Comparing Vietnam and China for CNC Machined Parts
“Vietnam or China” is asked as a country question and answered as a part question. The national comparison is close to meaningless, because the spread between two shops inside either country is usually wider than the spread between the two countries. What is useful is a framework you can run against a specific part.
Here is that framework, with no figures attached, because any number in an article like this is out of date within a year and wrong for most readers anyway.
First, write down why you are asking
The reason decides what “better” means at the end. The four that come up:
- Origin and duty exposure. A change in rates or origin rules altered your landed cost, and the fix is a different country rather than a different supplier.
- Concentration risk. One country, one region, one port. You want the line to survive a disruption anywhere in that chain.
- Capacity or attention. Your orders are too small to matter to your current supplier.
- Price. The weakest reason on its own, and the one most likely to reverse.
If your reason is the first or second, the comparison below is about fit rather than saving. If it is the fourth, be honest that you may end up back where you started.
The factors that actually differ
Supplier base depth
China’s machining ecosystem is older, larger and denser. For most processes, most materials and most part sizes, there is a deep pool of candidates and a deep pool of subcontractors behind them.
Vietnam’s is younger and thinner, though it is concentrated in a small number of industrial belts where the supporting layer is real. The practical consequence is that finding a competent machine shop is straightforward, while finding a competent machine shop with three specialised subcontractors within an hour is harder for less common processes.
Test for your part: list every process your part touches, including finishing and heat treatment, and ask each candidate shop where each one happens and how far away.
Material availability
This is the factor most likely to surprise you and the one buyers check last.
Common grades of aluminium, stainless, mild steel, brass and standard engineering plastics are held by local stockists in both countries. Beyond that, availability diverges, and a grade that has to be imported adds cost and weeks before machining starts.
Test for your part: ask each shop directly whether it buys your grade locally, from whom and with what normal delivery time. Then ask whether “or equivalent” would open up a faster option.
Minimum order size and attention
Both countries have shops that want 50 pieces and shops that want 50,000. The difference is where the centre of gravity sits, and it varies more by individual shop than by country.
Test for your part: ask for a price break table at several quantities. The shape of the curve tells you where your order sits in that shop’s normal range.
Lead time
Lead time is not one number, and the components differ between sources more than the total does. Quoting speed, material purchase, machining, subcontracted finishing, inspection and freight each behave differently.
Test for your part: ask both sources to break the lead time into segments rather than quote a total. The lead time guide sets out the segments to ask about.
Duty, origin and paperwork
This is where a country comparison genuinely is a country comparison. Your duty rate depends on the classification and the origin of the goods, and on whether your country has a trade agreement with the country of origin.
Vietnam has preferential agreements covering the EU, the UK, Japan, Korea, the CPTPP members, ASEAN and RCEP, each with its own certificate of origin form and its own rules of origin. Markets without an agreement pay the normal applicable rate.
Test for your part: ask your customs broker, not your supplier, what rate applies to your commodity code from each origin, and what documentary proof is needed to claim the lower one. Do this before you model anything.
Freight and route
Both countries ship enormous volumes, so sailings and flights are plentiful from the main gateways in each. Transit times, destination handling and the frequency of direct services differ by route rather than by country.
Test for your part: get a door to door quote for each origin including destination charges, not a port to port rate.
Supply concentration
If your existing supply is concentrated in one country, adding a second source in the same country reduces supplier risk and does nothing for country risk. That is a legitimate choice, and it should be a conscious one.
Run the comparison as a table, not as a debate
Build one row per factor and fill it in for your specific part with real answers from real shops.
| Factor | Source A | Source B |
|---|---|---|
| Ex works price at your quantity | ||
| Setup charge, and whether reusable on repeat | ||
| Material bought locally, and lead time for it | ||
| Secondary processes, in house or subcontracted, distance | ||
| Quoted lead time, broken into segments | ||
| Duty rate and available origin form | ||
| Door to door freight, all in | ||
| Landed cost per part | ||
| Inspection equipment against your tightest tolerance | ||
| Evidence quality: first article, dimensional report | ||
| Response time on a technical question |
The last three rows decide more outcomes than the first one, and they are the rows most comparisons leave out.
The bottom line goes in the landed cost model, because an ex works comparison between two countries with different duty positions is not a comparison at all.
What the answer usually turns out to be
For most buyers running this properly, the answer is not a switch. It is a split: keep the source that works, add a second in a different country for the parts that fit, and accept a slightly higher per piece cost in exchange for not having a single point of failure.
The parts that fit tend to share a profile: stable drawing, common material, batch quantities, lead time measured in weeks and nothing export controlled. The parts that do not fit are the exotic alloys, the very high volume automated runs and anything with a certification tied to the incumbent.
The sequence for actually doing it is in the second source playbook.
What not to use as a deciding factor
- National averages of anything. Labour rates, lead times, quality. The variance within each country swamps the difference between them.
- A single quote. One shop is not a country.
- A price comparison on different Incoterms. Fix the term first.
- Tariff figures from an article. Including this one, which deliberately contains none. Rates change and only your broker can tell you what applies to your commodity code today.
If you have a part that fits the profile and you want a Vietnam side of that table filled in with real quotes, send the drawing. We pass it to up to three machine shops in Vietnam that run that material and quantity, and they quote you directly so the numbers you compare are the real ones.
Frequently asked questions
Which country is cheaper for machined parts?
The question has no country level answer, because the piece price depends on your part, your quantity and what material the shop can buy locally. Two shops in the same country routinely quote far apart. Compare on your specific part, landed, and ignore anything framed as a national average.
Is Vietnam just a cheaper version of China?
No, and buyers who treat it that way are usually disappointed. The supplier base is younger and smaller, which shows up in the depth of secondary processes and in how many shops have a long export track record. In exchange you get a different origin position and a supply base that is not concentrated with your existing one.
Should I move everything at once?
No. Move one part that is stable, repeating and made from a common material, run both sources in parallel for two or three deliveries, then decide. The detail is in the second source playbook.
Need a quote for a part like this?
Send the drawing. We shortlist up to 3 machine shops in Vietnam, manage the order if you want us to and reply within 24 business hours.
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