum Order Quantity for CNC Machining: The Real Rules
Machine shops rarely publish an MOQ because there is not really one. What actually sets the smallest order worth placing, and how to buy 20 pieces sensibly.
Vietnam vs China for CNC Machining: How to Compare It
A framework for comparing Vietnam and China on a specific machined part: material availability, tooling, minimum order size, lead time, duty and supply risk.
Process
Tolerances, lead time and what the shop is actually doing.
Thread Callouts for Machined Parts: Metric, UNC and NPT
How to write metric, UNC, UNF and NPT thread callouts on a drawing, which class and depth to state, and how shops in Vietnam gauge and check each thread type.
Swiss-Type Turning in Vietnam: When a Part Needs It
Which turned parts belong on a Swiss-type lathe, which stay on a standard CNC lathe, and how to ask Vietnamese shops about bar size, tolerance and batch size.
Replacement Parts From Old Drawings or Samples: How It Works
How a machine shop rebuilds a part from a worn sample or an old drawing: measuring, material identification, drawing rebuild, first piece check and the limits to know.
From Prototype to Production CNC Runs: What Changes
What changes in fixtures, programs, inspection, price and lead time when a CNC prototype moves to a production run, and how to plan the step with a shop in Vietnam.
Anodizing and Plating Machined Parts in Vietnam: Who Does It
How anodizing and plating are arranged for CNC parts made in Vietnam: in-house or outsourced, which specification to cite, masking, colour matching and lead time.
5-Axis vs 3-Axis CNC Machining: What Changes in the Quote
How 5-axis and 3-axis machining differ on setups, fixtures, hourly rates and tolerance stack, and how to tell which one your part needs before you request a quote.
Surface Finish for CNC Machined Parts: A Buyer's Guide
What Ra actually measures, which finish a CNC process gives you for free, and how to specify anodising, plating and powder coat without a dimensional surprise.
CNC Machining Tolerances Explained for Buyers, Not CNC
What a tolerance costs, what shops hold as standard, why a general note is dangerous and how to mark up a drawing so your part is quoted on what matters.
CNC Machining Lead Times in Vietnam: What to Plan For
Lead time is not one number. Here is how quoting, material purchase, machining, finishing, inspection and freight each add days to a machined part from Vietnam.
Quality
Proving the parts are right before they leave the country.
Semiconductor Equipment Parts: Cleanliness and Tolerance Needs
What semiconductor equipment parts demand from a CNC shop: vacuum-grade finish, precision cleaning, particle control, tight tolerances, materials and packing.
Mill Test Certificates for Bar Stock: What to Check
What a mill test certificate shows, the difference between EN 10204 types 2.2, 3.1 and 3.2, and seven checks that catch wrong or borrowed certificates on bar stock.
Machining Medical Device Components in Vietnam: What Applies
What a buyer should know before sourcing CNC medical device components in Vietnam: materials, traceability, cleanliness, validated processes and supplier controls.
Deburring and Edge Breaks: What to Write on the Drawing
How to specify deburring and edge breaks on a CNC drawing: radius or chamfer size, burr limits, ISO 2768 defaults, cross holes and what each method costs.
CMM Inspection Report: How to Read One as a Buyer
A line-by-line guide to a CMM inspection report: nominal, tolerance, actual, deviation, position results and the details a buyer should check before accepting parts.
First Article Inspection: What to Ask For and When
A first article inspection is the cheapest insurance on an overseas machining order. What goes in an FAI report, when to ask for one and how to review it fast.
Quality Documents for Machined Parts: What to Request
Material certificates, certificates of conformity, dimensional reports and plating certificates. Which ones to ask for, who issues them and what each proves.
Logistics
Shipping terms, customs documents, packing and freight.
Air or Sea Freight for Machined Parts? How to Choose
Machined parts are dense and often valuable, which changes the air versus sea decision. How to work out which mode is cheaper for your part and your deadline.
Certificate of Origin From Vietnam: Which Form You Need
EUR.1, CPTPP, Form B and the rest. Which certificate of origin your machined parts need, who issues it in Vietnam and why asking late costs the duty saving.
Export Packing for Machined Parts: Rust, Pallets, Damage
Parts leave the shop perfect and arrive marked, rusted or short. What to specify for packing, preservation and pallets before your order ships from Vietnam.
Importing Machined Parts From Vietnam: What to Expect
Which documents move with a shipment of machined parts from Vietnam, who issues each one, what a certificate of origin does and where importers get stuck.
Incoterms for Machined Parts: EXW, FOB, DAP and DDP
The four Incoterms that cover almost every machined part shipment, who pays and carries risk at each step, and the traps that catch first time importers.
Materials
What the shops here buy locally, and what has to be imported.
Engineering Plastics for CNC Machining: POM, PEEK and Nylon
How POM, PEEK and nylon compare for CNC machined plastic parts: tolerance, moisture, heat limit, cost and the drawing notes that keep a plastic part on size.
ASTM, EN and JIS Grade Equivalents in Vietnamese Shops
A practical table of ASTM, EN and JIS equivalents for steel, stainless, aluminium and brass, plus how to word a drawing so a shop in Vietnam buys the right bar.
Brass and Copper CNC Parts: C360, C110 and Lead-Free Options
Compare C360 brass, C110 copper and lead-free alternatives for CNC parts: machinability, conductivity, regulations on lead, plating and drawing notes for Vietnam shops.
Aluminium 6061 vs 7075 for Machined Parts: Cost and Strength
Compare 6061 and 7075 aluminium for CNC parts: strength, corrosion, anodizing, weldability, raw material cost and availability for orders made in Vietnam.
Carbon and Alloy Steel for Machined Parts: 1045, 4140, 4340
How 1045, 4140 and 4340 steel differ in strength, hardenability, machinability and cost, and how to state heat treatment and hardness for parts made in Vietnam.
Stainless 303 vs 304 vs 316 for CNC Parts: Picking a Grade
How 303, 304 and 316 stainless steel differ in machinability, corrosion resistance, weldability and price, and how to specify the grade for CNC parts sourced in Vietnam.
CNC Machining Materials in Vietnam: What's Actually Stocked
What aluminium, steel, stainless, brass and plastic grades machine shops in Vietnam hold as bar stock, which ones are ordered in, and how to write the material line so a quote does not slip.