Are Chinese Sheet Metal Suppliers on Google Genuine Manufacturers?

Type "Chinese sheet metal supplier" in the search engine, and various lists emerge in an endless stream. However, are these rankings really reliable? What kind of industry logic is hidden behind them? This article combines the current status of the industry, my experience of opening a sheet metal factory in China in 2018, and my 13 years of experience as a sheet metal engineer to analyze whether it is a real sheet metal manufacturer!

Sheet metal manufacturers that do export generally have a relatively fast quotation efficiency. If there are more parts, according to the normal quotation time, one morning is enough. If it is an email quotation, your quotation will generally be replied within 24 hours. For example, in areas with time differences, you usually send a quotation during the day, and the supplier is at night. You need to wait until you get off work before they will quote, and you can receive his reply quotation when you go to work the next day. Trade sheet metal suppliers lack these efficiencies in price comparison, and they are not as familiar and experienced with the process as sheet metal manufacturers. After they receive the drawings, they need to send them to the source sheet metal supplier to communicate the process and quotation, which usually takes one day, and the sheet metal factory will quote the next day. Why does the sheet metal manufacturer take a day to quote the trader? Real sheet metal manufacturers don't like middlemen. They prefer to connect directly with manufacturers, give priority to the quotations of source sheet metal manufacturers, and then consider the drawings of traders. The difference is that the faster the quotation, the sheet metal manufacturer, and the slower the quotation, the trader.

(Note: If you want to develop sheet metal suppliers in China, it is best to register a WeChat account. Chinese people like to communicate on WeChat, so that the quotation efficiency will be faster, and both traders and factories can analyze better. The drawings issued for the quotation must indicate detailed material requirements and transportation requirements. The payment method also needs to be communicated quickly and effectively.)

90% of sheet metal factories in China only produce one type of product!

In China, sheet metal factories are classified as follows: sheet metal factories that produce chassis and cabinets; sheet metal factories that produce small accessories (including stamping precision sheet metal); professional building sheet metal factories (size is not limited, as long as it can be used); professional non-standard large equipment sheet metal factories. Therefore, the sheet metal manufacturers searched on Google are sheet metal factories that can do everything, which requires attention to whether they are sheet metal factories. There are also many traders who can do sheet metal, machining, CNC milling, etc. As long as you ask, they can do everything. This category is traders. In China, no sheet metal factory can complete the sheet metal classification I mentioned, and there are only a handful of sheet metal manufacturers that can do 1-3 categories. Therefore, it is not very meaningful to search for the ranking of sheet metal manufacturers on Google. Many of them are rankings written by trading companies looking for third-party operating websites. China is a manufacturing powerhouse. As long as there are orders, there is no need to worry about not being able to find suppliers, but finding a good supplier requires more thought.

The main concentrated areas of sheet metal processing in China mainly include Guangdong Province, Jiangsu Province, Zhejiang Province and Hebei Province. Among them, Dongguan City and Shenzhen City in Guangdong Province have the fastest sheet metal processing efficiency and much better quality than other regions.

The author opened a sheet metal processing plant in Shenzhen in 2018. Many domestic customers have tried sheet metal factories outside Guangdong Province for various reasons. After producing several batches, they all returned to us for production. I asked them why they came back to me for production. They all said that sheet metal factories outside Guangdong Province were too slow, often delayed delivery, and could not complete production with quality and quantity.

In summary, the above is based on my many years of experience operating sheet metal factories in China, as well as my own analysis of these factories' Google search rankings and some company information.