Resources
Quoting, Lead Times & Terms
What to expect commercially before you send an RFQ — lead times, payment terms, how tooling is handled, and the standards we build to. Published so there are no surprises at purchase order.
The terms below reflect how Wrex Products typically quotes work, published so you can plan. They are indicative only — the written quotation and Wrex's terms-of-sale document govern any actual order, and terms can change without notice.
Production terms
| Production lead time | Currently 8–10 weeks after first-article acceptance. |
|---|---|
| Payment terms | Net 30 days with an approved credit application, or cash in advance. |
| Price validity | Pricing is valid for 30 days and is based on quantities taken within a 90-day period. |
| Family tool pricing | On a family tool — one mold that produces several different parts in a single shot — the quoted price holds only when every part in the tool is run together in matched quantities, produced in even multiples of each part's cavity count. If you need one part in higher quantity than the others, running the tool unevenly, that carries an added charge for the uneven distribution and/or for the changeover cost of swapping inserts. Tell us the real per-part ratios at RFQ so the tool and the price are built around them. |
| Raw material pricing and lead time | We do not and cannot hold raw material prices or lead times. Material is custom quoted each time a purchase order comes in, and both price and availability can change without notice. |
| Material, color, or finish changes | A part is priced as produced from the material, color, and finish identified in the quotation. If any of those change, the quote is adjusted accordingly. |
| Delays outside our control | Standard lead time does not cover unforeseen events that delay raw material delivery from our vendors. |
| Sales tax on production parts | Production parts can be sold tax-exempt when the buyer is purchasing for resale and has a valid resale/sales-tax-exemption certificate on file with Wrex covering those parts. Without a certificate on file, the order may incur sales tax — it may not appear on the quotation, but it will be added to the invoice. Note that a certificate covering production parts does not cover tooling; see the tooling terms. |
| No minimum order quantity | Wrex has no MOQ. You can start small and scale as the program grows — useful for a launch where real demand is still unknown. Production cost per part still reflects the quantity actually run, so smaller runs carry a higher unit price; there is simply no volume floor blocking you from starting. |
| Payment methods | Check, EFT (electronic funds transfer), and ACH. |
| Freight and shipping | Customers pay all freight and supply their own carrier account — UPS preferred (UPS collects daily at no charge) or FedEx (collected on request; FedEx Ground pickups carry a $4-per-box charge). If you have no account for us to bill, shipping is billed on the invoice with an industry-standard 20% markup. |
| Production schedule | Injection molding runs Monday–Friday on 8-hour shifts. Die casting runs Monday–Thursday on 10-hour shifts — the crucible has to be held at temperature continuously through the week, so die cast scheduling is less flexible than molding. |
| Quote accuracy | Initial budgetary quotes typically land within 10–15% of the final quoted price, so you can plan against an early number with reasonable confidence. |
| Obsolete special material or color | If a special material or color — or the project itself — becomes obsolete, the customer purchases the remaining material inventory from Wrex within 60 days. |
Tooling terms
By default, tooling is quoted as built in China — the lowest-cost, fastest route — then shipped to Chico for sampling and production. In-house and US-partner tooling are also available when a program needs them, at higher cost and lead time; the first two tooling terms below lay out all three routes. Production, inspection, and secondary operations stay domestic regardless.
| Where tools are built — three routes | Default is China: nearly all new tools are built by partner shops that Wrex trained and has worked with for over 20 years, to Wrex's standards and drawings, which gives you the best combination of tool cost and lead time. Two alternatives exist when you need them. Wrex's own active tool shop can build some relatively less-complex tools in-house — that adds cost and lead time to your project, but keeps the build under our roof. And when a program requires a US-made tool, Wrex has domestic tooling partners for that. Whichever route, the tool is then sampled, cleaned, and run here in Chico, and maintained and repaired in our own tool shop for the life of the program. |
|---|---|
| Domestic vs. offshore tooling | If your program has a domestic-content requirement, or you simply want the tool made in the US, say so at RFQ. The default China route is a cost and lead-time choice, not a limitation — an in-house or US-partner build is available, at a higher price and longer lead time. Note: Wrex is NOT ITAR registered, so ITAR-controlled programs are not a fit regardless of where the tool is built. |
| Tooling payment terms | 50% down before DFM begins; 50% due at approval of first-article samples from China (judged against the drawings provided at the outset), before the tool ships from China. |
| Quoted lead time covers | Mold construction time only, running to the T0 trial in China — not to production-ready parts. Add roughly 1 week for plastic molds and 2 weeks for die cast molds for that trial sampling. Several further stages follow before the tool is released to production; see the full tooling timeline. |
| When the clock starts | Quoted lead time begins when Wrex has the final engineering drawing, the approved DFM, the purchase order, and the deposit. Engineering changes after that point can affect the quoted lead time. |
| Lead time is negotiable | Lead time is negotiable and subject to the tool shop's schedule at the time the purchase order is accepted. |
| Models and drawings | Molds are built from customer-supplied solid models. Two-dimensional drawings are used for reference — to define tolerances, material, surface finish, and other specifications. |
| Texturing | Texturing on any mold is an additional charge. |
| Overmolding inserts | Where a part is overmolded onto inserts, the quote assumes the customer supplies those inserts unless it states otherwise. If you would rather Wrex source them, say so at RFQ and we will quote it — either way, customer-furnished inserts get incoming inspection before molding. |
| Trim dies (die casting) | A die cast tool needs a trim die to remove the gates and overflows left by the casting process. We quote assuming a tool has a trim die, which is the usual case. If a tool arrives or is transferred without one, we either quote breaking the runners off by hand or quote building a new trim die — which route makes sense depends on the part, and it is settled at quoting rather than discovered at first article. |
| Shot tube and cell hardware (die casting) | Every die cast tool also needs shot-end hardware to run: a shot tube (with its plunger tip, sleeve spacer, and ladle), and on some tools a master chase to hold the die. Wrex keeps these in inventory and uses what fits at no added cost — but sizes vary, and when we don't have the right size on hand for your tool, the cost of the additional hardware is added to the tooling price. |
| Die casting quote basis | Unless the quotation says otherwise, a die cast part is priced as cast by cold-chamber die casting to NADCA standards, from the material identified in the quote — most commonly aluminum A380.1. Changing the process assumptions, the material, the color, or the finish means the quote is re-worked accordingly. |
| Tool price validity and tariffs | Tool pricing is effective for 30 days. Freight cost is an estimate and may change. Quoted mold prices reflect current tariff increases, and pricing is subject to change based on further tariff changes. |
| Tooling freight: ocean or air | Ocean freight is the default and is what the standard tooling lead time assumes. Air freight is available when a program needs the tool sooner and will absorb the cost — it removes most of the 5–8 week ocean leg from the timeline. Ask at quoting if the schedule matters more than the freight cost. |
| Sales and use tax on tooling | Tooling is a capital asset. Molds, trim dies, and fixtures are therefore generally subject to sales tax (California, or other) or use tax (depending on state), and in most cases tax will apply on tools. A resale certificate covering production parts does NOT exempt the tooling — exemption requires a resale certificate that specifically covers the tool itself. If you believe your tool/asset purchase is exempt, send the applicable certificate before the tooling is invoiced. |
Tooling timeline: PO to production
The quoted tooling lead time is not the time until you have production parts. It covers stage 4 only — mold design and construction through the T0 trial in China. Roughly 2–3 weeks of quoting and DFM come before it (plus however long your PO and deposit take), and typically 10 to 16 more weeks follow it, most of that ocean freight and approval turnaround. We would rather you plan against the real schedule than the build number.
Quote the project
~1 weekWe review your model and requirements and issue the tooling and production quotation.
Approval, purchase order, and down payment
Depends on youOnce the quote is approved we need the purchase order and the 50% tooling down payment, which is due before DFM begins. This stage runs on your schedule rather than ours, and it is the most common place a program sits idle.
DFM review and final CAD
1–2 weeksWrex reviews the part for manufacturability and you deliver the final CAD files. The tooling clock does not start until the DFM is approved and the final data is in hand.
Mold design and construction
Quoted per projectThe lead time shown on your tooling quotation covers this stage. It begins once Wrex has the final engineering drawing, the approved DFM, the purchase order, and the deposit — and is subject to the tool shop's schedule when the PO is accepted.
T0 trial sampling in China
~1 week plastic / ~2 weeks die castFirst shots off the new tool at the tool shop. The quoted lead time runs to here.
Samples received and verified at Wrex
2–3 weeksTrial samples travel from China to Chico, where we inspect and verify them before they go to you.
Your review of the China samples
~1 week targetWe send the verified samples for your approval. Turnaround here is entirely in your hands, and it moves the whole schedule.
Ocean freight of the tool
5–8 weeksAfter sample approval the tool is prepared for shipment and sent from China by sea. This is usually the longest single stage — air freight is available at higher cost if the schedule matters more than the freight bill.
Cleaning and in-house sampling at Wrex
1–2 weeksOn arrival the tool is cleaned and prepared, then sampled on our own presses in Chico.
Final production sign-off
Your reviewIn-house samples go to you for final production approval. Once approved, the tool is released to production at the standard quoted production lead time.
Send the pilot PO when you approve the China samples
Don't wait until the tool lands. Issuing the pilot production PO at China sample approval lets Wrex purchase and schedule raw material in advance, so material procurement isn't sitting in series behind the tool's arrival. This is the single easiest way to cut weeks out of the schedule.
Production pricing is re-quoted after in-house sampling
Once the tool has run on our presses we re-evaluate material cost, process parameters, cycle time, and packaging to get a true picture of the part's cost, then re-quote production. That re-quote sometimes requires a correction to the pilot PO.
Tool maintenance and storage
Wrex maintains and stores customer tooling in-house at no cost while the project is in active production — meaning the tool has not sat idle for more than one year, and remains within its quoted/rated shot count.
Tool ownership and liability
Tooling is the customer's property and remains the customer's asset. Wrex does not accept liability for customer tooling while it is stored at Wrex.
REACH / ECHA compliance
Wrex Products does not monitor ECHA (REACH) compliance updates. Our customers have total ownership and responsibility for identifying and specifying the components on their BOM to meet compliance requirements set by the European Union or other regulatory agencies.
Additional terms and conditions are listed in Wrex's terms-of-sale document. Ask us for a copy if you don't have one already. Download the current terms-of-sale document (PDF).
Standards we build to
NADCA standards
Die cast parts are produced to North American Die Casting Association (NADCA) standards for tolerances and product specification, unless your print specifies otherwise.
SPI standards
Plastic parts are produced to SPI (Society of the Plastics Industry) standards, including SPI mold surface finish classifications.
Required on every new plastic part
- Exact material to be used, clearly identified — resin family, grade, and supplier where it matters
- Surface finish requirement for the part's core and cavity surfaces, called out per SPI finish standards
Both of the above are required on every new plastic part before tooling. A tool is cut to a specific finish and a specific material's shrink rate — leaving either open means guessing, and guesses show up as first-article disputes.
Tooling & process capability
Runner type
Most tooling currently running at Wrex is cold runner.
Hot runner tooling can be built if you want it — tell us at RFQ so it is designed and quoted in from the start rather than retrofitted.
Mold temperature control
Supported: Chilled water, and water heated below boiling using a mold temperature controller.
Not supported: Hot oil. We do not run hot oil in tooling, which rules out processes and resins that require mold temperatures above what pressurized water can deliver.
If your resin's recommended mold temperature exceeds what water-based control can reach, tell us at RFQ — it may make the part a poor fit for our floor, and it is far cheaper to find that out now.
Project evaluation checklist
What we check to confirm a part actually fits our equipment. Running through this before you send an RFQ will tell you quickly whether we're the right shop — and if we aren't, we'd rather you find out here than three weeks in.
| Checked | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Maximum part size | Must fit within the platen and tie-bar spacing of an available press or die casting machine. |
| Maximum mold/die size | Mold base dimensions and shut height have to suit an available machine — see Facilities & Equipment for the machine list. |
| Part weight / shot weight | Must fall within the shot capacity of a suitable machine (1.45–80 oz for injection molding; 2–12.5 lb for die casting). |
| Projected area vs. clamp tonnage | Determines which press can hold the tool closed against injection or injection pressure without flashing. |
| Number of cavities | Drives tool size, machine selection, and per-part cost. |
| Runner type (cold or hot) | Affects tool cost, material waste, and cycle time. |
| Required mold temperature | Must be achievable with chilled or heated water — we do not run hot oil. |
| Material and SPI surface finish callout | Required before tooling on all new plastic parts. |
| Secondary operations | Machining, finishing, decorating, and assembly are planned into the quote rather than added later. |
Machine-by-machine capacities are on Facilities & Equipment. Design guidance is on DFM Resources, and what we advise on versus what stays with you is on Engineering Support.
Ready to talk about your project?
Send your drawings or describe your part — an engineer will follow up, not a sales queue.