Start here · Complete guide
Manufacturing in China: A Hardware Founder's Guide
The whole sequence in one place — design decisions that cost more than supplier decisions, how to screen a factory on behaviour, reading a mold quote, tooling ownership, payment terms, and what inspection doesn't catch. Written from the factory owner's side of the table.
Read the guide →Quarterly · First-party data
The China Manufacturing Cost Index
What a factory owner actually pays for mold steel, machine time and casting metal — published every quarter from our own procurement records. Not estimates, not surveys, not broker quotes.
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Case Study · August 2026
The Factory That Refused a $38,000 Tool Order
A 0.8mm wall next to a 4mm boss, caught before a single chip was cut. Why abrupt wall transitions fail at production speed — and the one question that tells you whether a factory reviewed your design or just priced it.
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Tooling · August 2026
Why Your Mold Quote Has a $12,000 "Design Revision" Line Item
What draft angle is, why 0°, 1° and 3° are three different products, and why the cheapest edit in CAD becomes one of the most expensive changes in hardened steel.
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Case Study · August 2026
He Switched Suppliers to Save $0.80 a Part. It Cost $134,000.
The tool moved. The process didn't. What actually transfers with a die, why porosity is the defect that catches people, and how to qualify a second source before it costs you a run.
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Ask Mountain · Monthly · July 2026
Ask Mountain #1: Your Hardware Manufacturing Questions, Answered
Why founders skip pilot runs, how to make a factory ask "what does this part do?", the five silent tolerances on die castings, and the dual-sourcing middle ground for startups. Questions from real LinkedIn discussions.
Read the column →Quarterly Index · July 2026
SunOn Manufacturing Cost Index Q3 2026: Real Data from the Factory Floor
Domestic mold steel down up to 15%. Aluminum ADC12 up 3%. The zinc-aluminum price gap has nearly closed. First-hand procurement data — and the one question to ask your supplier this quarter.
Read the index →Every quarter
The SunOn Cost Index is published every quarter
Real mold steel, injection and die casting prices from my own procurement — so founders can check their quotes against what the factory floor actually pays. Next index: October 2026.
Read the current index →