Real life case! My arduous journey to start a machine shop!

Every One Of Us Who Works In Machining Sticks To Our Post, Because We Don't Know How Difficult It Is To Stick To Our Post, But Because We Know That It Is Right Valuable To Do So.

At The Beginning Of 2015, With Excitement Fear, My First Small Mechanical Processing Factory Was Finally Established. It Has Been 20 Years Since I Thought About Doing Things By Myself Actually Started To Implement Them Step By Step. I Am About To Enter My 40s, Under The Pressure Of Life The Encouragement Of My Inner Dream, I Finally Took This Step. Although I Am Afraid Uneasy, My Dream Will Never Die. Regardless Of Success Failure, At Least I Have Tried Verified It, So I Will Regret It.

1. Selection Of Machine Tools

The Selection Of Machine Tools Took One A Half Months. At First, We Planned To Buy A CNC, Two Lathes, Two Milling Machines, A Saw, A Shearing Machine, Two Bench Drills. We Thought That It Would Look Good When Customers Came To Visit, The Number Of Equipment Would Seem Too Small. Huiwen Zhizao Is A Machining Factory With More Than Ten Years Of CNC Processing Experience . It Has A Full Range Of Equipment, CNC Lathe/Milling/Grinding/Drilling/Processing. Partners With Parts Processing Needs Are Welcome To Call Us For Quotes.

But After Looking At The Machine Tools For A While, I Changed My Mind. First, The Capital Investment Exceeded The Budget. Second, The More Machines There Are, The More Workers Are Needed, The Greater The Expenses Are, The Greater The Operating Pressure Is. Third, The Previous Orders Are Enough To Support The Operation Of So Many Machine Tools.

Therefore, We Decisively Gave Up The Previous Naive Idea Of Making Things Look Good For Customers’ Visits, Gradually Reduced The Number Of Machines To One CNC, One General Lathe, One General Milling Machine, Two Bench Drills.

CNC Is The Most Expensive Machine Tool In A Machining Plant , So It Takes The Most Time. I First Selected A Few Brands I Liked Through Online Searches Friends' Introductions. Then I Contacted The Sales Of Each Brand Of Machine Tool. Usually, The Process Is "Contact By Phone --- Schedule A Meeting --- Visit A Machining Plant That Has Purchased The Brand Of Machine Tools --- Provide An Initial Quotation."

I Compared 6 7 Brands, Some Were Made In Taiwan, Some Were Made In China, Some Were Made In China Under The Name Of Taiwan, Some Were Imported Japan. At First, I Was Dazzled Struggled With The Detailed Comparison Of Various Parameters. Through On-Site Comparison On-Site Communication With Operators, I Found That The Performance Of Imported CNC Machines Is Very Good, But The Price Is Also Very High, With The Lowest Price Being Over 450,000 Yuan.

I Had No Choice But To Buy A Domestic CNC To Use For A Few Years. Therefore, I Spent More Than 300,000 Yuan To Buy A Domestic CNC (I Won’t Mention The Brand To Avoid Suspicion Of Advertising). As For The Performance, You Can Only Experience It Slowly In Actual Use.

It Is Easy To Choose A General Car For A Mechanical Processing Plant. There Are Only A Few Brands Of Relatively Good General Cars In China. It Took One Day To Order A General Car, It Cost More Than 50,000 Yuan.

I Originally Wanted To Buy A Larger Better General Milling Machine, But The Price Was Over 80,000 Yuan, So I Bought A Local General Milling Machine Because I Saw That Many Small Processing Shops In The Industrial Park Bought This Type Of Milling Machine. The Price Is Cheap The Local Manufacturer's After-Sales Service Is Also Very Convenient. I Got A General Milling Machine For Over 20,000 Yuan.

There Is Nothing Much To Say About Bench Drills. Of Course, I Bought The Best Domestic Ones (Because The Total Price Is Only A Few Thousand Yuan, So I Can Be Willful This Time Buy The Best, Haha), Two Machines, One For Drilling One For Tapping. Ten Thousand Yuan Will Do.

2. Selection Of Factory Buildings

The Original Idea Of Locating The Factory Was To Be Located In An Industrial Park, Because The Park's Management Was Standardized, There Wouldn't Be The Legendary Protection Fees, The Power Supply Was Guaranteed (This Was Very Important), Supporting Material Procurement Various Outsourced Work Types Would Also Be Possible.

However, After Visiting The High-Tech West Zone Industrial Park, Pi County Industrial Park, Jiaolong Industrial Park, I Found That The Factory Buildings In The Parks Are Relatively Large The Rent Is Relatively Expensive (Basically More Than 20 Yuan Per Square Meter). It Is Difficult For A Small Machine Processing Factory Like Mine To Find A Good Quality, Low-Cost Economical Factory In The Industrial Park.

Then I Turned My Attention To The Self-Built Factories Of Farmers. I Visited Several Places Found That The Factory Ground Was Poorly Hardened, The Roof Was Just Simple Colored Steel Sheets, Most Of The Roads Leading To The Factories Were Dirt Roads. The Price Was 13-15 Yuan Per Square Meter, The Power Supply Was Guaranteed There Would Be No Power Outages. After Several Comparisons, I Decided To Choose The Industrial Park.

So I Kept Wandering Around The Industrial Park. After Lunch One Day (At A Roadside Noodle Stall In The Industrial Park), I Saw An Advertisement For A Factory For Rent Posted On The Wall Opposite. The Area Was 200 Square Meters, With Water, Electricity Internet Access. It Was Far This Small Restaurant, So I Decided To Go Take A Look.

The House Is A Two-Story Building. The First Floor Is Rented Out As A Factory Building. There Are Places For Workers To Stay Cook. The Ground, Water Electricity Network, The House Are All In Good Condition. However, It Is In The Industrial Park, But On The Edge Of The Industrial Park. The Price Is 13 Yuan Per Square Meter. I Felt Good About It Overall, So I Paid The Deposit Decisively. Two Days Later, After Paying A Year's Rent, The Factory Building Was Finally Confirmed.

3. Enterprise Registration

The Registration Of A Company Is Relatively Simple. To Save Trouble, I Found An Agent To Help With Various Formalities. I Registered As A General Taxpayer With A Registered Capital Of XX Million. The Business Scope Of The Company Was Registered According To Its Own Business Scope The Scope That May Be Involved In The Future. The Agent Will Notify You Of The Time Place You Need To Appear Cooperate To Complete The Company Registration. After More Than A Month, I Got The Business License, Organization Code, Tax Registration Certificate, Etc., Completed The Registration.

IV. Recruitment Of Personnel

Factory Director: I Will Take The Position. I Graduated The Mold Major Had Been Engaged In Design Work Before. I Lack Management Experience. I Am A Down-To-Earth Person With A Typical Technician Personality. Now That I Have Taken This Step, I Can Only Force Myself To Keep Changing Adapt To My New Role.

CNC Operator: This Is A Relative Of Mine. He Graduated A Technical Secondary School In CNC Has Been Engaged In CNC Processing In A Large Factory For 8 Years, So He Has Rich Experience.

General Lathe: He Is A Friend Of The CNC Operator Has Been Engaged In General Lathe Operation For 3 Years.

General Milling: Due To The Existence Of CNC, General Milling Is Only Targeted At Simple Flight Profiles, Processing Of Small Scattered Parts, Etc. Therefore, An Apprentice Was Recruited Who Had Just Graduated A Technical Secondary School.

Fitter: The General Milling Operator Also Does The Job; Quality Inspector: The General Milling Operator Also Does The Job; Purchasing: The Factory Director Also Does The Job; Marketing: The Factory Director Also Does The Job; Finance: The Factory Director Also Does The Job, At The Same Time, He Hired A Part-Time Accountant To Help With The Accounting Tax Filing Every Month, Which Is 700 Yuan A Month; Cooking: The General Milling Operator Also Does The Job.

There Are 4 People In Total, All Of Whom Have Purchased Five Insurances Signed Labor Contracts. The Monthly Labor Cost (Including Wages, Insurance, Meals Other Expenses, I Also Pay A Salary Myself) Is More Than 21,000 Yuan.

The Work Schedule Is Six Days A Week, 8 Am To 6 Pm, With A 2-Hour Break At Noon. Overtime Pay Is Required For Overtime Work.

The Factory Provides Food Accommodation.

5. Plant Layout

The Machine Tools Have Been Ordered, The Factory Has Been Rented, The Staff Has Been Recruited, The Factory Layout Is Also Being Carried Out At The Same Time.

The Layout Of The Machine Tools Is Relatively Simple. After All, There Are Only Three Machines, It Took Half A Day To Complete. After The Positions Of The Machines Were Determined, The Wiring (Power Lines, Air Pipes, Lighting Lines) Began. The Machines That Need Electricity Include: CNC, Lathe, Milling, Bench Drill, Grinder, Air Compressor, Reserved Positions For Machine Tools That May Be Added Later. The Electrician Laid The Wires Cables In One Day. The Air Pipes Were Done By Myself, Which Took One Day.

After The Cables Were Laid, We Designed Benches, Shelves, Assembly Tables, Office Areas, Etc. According To The Size Of The Beds After They Were Placed. After The Design Was Completed, We Went To The Corresponding Merchants Around The Park To Customize Benches, Shelves, Assembly Tables. Office Desks Chairs Were Purchased Together.

The Workers Have Two Rooms With Bunk Beds. The Kitchen Dining Area Are Separated The Processing Area. The Necessary Kitchen Utensils Are Purchased, The Washing Machine Refrigerator Are Equipped. Internet Payment Is Available.

During This Process, There Were All Kinds Of Small Things To Do, Like Missing A Screw A Valve Tee, You Had To Run Step By Step. It Was Very Tiring, Money Continued To Flow Out.

After The Machining Workshop Is Set Up, We Wait For The Machine Tools To Arrive. It Usually Takes One To One A Half Months The Order Placement To The Arrival Of CNC, Three Days For General Turning, The Same Day For General Milling, The Same Day For Bench Drilling, Air Compressors, Grinding Machines, Etc. Are All Purchased At The Commodity Market.

6. Machine Tool Entry

The Lathe Milling Machine Arrived Quickly, The Manufacturer Debugged It For Half A Day Before The Machine Could Start Working. The CNC Took About Two Months To Arrive, The Manufacturer Debugged It For Two Days.

Let Me Say A Few More Words Here. When Signing A Contract With A Dealer, It Is Best To Indicate The Exact Delivery Date How To Compensate For Late Delivery. Otherwise, The Machine Tool's Arrival Time May Be Delayed Due To Various Reasons.

Also, Pay Attention To The On-Site Acceptance Of The Machine Tools, Carefully Check Whether The Machine Tools Have Been Used, Because The Dealer May Give You A Machine Tool That Has Been Returned By Someone Else. Although It Sounds Impossible, Some People Have Indeed Encountered It. Friends Who Buy Beds In The Future Must Be More Careful. All The Beds Are In Place, You Can Start Working.

7. The First List

The First Order Was Introduced By A Friend. It Was To Make 7 Aluminum Alloy Structural Parts (Seven In A Set), Which Were Considered As Samples. The Price Was Based On The Original Supply Price Of Other Manufacturers (5,000 Per Set, Including The Invoice). The Structural Parts Were Complicated Could Be Processed By CNC.

I Took The Blueprint Carefully Checked The Key Dimensions To Confirm That There Was No Major Processing Difficulty. Then I Went To The Raw Material Market To Order The Materials. Since The Specifications Of The Seven Parts Were Different, I Went To Several Stores To Order The Materials. After The Materials Were Collected, CNC Began Processing.

Since The Structural Parts Need Welding Subsequent Surface Treatment, We Continued To Look For Outsourced Work Around The Park (This Is Also The Advantage Of Being Close To The Park). We Found Two Companies For Welding, Only One For Oxidation, One For Plastic Spraying.

It Took CNC Three Days To Process The Structural Parts, Then It Was Handed Over To A Welding Shop For Welding. At That Time, In Order To Save Trouble, The Welding Was Assigned To A Small Shop Very Close To Us. I Carefully Read The Drawings Found That The Welding Requirements Were High, So I Didn't Pay Much Attention To The Welding. The Owner Of The Welding Shop Also Patted His Chest Said That The Welding Was Very Simple I Could Rest Assured.

I Was Too Confident. When I Went To Pick Up The Parts, I Was Shocked. The Welds Were Extremely Ugly. There Were No Regular Fish Scales Any Patterns At All. They Were Just Piled Up In Lumps. I Asked The Store To Compensate Me. The Welding Fee Was Only 80 Yuan. How Could They Compensate Me? I Could Only Blame Myself For Being Too Careless. The Parts Were Scrapped Re-Cut.

For The Second Welding, I Found A Small Factory That Was Far Away But Looked Good. I Sent It There The Day Before Picked It Up The Next Day, Charging 100 Yuan. I Was Quite Satisfied With The Welded Workpiece Because The Weld Was Indeed Very Neat. After Finishing It At The Factory, I Sent It To The Surface Treatment Factory For Passivation, Which Took Three Days.

Finally, It Was Sent To The Plastic Spraying Manufacturer For Plastic Spraying. In Order To Ensure The Effect Of Plastic Spraying, The Plastic Powder Was Ordered The Plastic Powder Manufacturer. This Time, I Learned The Lesson Of Welding Last Time. I First Sprayed Plastic On An Aluminum Plate To See The Effect, Then Sent The Parts To The Manufacturer For Spraying. I Picked Up The Parts One Day Later. The Sample Took Half A Month To Toss Turn. When It Was Sent To The Customer Unit, It Was Quite Satisfied Said That It Would Be Considered If There Was A Need For Processing In The Future.

Summarizing The First Order, There Are A Few Thoughts:

When Cutting Materials, You Should Consider The Possible Problems That May Arise During The Processing Cut Out Some Spare Parts Appropriately To Avoid To Replenish Materials When Problems Arise During Processing. Sporadic Replenishment Is Very Troublesome.

For Outsourced Work, You Must Be Sure Of The Other Party's Processing Capabilities Cannot Judge Based On Your Imagination. After All, You Have To Bear The Losses Yourself.

How To Control The Processing Cycle? Since Welding, Passivation, Plastic Spraying Other Jobs Need To Be Outsourced, How To Effectively Control The Cycle Shorten The Delivery Time Requires Continuous Summary In Subsequent Processing.

8. Product Quotation Issues

Since I Have Never Worked On My Own Before, I Am A Little Confused About Product Quotation. I Hope My Friends Can Provide Some Experience.

Let Me First Talk About How I Calculate Costs Quote. When I Calculate Costs Now, I Mainly Calculate Material Costs, Processing Costs (Machine Costs Labor Costs), Outsourcing Costs, Taxes, Profits (Calculated As A Fixed Percentage).

The Material Cost Is Fixed, The Machine Cost Is Roughly Calculated Based On How Much Per Lathe/Hour. For Example, If A Part Is Latheed For 3 Hours CNC For 2 Hours, The Machine Cost Is Calculated As (15*3+80*2) Yuan, The Labor Cost Is Calculated As (A*3+B*2) Yuan, A Is The Hourly Wage Of The Lathe Operator B Is The Hourly Wage Of The CNC. Outsourced Work Such As Welding, Surface Treatment, Etc. Other Delivery Costs (Labor Running Costs), Material Procurement Costs (Labor Running Costs), Etc. Are Calculated. I Don't Know If This Is Correct.

9. About The Use Of CNC

CNC Processing Is Highly Efficient. However, We Do Have Two Shifts, Only Day Shifts, The CNC Is Running At Night; The CNC Is Also Running On Weekends. This Directly Leads To High Prices When CNC Is Quoted To The Outside (All Over 80). But The Problem Now Is That When The Machine Is Turned On At Night, The Noise Of The Air Compressor Is Too Loud The Workers Cannot Sleep. On The Weekend, No Employee Is Willing To Take A Day Off To Work Overtime. Headache...

10. About Quality

"Quality Is The Life Of An Enterprise." It's Easy To Say, But To Really Implement It In Every Matter In The Factory To Firmly Imprint The Quality Awareness In The Hearts Of Every Employee, You Really Have To Work Hard.

Raw Material Procurement Is Related To Quality, Processing Is Related To Quality, Outsourcing Processing Is Related To Quality, Inspection Is Related To Quality, Delivery Is Related To Quality... If We Look At It A Broader Perspective, Every Link, Contact With Customers To Product Processing, Delivery, After-Sales Service, Etc. (That Is, The Entire Life Cycle Of The Product), Is Related To Quality.

Only By Providing Customers With Good Products A Good Cooperation Experience Can We Win The Customers' Compliments: "The Product Quality Of This Factory Is Reliable." For Small Factories That Have Just Started, Most Orders Are Introduced By Friends. Friends Give You Opportunities. If Your Quality Is Up To Standard, You Will Be Slapped In The Face Of Yourself Your Friend Will Be Slapped In The Face Of His Boss. If The Quality Is Up To Standard Once, Your Friend May Be Able To Bear It, But What About The Second Time?

If It Is A New Customer, One Unqualified Quality Is Enough To Make You Lose This Customer Forever. Therefore, Quality Is The Life Of The Enterprise Should Be Kept In Mind At All Times.

In 2017, I Received A Recent Update A Netizen. In 2015, The Output Value Was 1.2 Million, In 2016, It Was 2.1 Million. In 2017, We Hope To Achieve 3 Million. A CNC Machine Tool Has Been Added, The Staff Is 15 People.

Let Me Share Some Thoughts: Machining Does Have Very Thin Profits. After Deducting Material Costs, Labor Wages, Taxes, Various Marketing Expenses, The Annual Income Is Basically The Same As That Of Working For Others, But The Worries Are Many Times More. Machining Has Too Low Added Value The Competition Is Extremely Fierce. It Depends On Quality, Cycle, Relationships, Pressure.

Without Our Own Products Core Competitiveness, It Is Really Hard To Do Business. But We Will Still Work Hard To Move Forward! The Team Of Shenzhen Huiwen Intelligent Manufacturing Technology Co., Ltd. Was Established In 2010. It Is Located On The 1st Floor Of Building F3, Tianyou Maker Industrial Park, Lixinhu, Fuyong, Bao'an District, Shenzhen. It Has Long Been Committed To The Processing Of High-Precision, Difficult Easy-To-Deform Metal Plastic Parts , Small Medium-Volume Production Manufacturing Of Light Alloy Composite Materials (Such As Aluminum Alloy, Carbon Fiber, Etc.),  Procurement Customization Of Robot Parts .