Marcus Wei
Head of Manufacturing
On the floor 22 years
"I still weld the first one. Every new design, I build it myself before the line gets it. If I can't build it clean, the line can't either."
One building. Every step.
Cutting, welding, powder coating, salt spray, packing — all under one roof in Ningbo. No handoffs, no suppliers, no "somewhere else." We've been in the same 4,000 m² space since 1997.
The five steps
From coil to carton, in this building.
Every frame goes through the same five stages. Same jigs, same welders, same chamber — the only thing that changes is the product on the line.
Cut & punch
Steel coil is hot-dip galvanized at the mill, then arrives by truck. Tube is cut to length and punched on the same automatic line we bought in 2016.
Jig-weld
Every frame is welded in a jig, so the squareness is identical on frame 1 and frame 100,000. Marcus still welds the first prototype of every new design.
Phosphate wash
A three-stage water-based wash removes oil and prepares the surface for the powder. No solvents, no chrome — the wastewater is treated on-site before it leaves.
Double powder coat
First coat is the color, second is the clear top layer. Cured at 200°C for 12 minutes. That's the finish that survives the 500-hour salt spray test.
Salt spray
Every batch goes into our own 500-hour chamber before it ships. Industry standard is 96 hours. We've never shipped a formula that didn't clear the full run.
Salt spray lab
The 500-hour test that decides everything.
In 2014 we built our own salt spray chamber instead of sending samples out. Before that, we tested to the industry standard — 96 hours. That's the number that gets quoted in catalogs. It's also nowhere near enough.
Real frames sit in real yards. They see rain, salt air, winter, and a decade of leaning. 96 hours proves the powder holds up for a season. 500 hours proves it holds up for ten years.
Every powder coat formula runs the full 500 before it goes on a product. If it doesn't clear, it doesn't ship — even if that means a three-month delay between design and the first unit leaving the line.
500 hrFull test run
96 hrIndustry standard
5.2×Longer than required
By the numbers
What this building actually produces.
We cap our output on purpose. Growing past 180,000 a year would mean a second shift — and a second shift welds slightly differently.
180k
Units a year
Across three product lines. Capped on purpose — see above.
40
People on the floor and off
Welding, coating, quality, packing, design, CX. No layers.
2hr
From the steel mill
Coil arrives on the same day it's rolled. We track lot numbers since 2003.
28yr
Same building, same address
Moved in 1997. Never left. Every jig and paint line is still here.
On the floor
The people behind the frame.
Forty people make FREEPET. These three are the ones whose work shows up most directly on a finished frame.
Daniel Tan
Head of Quality
Left a materials lab for this
"500 hours is the floor, not the ceiling. If a formula passes at 500, we run another 200 to be sure it wasn't a lucky batch."
Sophie Chen
Customer Experience
Answers every email
"You email us, you hear back from me. Not a bot, not a ticket number. Her name shows up in the reply — mine."
Inside the building
Four minutes on the factory floor.
Real time, no cuts, no music. A walk from the tube cutter to the sealed carton — including the salt spray chamber and the packing dock.
Factory film · 4 min
Coil to carton, in one take.
No cuts, no speed-up. This is the same sequence that runs every weekday, 7:30am to 6pm.
Quality control
Four checks before a frame ships.
Any frame that fails any of these goes back to the line. No "seconds," no B-stock, no quiet discount later.
Dimensional check
Every panel is measured after welding. Weld squareness within ±1.5 mm. If the jig has drifted, we pull the whole batch off the line and re-true it before continuing.
Coating thickness
Dry film thickness is measured at three points per panel. Target: 80–110 microns. Under 80 means less protection; over 110 means the coat may crack when the frame flexes.
Salt spray (batch sample)
One frame per batch goes into the 500-hour chamber. If it shows any surface rust at the welds before hour 500, the entire batch is re-coated.
Latch test
Every latch is cycled 5,000 times before the design is approved. At 5,000 cycles, the latch must still open with one hand. We've only ever failed one design, and it never went into production.
Come see it
Tours every Tuesday.
If you're in Ningbo, come by — 90 minutes, and you'll see the whole line from cutting to packing. If you're not, the factory film above is the next best thing.
Book a tour
Read the story first
FAQ
Factory questions.
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Yes — every Tuesday, 10am and 2pm. About 90 minutes. Email hello@freepet.com at least a week ahead. You'll see the full line from cutting to packing, plus the salt spray lab.
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Because the building is the product. Every weld jig, every paint line, every salt spray chamber is here. A second site would mean a second tolerance — and a different frame.
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About 180,000 units a year across three product lines. We cap it there on purpose — pushing higher means adding a second shift, and the second shift welds slightly differently.
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500 hours in our own salt spray chamber, built in-house in 2014. Industry standard is 96 hours. Every powder coat formula runs the full 500 before it goes on a product.
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Yes — minimum 20 units, tiered pricing from 20 to 500+. Email hello@freepet.com with your target market and product type.
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From a mill two hours north of the factory. Hot-dip galvanized before it's cut, then phosphate-washed and double powder-coated in-house. We track coil numbers on every batch since 2003.
Want to see it for yourself?
Book a tour, or if you're ordering at volume, come for the day and meet the team. We'll walk you through the whole line, start to finish.
Book a tour
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