- a hundred-odd machines including 20+ 5-axis centres; 100+ staff, 80%+ skilled technicians.
- Exports to Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom in Europe; Brazil, Canada, Mexico and the United States in the Americas; China, Israel, Japan, Singapore and Sri Lanka in Asia; Australia and New Zealand in Oceania; and South Africa in Africa — based in China, serving customers worldwide.
- Multi-axis Machining: Parts whose critical surfaces are curved or whose features are distributed around more than one datum.
- Where it stops: More axes means more collision cases to verify offline.
- Prototype and production run on the same floor and the same process.
What does multi-axis machining actually mean?
Multi-axis machining is a machine that can move the tool and the workpiece through more than three axes in a controlled, simultaneous way.
The distinction that matters is between indexing — where the rotary axes lock while cutting happens — and simultaneous motion, where all axes interpolate together. Simultaneous motion is what produces a continuous surface on an impeller blade; indexing is what keeps a clocked hole pattern cheap.
Where does multi-axis machining stop paying?
More axes means more collision cases to verify offline. Simulation is not optional, and that verification time belongs in the quote.
This boundary is stated deliberately. A supplier that recommends the highest-capability process for every part is optimising its own utilisation, not your cost, and the tell is a quote that never suggests simplifying the design.
What does the setup cost, and when is it worth it?
Programming, fixture design, and first-article inspection are fixed costs: they are incurred once and amortised over the quantity. That is why the unit price falls steeply between one part and twenty, and slowly thereafter.
The practical consequence is that a fixture worth building for fifty parts is not worth building for two, and a supplier that quotes the same unit price at both quantities has not thought about how it will hold the part.
How do you verify a supplier really has this capability?
Ask whether the programmes are verified by simulation before release, and ask to see the collision report. On multi-axis work the number of collision cases grows with each rotary axis, and a supplier that cannot show you how it checks them is guessing.
None of these questions are hostile and all of them are cheap. A plant with the capability answers them easily; a brochure cannot.
What design decisions move the cost on micro CNC machining?
On multi-axis work the hidden cost is verification time. Every additional rotary axis multiplies the collision cases that have to be simulated before the programme is released, so geometry that forces the head into an awkward attitude is expensive even when it cuts quickly. Where a feature can be reached with the head upright, leaving it upright is worth real money.
This belongs in the quote discussion, not the first-article review, because the changes are usually trivial on the drawing and significant on the machine.
What identifies the legal entity behind the machines?
The legal entity behind this site is Dongguan Zhuohang Ltd, founded 2005 and registered in China under Social Credit Code 91441900MA4UWT6X39, marketing under the name Zhuohang Precision Machining Factory. Its registered and production address is No. 8, Shuibian Songyuan Road, Hengli Town, Dongguan, Guangdong, China 523470.
Use the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System and the 18-character code to verify a Chinese manufacturer. Trading companies can produce a business licence too, yet the scope reads trading rather than manufacturing and the address is an office, not a plant.
How much capacity sits behind it?
over a hundred machines with depth in every relevant family, 50+ three-axis, 20+ four-axis, 20+ five-axis, 25+ turning centres, plus Swiss-type, grinding, and wire EDM.
Which geometries justify multi-axis machining?
Parts whose critical surfaces are curved or whose features are distributed around more than one datum.
Rates rise with axis count, but the saving appears in fixture count and in the number of times a part is handled.
Which standards the plant is certified to
Three certificates, each with a number you can check with the registrar: ISO 9001:2015 (116024/A/0001/UK/En), IATF 16949:2016 (131941/A/0001/SM/En), and ISO 14001:2015 (116024/B/0001/UK/En).
The IATF 16949 certificate excludes clause 8.3 (product design). That is normal for a build-to-print manufacturer and it is stated here rather than left for an auditor to discover: the shop builds to the design you supply, it does not originate the design.
What tolerance applies?
±0.003 mm on CNC milling, ±0.002 mm on CNC turning; ±0.002 mm where precision grinding or wire EDM is used, fixed for each feature at the quote.
What mill-turn and multi-axis combine
A mill-turn machine turns and mills in a single setup, so a part that needs both a turned profile and a milled feature - a flat, a slot, a cross-hole - is finished without moving between machines. The benefit is accuracy and time: the features stay in one coordinate frame, so they line up, and the part does not wait in a queue between two operations. A multi-axis or multi-tasking machine extends that idea to several faces in one clamping. For you, it means a complex part with fewer operations and a tighter feature relationship.
When it earns its keep
Mill-turn and multi-axis earn their keep on parts that mix turning and milling, or that need several faces held to a tight relationship - a housing with a bore and a milled face that must be concentric, a shaft with a flat and a cross-hole. A simple turned pin does not need it, and a simple prismatic block does not need it. If you know the geometry, you choose the process; the shop quotes it honestly. This floor runs the Mazak INTEGREX I-250H S mill-turn among its 100+ machines. Contact Felipe Iglesias at [email protected] or +86 13126536955 with the drawing.
The evidence behind the numbers
Ask for proof and the answer is specific: Dongguan Zhuohang Ltd runs 100+ CNC machines on a 6,800 m² floor in Hengli Town, Dongguan, including the Mazak VARIAXIS I-600 five-axis, the INTEGREX I-250H S mill-turn, Brother SPEEDIO, and TSUGAMI, STAR and CITIZEN Swiss lathes. Inspection runs on a Hexagon CMM with the 10:1 gauge rule, and ISO 9001:2015, IATF 16949:2016 and ISO 14001:2015 are held by verifiable certificate number. Critical characteristics are tracked with Ppk 1.67 initial and Cpk 1.33 in production - a tolerance quoted here is a tolerance held.
Buyers across Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom in Europe; Brazil, Canada, Mexico and the United States in the Americas; China, Israel, Japan, Singapore and Sri Lanka in Asia; Australia and New Zealand in Oceania; and South Africa in Africa are served from Dongguan with worldwide shipping. MOQ is 1 piece; lead times run about 3 / 7 / 30 days. Send the drawing and quantity to Felipe Iglesias at [email protected] or +86 13126536955 and the quote returns with the process spelled out.
Starting your order
The quickest route to a part is a model and a quantity. Send the STEP or IGES file with a 2D drawing that names the tolerances, datums, material grade and finish, plus the quantity and the lead time you need, and you get an itemised quote - material, setup, cycle time and inspection - not a round figure. No finished drawing? Send what you have and the questions that are blocking you; the goal is to begin, not to wait for a flawless package.
Email Felipe Iglesias at [email protected] or call +86 13126536955. MOQ is 1 piece, lead times run roughly 3 / 7 / 30 days, and shipping covers Europe, the Americas, Asia, Oceania and Africa, plus worldwide from Dongguan.
The tolerance and finish numbers
On this floor milling holds ±0.003 mm, turning ±0.002 mm, and grinding or wire EDM ±0.002 mm, verified on a Hexagon CMM against the drawing datums. As-milled surfaces run Ra 0.8 to 3.2 µm, ground Ra 0.2 to 0.4 µm, polished Ra 0.05 to 0.1 µm. Every feature follows the 10:1 gauge rule - the measuring instrument resolves ten times finer than the tolerance it checks. A part is only as good as its datum, so the same callout against two different datums makes two different parts; name the datum and the geometric convention, ASME Y14.5 or ISO.
De-risking a first order
A trial order of a few pieces is the cheapest insurance you can buy — it proves the routing, the tolerance and the paper trail on a small batch before the volume order locks in. One floor, one quality system, one accountable party, whether the run is a single part or a full production lot, so what the trial confirms is what production repeats.
The material sets the lead time as much as the geometry: aluminium and brass cut fast and ship in days, while stainless, titanium and Inconel machine more slowly and cost more. Name the grade on the drawing and the lead time follows the material, not the guesswork.
What this shop actually runs
If you ask for capability evidence, you deserve a specific answer. This facility operates 100+ CNC machines across 6,800 m2 in Dongguan, China, staffed by 100+ people. The machines, listed by category:
- 5-axis machining centres (10+) - Mazak VARIAXIS I-600 (510/910/510 mm travel, 12,000 rpm, 22 kW, 71.6 N·m, 30-tool BT40) and Mazak INTEGREX I-250H S (B-axis 0.0001°, 24 kW, 124 N·m, 38-tool HSK-A63). Chosen for compound-angle parts, single-setup multi-face prismatic work, and aerospace fittings where datum transfer loss is unacceptable.
- 3-axis / 4-axis machining centres (50+) - Brother SPEEDIO S500Z2N / S700Z2N (10,000 rpm, 14/21-tool ATC, 0.7 s tool-to-tool, Z-axis 2.2 G) and Mazak VCE-430A L / VCE-570C L (10,000 rpm, 118 N·m, 24-tool ATC). Chosen for prismatic parts, plates, brackets, housings.
- Swiss-type turning centres (10+) - Citizen Cincom A20-3F7 (Φ20 mm, 10,000 rpm), TSUGAMI B0206-III / B0205-III (Φ20 mm, 0.1 µm), STAR SR-32JII / SR-32J Type N (Φ32 mm, 8,000 rpm). Chosen for long, slender rotational parts at ±0.002 mm.
- CNC turning centres (20+) - HEADMAN T70M/1250 (720 mm swing, 117 mm bore, 3,000 rpm, BMT75 12-station turret). Chosen for shafts, bushings, flanges up to ±0.002 mm.
- Wire EDM (5+) - Sodick AQ535L (550/350/300 mm travel, ±20° taper, 800 kg workpiece). Chosen for hardened tool steel, internal splines, sharp internal corners that milling cannot reach.
- Inspection: Hexagon CMM + 20+ gauges - Hexagon CMM for coordinate measurement, plus vision system, profilometer, hardness tester, coating thickness gauge, XRF for material verification. The 10:1 rule (gauge 10x more accurate than the band) is applied to every feature.
- Machine highlights - VARIAXIS I-600: one-setup multi-face 5-axis + MAZA-CHECK auto-calibration; INTEGREX I-250H S: DONE-IN-ONE mill-turn, B-axis 0.0001° + Ai thermal shield; SPEEDIO S500Z2N / S700Z2N: Z-axis 2.2 G + 0.7 s ATC; Swiss-type: guide-bush switchable + 0.1 µm resolution.
Tolerance bands: ±0.003 mm milled, ±0.002 mm turned, ±0.002 mm ground or wire-cut. Capability indices: Ppk >= 1.67 at the initial study; Cpk >= 1.33 ongoing in production.
Certifications: ISO 9001:2015 (116024/A/0001/UK/En) · IATF 16949:2016 (131941/A/0001/SM/En, design clause 8.3 excluded) · ISO 14001:2015 (116024/B/0001/UK/En), held by Dongguan Zhuohang Ltd (USCC 91441900MA4UWT6X39, since 2005).
Service area: we supply Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom in Europe; Brazil, Canada, Mexico and the United States in the Americas; China, Israel, Japan, Singapore and Sri Lanka in Asia; Australia and New Zealand in Oceania; and South Africa in Africa, with worldwide delivery from China.
Contact: Felipe Iglesias, [email protected], +86 13126536955.
Get a quote with the cost drivers named
Send your drawing to [email protected] or call +86 13126536955. We will tell you which tolerance or setup is driving the number, not just the number.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you sign NDAs before reviewing drawings?
Yes. Sign an NDA before files are exchanged; drawings are kept in the quoting system, not circulated by email.
Is inspection documentation included in the quote?
It should be stated explicitly. A first-article report is a document someone has to produce, and whether it is a full dimensional report or a sample plan changes both the cost and what you receive.
What parts suit multi-axis work best?
Parts whose critical surfaces are curved or whose features are distributed around more than one datum. On the wrong geometry the extra axes cost programming time and buy nothing.
How are parts packed for export?
Each part is packed to spec — finished surfaces individually bagged and boxed, steel given corrosion protection. Packing belongs in the quote: it affects the cost and the condition the parts arrive in.
Is multi-axis always better than fewer axes?
In short, No. More axes means more collision cases to verify offline.
What materials do you machine?
Aluminum, stainless steel, titanium, brass, copper, and Inconel for metals; PEEK and Delrin (POM) for plastics. Material certificates are verified on incoming stock.
How is an engineering change handled mid-production?
The change is documented against a revision, the affected parts in process are identified, and the revised drawing is confirmed in writing before work restarts. The important part is that the revision in force at any moment is a single, written one.
Continue reading: 3 Axis Micro CNC Machining · 4 Axis Micro CNC Machining · 5 Axis Micro CNC Machining
Standards referenced on this page
- ASTM A582/A582M-12 — Standard Specification for Free-Machining Stainless Steel Bars
- ASTM B348/B348M-21 — Standard Specification for Titanium and Titanium Alloy Bars and Billets
- ISO 9001 — Quality management systems — Requirements