One-stop precision sheet metal manufacturing
One-stop OEM partner for server rack: MetlTek runs precision sheet metal, mechanical assembly and complete unit delivery from a single plant in Kunshan, China. Founded in 2001, the factory runs three laser cutting machines (a Trumpf 3030 plus two Hongshan machines, the largest 6000 x 2540 mm), a 6.5 m CNC gantry machining center, a Salvagnini P2Lean bending center, Panasonic and Fronius welding robots and an 8 m rail-mounted welding cell. Finished goods ship to industrial customers across Europe and North America.
Three commitments we are judged on by every customer, on every order.
Round-the-clock response
Send drawings at any hour — an engineer replies within one working day, not an automated ticket.
Factory-direct pricing
No trading layer in between. You buy from the plant in Kunshan that actually cuts, bends and welds the parts.
Delivery you can plan around
Committed lead times, serialised inspection records and export packing that survives ocean freight.
| Material | Cold-rolled steel, galvanised steel, stainless steel 304, aluminium |
|---|---|
| Sheet thickness | 1.0 – 4.0 mm (load-bearing frames up to 12 mm) |
| Tolerance | ± 0.05 mm (laser cut, all machines), ± 0.25° (Salvagnini / TRUMPF bending), ± 0.3 – 0.5° (conventional brakes), squareness ± 0.5 mm per metre |
| Surface finish | Powder coating to RAL, zinc plating |
| Minimum order | 1 piece for prototypes, series from 20 pieces |
| Lead time | Sample 7–10 working days · series 4–6 weeks |
Forty-two rack units of equipment has to slide in without a fight, and whether it does is decided by three numbers that are easy to get wrong: the 44.45 mm rack-unit pitch, the 19-inch rail position, and how square the frame is across its diagonals. A rack that is strong enough but out of square is a rack that damages equipment on installation day. We punch the hole pattern from a fixed datum and check frames on the diagonals after welding.
| Rack standard | 19-inch rails and 44.45 mm rack-unit square-punch pattern to EIA-310 |
|---|---|
| Squareness | ± 0.5 mm per metre, checked across the frame diagonals |
| Sheet and section | 1.0 – 4.0 mm panels; up to 12 mm on load-bearing sections |
| Depth range | Front-to-rear rail range agreed against your equipment list |
| Load path | Levelling feet, castors or plinth detailed with the load figure, not after it |
| Finish | Powder coat to RAL, standard black or grey |
Rack height is counted in units: one U is 44.45 mm of vertical pitch, and the number on a datasheet is the usable opening, not the overall height of the frame. The sizes below are the ones that come up most often, and what normally decides them. Any other height can be built — the frame figure is yours, the hole pattern is not.
| 2U – 4U | Wall positions and small floor stands: patch panels, a handful of network items. Shallow depth, hinged front, load carried into the wall. |
|---|---|
| 12U – 18U | Half-height floor or wall racks for one cabinet of equipment — edge and access switches, a small UPS, a single server shelf. |
| 24U | Mid-height floor rack used where room height rules out a full cabinet but the equipment list still needs depth for cable bend radius at the rear. |
| 42U | The standard full-height server rack, and the size most often ordered with doors, side panels and containment. |
| 47U and above | Tall frames cut to the room, or where overhead cable management and containment need the extra pitch above the top rail. |
| 19-inch rail position | 482.6 mm panel width to EIA-310 / IEC 60297. The U pattern is square-punched from one fixed datum, so U1 sits where the drawing says it does. |
| Depth | Set by your deepest item plus cable bend radius, then agreed — front and rear rails are adjusted to suit, not assumed from a catalogue figure. |
| Wall-mount variant | Same 19-inch pattern, but the load path runs into the wall through a fabricated bracket, so rack and bracket are specified together. |
Four things that decide whether a metal enclosure project lands on time and on budget.
Tolerances we can hold
±0.1 mm on laser-cut features and ±0.3 mm on formed parts, verified before dispatch.
Quality you can audit
ISO 9001 processes, first-article inspection and a measurement report with every series batch.
One supplier, five processes
Cutting, bending, welding, coating and mechanical assembly under one roof — no hand-offs between vendors.
Built for export
Export-grade packing, customs documentation and container loading planned for Europe and North America.
Optical sorter cabinets, infeed frames and buffer hoppers for Tomra (Norway). Anti-stray light precision is achieved through bending tolerance, robot seam welding and matte black interior coating. Highlights: precision light sealing, 6.5 m gantry machining in one setup, matte black interior.
Deep-drawn fan scrolls, guide rings and impeller shrouds for Ziehl-Abegg (Germany). One-piece forming means fewer seams and smoother inner walls, so pressure loss and noise stay low. Highlights: one-piece deep drawing, robot circumferential sealing weld, accurate balance datum.
Vertical collector housings with conical dust hoppers and support frames for Camfil (Sweden). Fully welded gas-tight construction with machined sealing flanges. Highlights: gas-tight welding, anti-bridging hopper forming, machined flange faces, outdoor-grade coating.
Laser machine control cabinet and sealed top housing (sheet metal structure only) for Trumpf (Germany). Sealing is continuous across the top joint so the IP66 rating carries across the whole cabinet. Highlights: IP66 sealing, sealed top transition, oil-resistant industrial coating.
Split upper and lower equipment frames with a machined mounting plate between them for AP TECH (Korea). The 6.5 m gantry mills the mounting face in one setup and assembly gaps are held uniformly. Highlights: gantry-machined mounting face, granite plate fitting, assembly gap control, rigid vibration-damped frame.
Sectioned conveyor frames, support structures, side guarding and drive housings (sheet metal structure only) for Vanderlande (Netherlands). 8 m rail-mounted robot welding keeps long sections straight and interfaces interchangeable. Highlights: long-section robot welding, interchangeable section interfaces, outdoor salt-spray coating.
Diagonal squareness
A frame that is out of square will not let rails line up, and no amount of rail adjustment fixes it. Frames are checked on the diagonals, and welded frames are corrected after cooling.
Rack-unit pitch accuracy
The hole pattern is a published standard, not a preference. It is punched in one set-up with the rail datum fixed, so U1 sits where the drawing says it does.
The load path to the floor
Weight travels from the rails through the frame to the feet. Feet, castors and plinth are chosen together with the load figure, because they are one system.
Containment and cable management decided up front
Retrofitting containment and PDU positions into a populated rack is the expensive version of the job. Both are placed on the drawing before the rack is built.
Quality is measured, not claimed. A precision inspection system compares 40 million measurement points against your CAD in 0.1 seconds per part, and every batch is documented under our ISO 9001 system. Reference customers include TOMRA, TRUMPF, RITTAL, ZIEHL-ABEGG, CAMFIL, VANDERLANDE, MAHLE and WEISS TECHNIK.
There is no fixed MOQ. Prototypes and small batches from one piece are accepted, and unit prices fall as volume grows. One-off tooling cost is quoted separately.
Yes. We regularly work under NDA and produce strictly to customer drawings. Files stay on an internal server and are never shared with third parties.
A first-article sample is typically ready in 7–10 working days, and series production runs in 3–5 weeks depending on quantity and surface finish.
Yes — 19-inch rails and the 44.45 mm rack-unit square-punch pattern to EIA-310, with the rail depth range confirmed against your equipment list.
Yes. Containment, PDU mounting and blanking panels are part of the build, and the rack can ship assembled and checked for squareness.
It depends on the frame section and the foot arrangement. Send the intended static load and the floor fixing detail and the section is specified to suit, rather than quoting a single headline figure that will not apply to your installation.
Send your drawings and quantity — you will get a quotation with lead time, not a sales script.
Tell us what you need — our engineer replies within 1 working day.