Minimum Batch Sizes and Setup Fees for Custom RTV
An RTV minimum is mix, degas, and bench time, not a penalty. Split setup from recast price. Do not hide setup inside MOQ 20.
Kyler Yang · Founder10 min read
Shops size a minimum so changeover, mixed A/B, and the vacuum table get paid. They are not punishing small POs. On this site a custom RTV cell spends hours becoming your job: pattern finish, often a flip, a resin production mother, weigh, vacuum, pour batch RTV, jacket / mother-mold support shell, traveler. The skins that come after have to pay that motion. Factories either name a setup fee or they hide it as MOQ or they bury it in a high unit price. All three can be honest. Mixing them is how two quotes look different when the physics is the same.
The path is photos, sketch, or CAD, then a 3D-printed pattern, often a temporary silicone flip, a resin production mother, then batch RTV. The mother is not the pattern. Free DFM. CAD revision about USD 50 when we edit your 3D. Prototype usually 3-7 business days after CAD lock. Production MOQ 20 pieces per design. Bao'an since 2018. We will not hide setup inside an MOQ of twenty trays. RUUIPON also quotes HTV/HCR compression mold tooling - the steel/compression tool for solid silicone. High-volume LSR cold-runner or steel gummy *part* tools are a different RFQ - ask us. Do not send the compression-mold RFQ as an HTV product RFQ here, or ask us for a high-volume LSR tool.
What a setup actually is on this site
RTV mold-making: pattern finish and barrier coat, often a temporary silicone flip, resin production mother, weigh 1:1 or 10:1, vacuum degas until the foam collapses, pour, support shell, first witness dump. RTV dump production off that mold is a lighter setup. If the PDF walks a LIM press purge or an HCR mill, you are not buying an RTV cavity.
If your email still says "master, box, keys, jacket" as the setup line, you are listing shop furniture. Name which walk you are paying for: first mother, recast skin, or dump lot.
Kit size is a second minimum
Platinum RTV comes in vendor sizes. If your pour uses 1.2 kg and the kit is larger, leftover is a policy: you buy the kit, the shop stocks the grade, or you lose color/cert control on a shared natural. Food grades make this worse because the shop will not use it up on an industrial resin block. Ask pack size and leftover owner on the RFQ.
A clean structure is setup fee plus true recast or dump price. No fee plus high MOQ hides the walk in the unit price. Fine if you will always buy that MOQ. Hostile if you wanted one tray and the MOQ is twenty - and our production MOQ is already 20 pieces per design after approval, which is not a license to hide a second setup tax inside that number.
Common mix-up: LSR pail minimum pasted onto an RTV tray
A lot of RFQs paste a LIM pail minimum or an HCR mill minimum onto a chocolate tray. Those are parts-factory walks. An HTV/HCR compression mold has its own setup story on a RUUIPON RFQ - we do not invent an HTV MOQ on this page.
Typical shop values
Reference values only. Confirm material-specific limits against the supplier’s technical data and agree project acceptance criteria before production.
| Element | Typical home |
|---|---|
| Pattern / flip / living mother / first pour | Setup or tooling |
| Recast of the skin against the same mother | Recast line, not setup forever |
| Leftover kit | Material policy, named owner |
| First witness dump | Tooling or first-lot, not every recast |
| Food-contact article test | First-lot or a named test |
| Production MOQ / proto / CAD | 20 pcs/design after approval; 3-7 days after CAD lock; DFM free; USD 50 CAD |
Worked example: 12-cavity gummy
A 12-cavity gummy, about 2,000 dumps/month. Free DFM. After CAD lock: pattern, often a flip, resin production mother, batch RTV. Setup named the first mother and the first witness. Reorder recasts were mix + degas + pour, not a second 40-dim ritual. Production at MOQ 20 of that design. A competing PDF hid the same walk as "MOQ 20 trays" plus a color-clean surcharge. Same physics. Worse reading.
Stay on this page / skip this page
Stay when you need to read a setup fee versus an MOQ on an RTV mold PO.
Skip if you are comparing LIM pail minimums - a different RFQ - ask us finished parts. Skip if you need the compression-tool setup walk - RUUIPON HTV/HCR mold RFQ, numbers after DFM. Skip if you only needed one catalog tray.
We will not quote a setup hidden inside an MOQ of twenty trays. We will not invent an HTV MOQ. We will not paste an LSR pail minimum onto a pour cavity.
Related: cost drivers, contact.
What to send
- Object: first mother, recast skin, or dump lot
- Cavity count; first lot; monthly dumps
- Whether leftover kit is yours or the shop's
- Color / food-contact dedicated grade yes/no
- Photos, sketch, or CAD
Send the fee split to [email protected] or contact.
- Setup named? - yes -> Compare recast / dump price
- Setup named? - hidden in MOQ 20 -> Ask them to unhide the walk
FAQ
Is MOQ 20 a setup fee? No. MOQ 20 is pieces per design after approval. Setup is the bench walk that makes the first living mother. We will not hide one inside the other.
Why is leftover platinum a batch issue? Kits come in vendor sizes. Food grades will not get used up on a resin block. Name the leftover owner.
Can I demand 12-cavity economics at 1-cavity batches? No. A 1-cavity sample can run a small dump lot. A 12-cavity production tray will not mix a pail for two pockets.
Does this page set an HTV tooling MOQ? No. We do not invent an HTV MOQ. Compression-mold setup is a separate RUUIPON RFQ after DFM.
What starts the prototype clock? CAD lock. Then usually 3-7 business days. DFM free. CAD about USD 50 when we edit 3D.
Custom silicone development · DFM & prototype support
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