Quick answer: From enquiry to running machine: quotation with your spec (1–2 days), written lead time (7–45 days depending on machine family — web inspection systems 7–10 working days), shipping from Ningbo/Shanghai under your chosen Incoterm, remote commissioning on arrival, and a 2-year warranty with lifetime support. No MOQ on machinery — one machine is a complete order.
Buyers who import machinery for the first time ask the same five questions in the same order. Here are the answers, in writing, so the process has no mysteries.
1. “What’s the price?” → Send the spec, get a real number
A quotation built on “paper bag machine, best price” is a fiction. A quotation built on your spec is an engineering document: finished product dimensions, material (type/GSM/thickness), roll width, output target, voltage. Send those and pricing comes back in 1–2 working days — machine-specific, not catalog-generic. (Our buying guides explain what drives each family’s price: output, size range, automation.)
2. “What’s the MOQ?” → One machine is the order
Machinery has no minimum order quantity. One machine is a complete order with full documentation, spares kit and warranty. Consumables and spare parts have sensible minimums for freight economics; machines don’t.
3. “What’s the lead time?” → Written, per machine family
- Web inspection systems: 7–10 working days
- Most converting and packaging machines: 7–45 days depending on the family and current order book
- Custom configurations (special widths, voltage variants): quoted with a firm date
The lead time goes in the purchase order. Plan installation staffing around it, not around a verbal estimate.
4. “How does shipping work?” → Your Incoterm, your freight forwarder or ours
Machines leave via Ningbo or Shanghai ports. Standard terms: EXW, FOB, CNF/CFR (your port) or CIF — the enquiry that inspired this article referenced CNF Chittagong, which is a perfectly standard way to buy. Sea freight for production machines, with sea-worthy packing (moisture barrier, fixed anchoring). Document pack: commercial invoice, packing list, B/L, Declaration of Conformity, manual.
5. “What about installation and support?” → Remote first, engineer optional
Standard delivery: English manual, layout and wiring drawings, remote video commissioning with your technicians, and the spare parts kit for the first year. On-site engineer service is available when required. The warranty: 2 years across the range, lifetime technical support — in the contract, not the brochure.
The one-paragraph version
Send your spec (product + material + width + voltage), receive a machine-specific quotation in 1–2 days, sign with a written lead time, ship under your Incoterm, commission by video call, and run under a 2-year warranty. That’s the entire journey from enquiry to production — designed to be boring in the best way.
VIE Machinery, Wenzhou, China — packaging, paper, plastic, printing and decoration machinery: https://viemachinery.com