Why Our Hourly Rates Are Higher Than the China Average—And Still 30–40 % Lower Than Germany
(A transparent note from a Chinese precision-tooling factory)
1. What you really pay for in Germany vs. China
| Cost element | Typical German mould shop | Our plant (Suzhou) | China national avg. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5-axis CNC hour | € 95–110 (≈ 730–850 RMB) | 520 RMB | 320 RMB |
| Slow-wire EDM hour | € 85–95 (≈ 650–730 RMB) | 450 RMB | 280 RMB |
| Polishing (mirror) hour | € 75 (≈ 580 RMB) | 380 RMB | 220 RMB |
| Fully-burdened labour rate (design & fitting) | € 65–70 (≈ 500–540 RMB) | 280 RMB | 180 RMB |
Our hourly list is 28–38 % below Germany on a like-for-like equipment basis, but 40–60 % above the China average—because we run the same DMG MORI, OPS-Ingersoll and Zeiss fleets that Stuttgart shops do, plus ISO 13485 / IATF 16949 documentation packages that cheap domestic yards simply do not offer.
2. Where the extra RMB goes (and where it doesn’t)
| Bucket | Share of our hourly fee | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Machine depreciation & maintenance | 42 % | 5-axis DMG, Makino EDM, Zeiss CT—same models as top-10 German mould makers |
| Cutting tools / consumables | 18 % | Walter, Mikron, Sumitomo—tool life ↑ 30 % vs. local brands |
| Energy & coolant | 8 % | 24 h chilled water, 0.5 °C stability; Germany ≈ 0.3 °C, China avg. ≈ 2 °C |
| Quality documentation | 7 % | PPAP, MSA, Cp/Cpk reports in English & German |
| Direct labour | 15 % | 8-year-average tenure; 40 % of foremen trained in Aachen or Singen |
| Margin | 10 % | Reinvestment into automation & metrology |
3. Real case: 48-cavity precision stamping die
- Part: 0.15 mm stainless terminal, ±0.008 mm
- Die size: 600 × 450 mm
- Total quoted hours:
- Our plant: 2,100 h → 1.09 M RMB
- Comparable German quote: 2,050 h → 1.52 M RMB (28 % higher)
- Domestic low-cost bidder: 2,300 h → 0.74 M MB (32 % cheaper, but no Cpk report, no wire-cut < 0.003 mm)
Customer saved 430 k RMB vs. Germany while still receiving full PPAP, 50 nm die-set parallelism and on-site try-out support—a saving large enough to fund an extra automated feeding line.
4. When to use us, when to use Germany
| Use Germany if… | Use us if… |
|---|---|
| You need < 2 h emergency engineering fly-in | 48 h on-site response is acceptable |
| Part tolerance < ±0.002 mm on 300 mm³ | ±0.005 mm on 300 mm³ is fine |
| Budget allows 30 % premium for “Made in EU” label | You must hit 20–25 % tooling-cost reduction targets |
| You want EU IP escrow | You can accept CN+EU split patents |
5. Bottom line
“Cheap” and “precision” rarely share the same bed.
We are not the cheapest hour in China, but we are the cheapest hour that still runs German-grade iron and gives German-level data packages—a 30 % discount that lands directly on your ROI spreadsheet.We are a Chinese leading company in the manufacture of tooling, stamping, injection molding, CNC machined parts.
Send us your next RFQ; we will gladly break down every hourly line so you can see exactly where your money goes—down to the last insert, coolant liter and Zeiss stylus tip.
