SKD and CKD assembly kits: storage cabinets, battery PACKs, patch cords and laser machines

A semi-knocked-down (SKD) kit arrives as major sub-assemblies, for example finished battery modules that you rack, wire and test. A completely-knocked-down (CKD) kit arrives as parts, for example cells, busbars and end plates that you build into modules. CKD adds more local value and needs more tooling and skills. Our kits start from finished, tested cells; cell-making equipment and LFP process technology are outside our scope.

Not automatically. Under rule 2(a) of the Harmonized System, a complete article presented unassembled is normally classified as the finished article. Lower duty comes from your country’s assembly or CKD schemes, local-content programmes, or a kit split in which some parts are made or bought locally. We check the rules for your product and country before we fix the split.

Not on its own. A certificate covers a design and the sites where it is built: UL, for example, inspects every location where a certified product is assembled or labelled. Your plant is usually added to the certification, or the locally assembled product is tested on its own. We plan this into the programme and introduce the test labs.

Cells and modules travel as Class 9 dangerous goods (UN 3480) with their UN38.3 test summary. Racks, enclosures, cooling units and wiring travel as ordinary cargo, so only part of the shipment needs dangerous-goods handling. Each quotation states the route and packing.

Typically a small hall and 10–30 people to assemble storage cabinets, and a bench with two to four people to terminate patch cords. We size the hall, tooling and staffing with you and train your team in Wuhan or on site.

You move from SKD to CKD, then to your own line: a Stratavolt module and PACK line or an optical cable plant. The parts you bought as kits continue under a supply agreement, so the plant never waits on China.