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I have a product that I'm looking to outsource in china. I have an agency I'm working with who has a manufacturer they have known for a long time. They provided me with a quote for the cost to have parts molded by said manufacturer. I shopped around for a few other quotes and found the other quotes to be less expensive both per unit and to have a mold made. I am considering using one of the companies that quoted me instead of the agency's company.
I am worried about the risk of receiving a low quality / poorly molded product from a manufacturer. What are good ways to assess if a manufacturer is reliable and will do an effective job?
In all likelihood I will probably end up using the agency's manufacturer. I have had something molded by them before and they did produce something that was high quality. Regardless, if I decide not to, I am curious what I should do to best vet other manufacturers.
Thank you
- Their mold quality. And mold manufacturer. Highly suggested to use reputable mold manufacturer.
- Find out their equipment, which you can research about.
- Create a weibo account with a Chinese VPN to get access to Chinese version of it and join chatrooms, there are chatrooms which are there specifically for injection molding.
- Is your design patented in China or US? Often times you get deteriorated quality, because your parts order was small enough that it didn't use the entire life of the mold for making OEM versions. So they did made the remaining quantity. If possible order larger quantities so that you use the mold's OEM quality life, before needing refurbishing.
- Speak directly to them. Most factory owners will have a English speaking kid or a young English speaking employee, if they themselves don't speak English. Or learn Mandarin/Cantonese depending on where the factory is.
- If you're in US, please make sure the factory isn't in Xinjiang, a business/professional acquaintance ordered 100k parts for his custom fittings for automotive racing and didn't know that the factory was in Xinjiang and the parts were either confiscated or returned to China.
- Don't just depend on one manufacturer from the agency. Insist on talking with multiple manufacturers, the agency probably has that factory making lots and lots of parts for different people like you, all over the world.
- Why not go with your previous venture? That part looks really good in the image you posted in a comment reply.
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- 10 months ago
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If you want direct control, get Chinese weibo and you'll be able to talk/access hundreds of people, and if it's for electronics industry, there's tons around Shenzhen area.