"I have had many tools built in China, and almost every shop in China starts timing from a when a tool design is fully updated with signed approval for cutting steel and goes until 1st shots. Some shops are also very bad about dragging out timing for changes once the mold is placed with them and started. You also have to allow 5-6 weeks for boat shipment, with any slight error in paperwork causing further delay. NA shops typically start timing from PO/Final data with disclaimers for any improper part design issues that cause delays.....and will work very hard with you to minimize those delays. I have only seen a few cases where a China supplier had enough timing advantage to be faster than the NA shop, and that involved using air shipment as an option, wiping out most of the cost savings. We built in China because it's cheaper...period. We also have one (maybe two) shops that we use in China because the quality is actually as good or even better than our NA shops.....which is very sad for me to witness. "