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Vertical Integration
From Melt to Finished Part — Under Two Entities and One Contract
Material production and precision machining sit in the same group, in the same city. This page explains exactly how the structure works, which legal entity does what, and who is accountable to you when something goes wrong.
Two entities, one contract, one city. Tell us the part and the delivery date. Material and machining are planned against the same schedule rather than two diaries. Send a drawing
Most aerospace buyers meet the same problem twice: a mill that will not commit to a date, and a machine shop that blames the mill. Vertical integration does not remove every risk, but it removes the handover where that argument happens.
The structure below is stated plainly because a buyer doing due diligence will find it anyway. We would rather explain it in our own words than have you reconstruct it from a company registry.
Process Overview
Thirteen steps from raw material to delivery
The route every order follows. Steps 1–6 are executed by the material entity, Baoji Qicheng; steps 7–13 by Baoji Tuohang Precision Manufacturing — the entity that signs your contract and carries the delivery.
One Integrated Production Chain · From Raw Material to Ready Delivery
One group, two workshops — Qicheng supplies the material, Tuohang machines and delivers. The two workshops are precision-linked in one chain, so every dimension, batch and certificate stays traceable from ingot to final part.
Raw Material
Incoming Inspection
Cutting
Heating
Forging
Heat Treatment
Machining
Grinding
Marking
Cleaning
Final Inspection
Packing
Delivery
Process Flow — Stage 1
Material: melting, hot working and release
Every step below is executed by the material entity and is documented before the stock is transferred to the machining facility.
Melting
Charge selection and melt route controlled to the chemistry required by the ordered specification. The melt heat number is created here and never leaves the paper trail.
Baoji Qicheng Nonferrous Metals Co., Ltd.Rolling & Forging
Bar and forging stock runs the full reduction route in sequence — hot forged blank, precision forged billet, hot rolled, cold rolled and ground — with the reduction at each stage recorded. Plate is rolled to large format, up to 2000 × 6000 mm.
Baoji Qicheng Nonferrous Metals Co., Ltd.Stock Release & Certification
Chemistry and mechanical properties tested, EN 10204 documentation issued, heat and batch identification applied, NDT performed where specified. Only then is the stock released to machining.
Baoji Qicheng Nonferrous Metals Co., Ltd.Why the material side exists. Titanium behaves on the machine the way it was melted and worked. Owning that step means the melt route, the reduction and the heat treatment are decisions we control — not variables hidden behind a certificate bought through a broker.
Sponge sourcing. Titanium sponge is purchased from qualified domestic producers and inspected on receipt; the melt source is recorded in the batch record. That record is what allows a finished part number to resolve back to a melt heat.
Large-format plate. Plate up to 2000 × 6000 mm is sourced through qualified domestic rolling mills, which is what allows us to quote large structural and ring blanks that smaller stockists cannot.
Process Flow — Stage 2
Machining, inspection and delivery
From released stock to a packed, documented shipment — all performed by the entity that signs your contract.
Machining
5-axis simultaneous, 4-axis and 3-axis milling, CNC turning, and the in-house turning / milling / planing / grinding / fitting operations that finish a part after the chips stop.
Baoji Tuohang Precision Manufacturing Co., Ltd.Inspection
Dimensional verification against the drawing on a coordinate measuring machine with up to 2000 mm measuring range, programmed in Rational DMIS, plus the NDT specified on the drawing — UT, PT and RT. Results recorded against the part number and the batch.
Baoji Tuohang Precision Manufacturing Co., Ltd.Documentation & Delivery
Material, NDT and dimensional reports assembled into one package, FAI to AS9102 where required, then packed and shipped with the identification carried from stage 1.
Baoji Tuohang — one quality systemWhat stays inside the group
- Material sourcing, melting route and mill certification
- All machining routes and the conventional finishing operations
- Inspection, NDT and the document package
- Heat-lot identity from melt through to part number
What we do not claim
- We do not melt every alloy we machine — some grades are sourced from certified mills, and we tell you when that is the case
- Special processes outside our scope are subcontracted, identified on the quotation and covered by the same contract
- Share of material sourced externally:
Company Structure
Two legal entities, stated in full
Both companies are registered in Baoji. They have separate legal identities, separate scopes and separate certifications — which is why we list them separately rather than hiding both behind one brand.
| Baoji Tuohang Precision Manufacturing Co., Ltd. | Baoji Qicheng Nonferrous Metals Co., Ltd. | |
|---|---|---|
| Role in the chain | Precision machining, inspection, documentation, delivery | Melting, rolling, forging — production of titanium and nonferrous mill product |
| What it supplies | Finished and semi-finished machined parts | Plate, bar, billet and forging stock |
| Certifications | ISO 9001:2015; GB/T 19001-2016 (equivalent to ISO 9001) | ISO 9001 |
| Facility | Machining facility of 2,600 m² with more than 30 machine tools | Melting, rolling and forging operations |
| Who it contracts with | You — this is the entity that signs your purchase order | Baoji Tuohang, within the group |
| What it does not do | Does not melt or roll material | Does not machine finished parts |
Why two entities rather than one. Melting and forging, and precision machining for aerospace, are different businesses with different capital, different process controls and different certification routes. Registering them separately keeps each certification scope honest — a machining scope on one side, and a mill whose scope covers material production on the other.
What that means in practice. You place one order with one entity. Internally the material moves between two companies, but externally there is a single purchase order, a single quality system, a single document package and a single party answerable for the result.
Single Point of Accountability
Who you are actually doing business with
This is the section buyers ask for and suppliers rarely write down. Baoji Tuohang Precision Manufacturing Co., Ltd. is the contracting party, and it carries the contractual and quality responsibility for the whole delivery — including material produced by Baoji Qicheng.
Statement. Your contract, non-disclosure agreement, quality agreement and purchase order are with Baoji Tuohang Precision Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Material supplied by Baoji Qicheng Nonferrous Metals Co., Ltd. is purchased by Baoji Tuohang and delivered to you as part of Tuohang's obligation. If a nonconformity traces to the material, Tuohang owns the corrective action. There is no second supplier for you to chase, because from your side there is only one.
Who signs the contract
Baoji Tuohang Precision Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Orders, NDAs and quality agreements are issued and signed by Tuohang.
Whose quality system governs
The ISO 9001 system held by Tuohang governs the order. Material received from Qicheng enters that system as controlled incoming product, with verification before release to machining.
Where responsibility lands
With Tuohang — for machining, for inspection, for the document package, and for the material it selected and released, regardless of which entity produced it.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Which entity signs my purchase order? | Baoji Tuohang Precision Manufacturing Co., Ltd. |
| Which entity issues the invoice and export documents? | — confirmed at order stage; stated on the quotation before you commit. |
| Is material purchased from Qicheng under a separate order? | — no separate purchase order is required from you in either case; the internal arrangement is confirmed per order. |
| Who signs the certificate of conformity? | Baoji Tuohang, as the delivering entity. |
| Who answers a nonconformance raised at my incoming inspection? | Baoji Tuohang, within the agreed response window. |
| Can I audit the melting and forging operation? | Yes — audits of the material side are arranged through Tuohang. Arrangement and notice period: |
Comparison
Integrated supply versus buy-material-then-subcontract
The difference is not a slogan. It shows up in five specific places, and only one of them is price.
| Factor | Vertically integrated (TUOHANG group) | Material broker + subcontracted machining |
|---|---|---|
| Lead time | Material and machining planned against one schedule; the melt route and the machine time are sequenced together. | Two independent schedules have to meet. Material arriving late or out of specification resets the machining queue. |
| Cost stability | Material cost is an internal transfer, so a quotation is less exposed to a spot-market move between quote and order. | Quoted material prices are usually valid for a short window; a mill price move lands on the buyer mid-programme. |
| Traceability | Heat lot identified before the first cut and carried through to the part number in one record. | Traceability depends on the broker's paperwork surviving the handover, and is often reconstructed after the fact. |
| Communication | One point of contact, one set of documents, one answer to a technical question. | Technical questions bounce between mill, broker and shop, each deferring to the other. |
| Responsibility | One contracting entity accountable for material and machining alike. | Material defects and machining defects are separate claims, and the boundary between them is argued. |
| Change control | A change to melt route, condition or process is visible inside the group before it reaches your part. | Substitutions can be made upstream without the machining shop knowing what changed. |
| Capacity priority | Material and machine capacity are allocated together for the same customer order. | The shop is one customer among many at the mill, with no leverage over allocation. |
Traceability
How a part resolves back to a melt heat
Traceability is only useful if it can be followed in one direction without a telephone call. The chain below is the one we record for every order.
Melt Heat Number
Created at melting. Chemistry and the melt route are recorded against it, and the number appears on the material certificate.
Baoji Qicheng Nonferrous MetalsBatch / Lot Number
The heat is worked into a batch of plate, bar or forging stock. Batch identity, condition and test results travel with the physical material.
Baoji Qicheng Nonferrous MetalsPart Number / Serial
The batch is released to machining, and the finished part number — and serial where required — is recorded against it in the dimensional and NDT records.
Baoji Tuohang Precision Manufacturing- Recorded before machining, not after. The heat and batch identity are logged when the stock is released, so a question raised weeks later is answered from a record rather than reconstructed from memory.
- One identifier across three documents. The material certificate, the NDT report and the dimensional report carry the same heat and batch reference.
- Reverse lookup. Give us a finished part number and we resolve it back to the batch and the melt heat. Give us a heat number and we identify every part made from it.
- Retention. Record retention period: — stated in the quality agreement.
Titanium plate — packed for shipment, crate marked to the melt heatTraceability in the quality system → · Document package →
One contract, one quality system, one answerable party
Send the drawing and the material callout. We will confirm the route from melt route to finished part, and state in writing which entity is responsible for each step.