Over the past month, buyers from seven countries contacted us about custom cabinetry. Their projects had almost nothing in common — a 168 m² new-build in Bulgaria, a 3,000 sq ft self-build in Alaska, a six-bedroom ski lodge in Norway, a hotel group in Germany, a wardrobe brand launching in Australia.

Their first question was almost identical. Not "how much", not "what board do you use". It was some version of: how much of this can you actually handle? One of them put it in a single line — "rather than purchasing individual items from different suppliers."

Every factory answers that question with the same two words: one-stop solution. Almost none of them say where it stops. So here is the honest map — what genuinely can come from one Chinese supplier, what usually cannot, and how to tell the difference before you commit a deposit.

What can actually come from one supplier?

For a residential project, the realistic answer is: most of the fitted interior, plus the loose items that surround it. Here is our own scope, stated plainly.

That covers a whole house. It is also why the practical unit of buying is a container rather than a product: consolidating cabinetry, doors, furniture and furnishings into one order spreads the fixed costs of freight and documentation across far more product.

Where does one-stop actually stop?

This is the part nobody publishes, and it is the part that decides whether your project runs smoothly.

• Acrylic door panels — we do not make them and do not source them. If your design calls for acrylic fronts, we will quote the carcasses and tell you to buy the doors elsewhere. We would rather lose that line than broker something we cannot stand behind.
• Engineered stone into Australia is not a supply question, it is a legal one. Since 1 July 2024, the manufacture, supply, processing and installation of engineered stone benchtops, panels and slabs is prohibited across Australia. Quartz cannot enter as part of your cabinet order. Natural stone, sintered stone and porcelain remain available. Any supplier still quoting you quartz benchtops for an Australian address either does not know this or is hoping you do not.
• Flooring and tiles. Buyers on whole-house projects often ask. It is outside what we currently quote, and we say so rather than sub-contracting something we have no standard for.
• Highly complex, very low-margin fabrication. Every integrator has a line where a job costs more attention than it earns. Ours exists too. You will hear it as "that one you should buy locally" rather than a quiet quality problem eighteen weeks later.

A supplier who says yes to literally everything is not more capable than one who draws a line. They are just less specific.

What does "managing the whole scope" actually involve?

The word buyers keep using is partner, not supplier. The difference is not warmth — it is a list of jobs that someone has to do, and that you will end up doing yourself if the factory does not.

1. Turning a floor plan into a buildable specification. Wall-to-wall dimensions, ceiling heights, plumbing and electrical positions, appliance models. Not "36-inch fridge" — the actual model, because clearances differ.
2. Reconciling categories that come from different production lines. Cabinet carcasses, lacquered doors, stone tops, hardware and loose furniture do not come off one machine. Making the colour of a lacquer door match the colour of a dining table is coordination work, and it happens before production, not after.
3. One QC standard across all of it. Inspecting a cabinet is not inspecting a carpet. The point of a single supplier is that one party is accountable for all of it — including the parts that are hardest to inspect.
4. Loading the container as a plan, not as a pile. What gets installed first should not be at the back. Fragile items travel differently from flat-packed carcasses.
5. Documentation that lets your goods clear customs cheaply. For New Zealand, a written origin declaration on the commercial invoice is what turns a 5% tariff into zero — no certificate needed. For Australia, ChAFTA gives 0% on qualifying lines with a Certificate of Origin. Both only happen if someone writes them.
6. Being reachable when something arrives damaged. Ours is a 3-year warranty; claims need the contract number, a description, photos and a marked drawing. That process should exist before you need it.

None of this is glamorous. All of it is the difference between one supplier and five.

How do you test whether a supplier's scope is real?

Five questions. The answers, and how fast they come, tell you more than any catalogue.

1. "What is on your list that you do not do?" A supplier with a real scope answers immediately and specifically. A supplier reciting "one-stop solution" will struggle, because they have never had to define an edge.
2. "Which of these categories do you manufacture, and which do you source?" Nobody manufactures every category — the industry norm is a core production line plus a partner network. What matters is whether they know the difference and manage it, not whether every item comes off their own floor.
3. "Who writes my origin declaration?" Instant answer means they have exported to your market properly. Having to check means they have not.
4. "Send me a shop drawing from a project like mine." Drawings are hard to fake and instantly reveal whether an engineering function exists.
5. "What happens if a door arrives damaged?" A named process beats a reassurance.

Does a bigger scope mean a bigger minimum order?

Not in our case. Our minimum order value is USD 5,000, and a single home's cabinetry usually clears it once wardrobes or vanities join the order. Whole-house packages — kitchen, wardrobes, bathroom — typically land in the USD 10,000–30,000 FOB range, and a complete custom kitchen on its own runs USD 3,000–8,000 FOB. Our published price ranges by configuration tier show where the number moves.

Timing does not stretch much with scope either: production runs 35–45 days from approved drawings regardless of how many categories are in the order, because the categories are produced in parallel, not in sequence. Door-to-door is roughly 56–80 days for Australia and 80–105 days for New Zealand. The lead time guide breaks both legs down.

Frequently asked questions

Can I start with one room and expand later? Yes, and many buyers should. A single kitchen is a reasonable way to test how a supplier actually works before committing a whole house to them.

Do you charge for design? No design fee. A 10% deposit is required before design work begins, and it is part of your order, not an extra.

What are the payment terms? Project orders: 50% deposit before production, balance before shipping. Personal-use orders: 80% deposit before production, 20% before shipping.

Can you supply under our own brand? Yes — OEM and private label work is normal for us, and it is one of the more common reasons a dealer consolidates categories with one supplier.

What if I already have a designer? That is easier, not harder. Send the drawings and we quote against them. Our step-by-step ordering guide covers what a complete drawing package looks like.

How do I verify you are a real factory before paying anything? Business licence, unified social credit code, a live unedited video walk of the line, and previous export documents. Our guide to choosing a manufacturer sets out the sequence, and our company facts page lists our own registration details.

Working out whether your project fits one supplier? Send the floor plan and a list of what you want included to thomas@vsmehome.com or WhatsApp +86 177 4554 7710. You will get back a scope split into what we would supply, what we would not, and roughly what each part costs.