In the next of our series on common sourcing mistakes we look at Western companies who choose to complete their product development in China.
For many inventors and manufacturers it can be tempting to ask factories to support their product development process through design suggestions, prototyping and engineering drawing support. This has the benefit of a) being cheap, and b) involving the factory in your new product from the start to help them shape the end outcome.
In short this should be avoided at all costs! Over the years we have seen many projects get stuck in ‘sampling limbo’, with some projects taking up to two years to move to production, owing to constant design tweaks and changes. Factories don’t make any money from the sampling process, so over time this will erode goodwill in your project and the factory will find other priorities.
Ensure you approach your factory with finished drawings, completed prototypes and are in situation where you’re ready to start full production. This will ensure the factory treats you seriously and gives your project precedence over the many other new product development projects they are approached with every day.
(A small plug for our business – China Works have a UK based design and prototyping team, which we set-up in response to the above issue. If we can help with your project please get in touch!)
