Mechanical subcontracting is where the gap between two quotes is most misleading. Two workshops can be three times apart on the same part, simply because one is set up for series and the other for prototypes. The cheapest is not the best placed: the best placed is the one whose machine park matches your cadence.
So we select on concrete technical criteria: maximum machinable dimensions, number of axes, palletising capacity, CMM inspection means, certifications relevant to your sector — ISO 9001 everywhere, EN 9100 for aerospace, IATF 16949 for automotive, ISO 13485 for medical.
The Benelux and eastern France hold a rare density of precision workshops, often family SMEs of twenty to a hundred people, highly capable and completely absent from the web. Those are exactly the suppliers a directory search never finds.
Typical requirements
- 3, 4 and 5-axis CNC machining
- Laser cutting, bending, light sheet metal
- Fabrication and welded assemblies
- Aluminium and steel casting
- Plastic injection and tooling
- Surface and heat treatment
This sector, country by country
- Sourcing mechanical subcontracting in FranceThousands of capable workshops, half of them with no website.
- Sourcing mechanical subcontracting in LuxembourgFew workshops on site, but four basins within two hours.
- Sourcing mechanical subcontracting in the NetherlandsBrainport Eindhoven: precision and automation, at a price that holds up.
- Sourcing mechanical subcontracting in BelgiumWallonia for metal, Flanders for plastics — and nobody canvasses both.
