These Terms & Conditions apply to all mould design, manufacturing, quotation, delivery, after-sales service transactions between Ningbo Pilot Mould (hereinafter referred to as “Supplier”) and overseas buyers (hereinafter referred to as “Buyer”). All orders shall be deemed acceptance of the following terms once the Buyer places an official order.
1. Quotation & Payment Terms
- All quotations are valid for 30 calendar days from the date of issue. Prices are based on standard mould steel, standard LKM/HASCO/DME mould base and standard hot runner system; extra cost will be charged for special steel, imported high-end hot runner, customized tolerance or special surface treatment.
- Standard payment term: 40% T/T deposit upon order confirmation; 60% balance T/T before mould shipment. Other payment methods shall be confirmed by both parties in writing.
- All prices exclude international sea/air freight, import customs duty, local tax and destination port handling fees unless specially marked in the quotation.
- The Supplier reserves the right to adjust prices if raw material steel price rises more than 10% during production.
2. Drawing, Design & Intellectual Property Rights
- All product drawings, 3D models, samples, product structure data provided by the Buyer are confidential information. The Supplier shall not copy, resell, disclose or use these data for any third-party customers without written permission from the Buyer.
- Mould internal structure design, cooling layout, stack mould synchronization mechanism, hot runner balance design independently developed by Pilot Mould belong to the Supplier’s intellectual property rights, and shall not be copied, disassembled or imitated by the Buyer for mould production with other manufacturers.
- The Supplier will store Buyer’s confidential drawings and models for maximum 2 years after mould delivery; upon Buyer’s written request, all electronic files will be permanently deleted.
- The Buyer guarantees that all product drawings and samples provided do not infringe any third-party trademark, patent or copyright. If any intellectual property dispute occurs caused by Buyer’s product, all legal liabilities and compensation shall be borne by the Buyer.
3. Mould Production & Delivery Cycle
- Standard lead time: 45–65 working days for normal single-layer injection moulds; 50–65 working days for stack mould, 2K double color mould and thin-wall high-cavity moulds. Lead time starts counting from the day receiving deposit and confirmed final 3D mould drawing.
- If the Buyer revises product structure, cavity quantity, material or tolerance after production starts, the delivery time will be extended accordingly, and extra modification cost will be charged separately.
- The Supplier will send mould test video, sample photos and dimensional inspection report to the Buyer before shipment; mass production samples will be delivered together with the mould upon request.
- Delivery port: Ningbo Port, China. The Supplier is responsible for loading goods into container; sea freight and overseas logistics risk shall be undertaken by the Buyer.
4. Quality Standard & Warranty
- Mould tolerance standard: ±0.01mm for general plastic parts; ±0.005mm for automotive and medical precision parts, as agreed in DFM file.
- Mould warranty policy: 12 months warranty or 1,000,000 normal injection shots (whichever comes first) based on core & cavity: S136 material.
- Free repair & replacement for defective parts caused by Supplier’s design, processing or steel quality problem within warranty period.
- Damage caused by improper operation, wrong plastic material, foreign hard objects into cavity, overdue maintenance or man-made destruction is not covered by free warranty; only cost-price maintenance service is available.
- Mould service life: Standard mould with S136/H13 steel can reach over 1 million shots; longer service life requirement can be customized with upgraded steel at extra cost.
- After mould arrival at Buyer’s factory, the Supplier provides free remote video guidance for installation, debugging and daily maintenance; overseas on-site technical support can be arranged with travel cost borne by Buyer.
5. Modification, Repair & Replacement
- Minor product modification requested by Buyer after mould trial: small changes within 3 working days will be charged material & labor cost separately; large structural changes will require new quotation and extended lead time.
- The Supplier does not support full mould return or refund after formal production starts, unless the mould cannot meet the confirmed dimensional standard and cannot be repaired to qualified status after 3 times rework.
- Spare parts (ejector pin, cooling connector, hot runner nozzle etc.) can be supplied at factory cost after warranty expires.
6. Liability Limitation & Force Majeure
- The Supplier shall only compensate direct mould production cost if any quality failure occurs, and shall not bear indirect loss including but not limited to Buyer’s production loss, order loss, market loss and profit loss.
- Neither party shall be liable for delay or failure of performance caused by force majeure events, including natural disaster, epidemic, port lockdown, international logistics interruption, national policy adjustment and raw material supply shortage. Delivery time will be postponed correspondingly without compensation.
7. Dispute Resolution
- All disputes arising from this transaction shall be solved through friendly negotiation first.
- If negotiation fails, all disputes shall be submitted to the people’s court of Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, China for litigation, governed by Chinese Contract Law.
8. Other Clauses
- This agreement is written in English only, which shall be the only valid version for overseas transactions.
- Any supplementary agreement between two parties shall be confirmed by signed email, which has the same legal effect as this Terms & Conditions.
- Contact information for legal & regulatory inquiry: Company: Ningbo Pilot Mould and Plastic Co., Ltd. Address: No. 120-223, Bldg 6, Mould Industrial Park, Ninghai, Ningbo, Zhejiang, China, WhatsApp: 008618067505203 Email: pilotmould@gmail.com