Search for China sliding window stock and you will find two different things mixed together: suppliers advertising units sitting in a warehouse, and suppliers who use the word loosely for anything they can eventually produce. For a contractor working against a handover date, that difference is the whole ballgame. Stock means a window that can be packed and loaded; made-to-order means a window that has to be extruded, treated, assembled and tested first. This guide explains where the line sits, which specifications keep you on the fast side of it, and what to ask before you release a deposit.
The window industry does not work like a hardware store. A factory cannot meaningfully hold finished inventory of a product whose width, height, colour, glass build-up and hardware brand all change from one order to the next. What actually exists falls into three tiers.
Finished stock is the narrowest tier: complete units in a limited set of standard sizes, standard colours and a standard glass build-up, crated and ready to load. It moves fastest but fits the fewest projects.
Component stock is the tier most professional buyers actually use. The factory holds extruded aluminium profiles, hardware sets, gaskets and glass in house, then cuts, machines and assembles once your dimensions arrive. You are not waiting on a mill or an overseas hardware shipment, which removes the longest single delay in the chain.
Full custom means a new extrusion die, a custom colour match, or a glass configuration the plant does not normally run. This is the right route for a genuinely unusual facade, and the wrong route for anyone with a fixed completion date.
When a supplier answers "yes, we have stock", the useful follow-up question is which of these three they mean. The answer changes your lead time by weeks.
Size is the single strongest predictor of whether a unit is sitting on a rack or waiting on a saw. Small and mid-range openings fall inside the range that factories run repeatedly, so profiles, rollers and glass panels are already cut to familiar lengths. Oversized panels push into engineering territory: heavier glass, reinforced sashes, larger pulleys and a different transport plan. Before you fall in love with a wide span, it is worth reviewing standard sliding window sizes so the design starts from dimensions that supply chains handle well.
| Size band | Typical use | Availability | What to plan for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small openings (under 1.2 m wide) | Bathrooms, kitchens, stairwells | Most readily available | Light sash, standard rollers, easy packing |
| Mid-range (1.2–2.4 m wide) | Living rooms, bedrooms, balconies | Common, usually assembled to order | Confirm glass weight and pulley rating |
| Large (2.4–2.8 m per sash) | Villa facades, panoramic openings | Built to order | Heavy-duty track, thicker glass, crane or team lift on site |
| Oversized (above 2.8 m per sash) | Showrooms, hotel lobbies | Engineering required | Structural check, wind load data, special crating |
A sliding window only stays fast to supply if its system was designed around standard components. Our TS130 side press window is built that way. It combines push-pull travel with swing hinges, so the sash seals by pressing against the frame rather than relying on brush pile alone — you get casement-level airtightness without giving up the space saving that makes a slider worth specifying in the first place.
Because the profile, hardware and mesh options are fixed rather than bespoke, orders in standard configurations can move through production without waiting on a special procurement cycle. That is the practical benefit of stock-friendly engineering.
Ice Cream White, Aurora Gray, Starry Sky Gray and Brown Coffee run as standard finishes and can be batched with other orders. A custom match needs its own powder run, which adds a scheduling step before assembly can even start.
Standard insulating units are routinely held or quickly made. Low-E coatings, laminated safety glass, argon filling and triple glazing are all available but are ordered to specification. On our heavy-duty sliding systems, configurations go as far as 27A insulating glass with inert gas filling.
We work with ROTO, Winkhaus, CMECH and Wehag. Sets for the brands we fit most often stay in the system; an unusual specification may need to be brought in. If your client has a brand preference, name it at enquiry stage rather than at contract stage.
The number of tracks and which panels move affects profile lengths, interlocks and the locking layout. Three-track and four-track configurations are common in our sliding door range, where a single sash can reach 2800 mm by 2600 mm and open up to roughly 7.5 square metres, but each arrangement is assembled for the job.
Packing method and container loading are part of the schedule, not an afterthought. Export crating, corner protection and the loading plan all take time, and a poorly protected crate costs far more than the days it would have taken to do properly.
| Project situation | Better route | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Replacement units, occupied building, fixed date | Standard specification on existing profiles | Known components, no new tooling or colour run |
| New residential block, repeated unit types | Component stock plus batch production | Repetition lets the factory schedule efficiently across many identical units |
| Villa or hotel with a signature facade | Made to order | Custom colour, oversized panels and specific glass are worth the wait |
| Distributor building local inventory | Standard sizes in container volumes | Repeatable bestsellers, plus spare rollers and locks in the same shipment |
A stock claim is easy to make and cheap to check. Work through the following before releasing a deposit, and you will avoid most of the disputes that occur later.
Speed and cost pull in opposite directions, and the tension shows up in a handful of places. Aluminium ingot cost sets the floor for any aluminium system. Profile wall thickness drives both material weight and structural rating — our casement systems run 1.8 mm to 2.0 mm to meet the current national standard, while heavy-duty sliding doors go to 2.2 mm and above. Surface treatment matters: standard powder coating is economical, whereas anodising, PVDF fluorocarbon and wood grain finishes each add steps.
Thermal performance is the other significant variable. Thermal break systems using PA66GF25 polyamide strips cost more than non-broken frames and save more in operating cost. Across our range, thermal transmittance values run from 1.3 on the AW90 passive inward-opening window to 1.6 on the C120 outward opening system. Rather than chasing the lowest unit figure, it is worth reading the full breakdown of what drives sliding window price before comparing quotes that may not describe the same product.
One thing worth stating plainly: the cheapest quote is rarely the cheapest delivery. A window that arrives late, arrives damaged, or arrives without the hardware to install it costs more than the difference between two bids. Choosing an established aluminum sliding window supplier with documented processes is a schedule decision as much as a purchasing one.
A window in a warehouse is worthless if it does not fit the opening. More installation problems come from poor measurement than from supply delays. Measure the rough opening at three points across the width and three points up the height, use the smallest figure, and record the wall construction — brick, block, timber frame and concrete each call for a different fixing and tolerance. Sliding sashes need a level bottom track to operate correctly; a track out of level will let a sash drift open on its own, which owners will report as a hardware fault when it is really an installation one.
Send a marked-up schedule with opening references, dimensions, opening direction and glass specification. That single document removes more delays than any conversation about stock.
Some hold finished units in a few standard sizes and colours, but most professional manufacturers work from component stock — profiles, hardware and glass held in house, with assembly scheduled against your dimensions. This is usually faster than it sounds, because it removes the mill and import delays that dominate custom orders.
Yes, and you should. A sample lets you test the sliding action, check the finish quality, and see how the seals sit before committing to a container. Sample costs and freight are normally carried by the buyer and credited against a subsequent bulk order.
Partly. Dimension, colour from the standard palette, mesh type and glass build-up can usually be varied while staying on standard profiles and hardware. A new extrusion profile or a bespoke colour match moves the order into full custom territory and adds lead time.
Standard practice is protective film on profiles, corner guards, foam separation between sashes, then export-grade crating suitable for container transport. Ask to see photographs of the packed crates before loading, and confirm whether crates are fumigated if your destination requires it.
Rollers, locks and handles, gasket lengths, and replacement mesh. These are the wear items, and having a small quantity in your own warehouse turns a future maintenance call from a multi-week import into a same-day job.
If you have a schedule to protect, send us your opening schedule and target date. We will tell you honestly which items can move quickly on standard specification and which need the full production cycle — then quote against the configuration that actually fits your timeline.
ALPES — aluminium windows, doors and sun rooms, supplied factory direct for residential and commercial projects worldwide.
