Building a solid platform for the future

Amid the remote terrain in Qianxinan prefecture in Southwest China's Guizhou province, one can hear the roar of heavy machinery at the Shengxing workshops. Inside the facility one can see scores of workers huddled over machines that turn raw titanium into materials for making screws for Apple Inc's iPhone 5s and iPhone 6.

Xiao Guiyun, general manager of Shengxing Co Ltd, said the company achieved a milestone after the US-based tech giant started using Shengxing's titanium screws for its products. The Chinese company supplied more than 30 metric tons of titanium screws to Apple from January 2013 to September 2014, he said, adding that it is also Apple's official screw material supplier.

According to Xiao, Foxconn, the contract manufacturing major that makes Apple handsets, used to procure the titanium screws from Japanese manufacturers till 2012. Shengxing managed to score over other competitors with better quality products and competitive pricing, which also helped it secure repeat orders and add additional production lines specifically for Apple, he said.