Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I have finished a prototype for a consumer product that I think will have a great market. I have already filed a patent for the prototype.

How do I make the leap from where I am to getting the product mass manufactured by an automated factory process? My product should be pretty easy to develop. It just involves several metal objects and a few other things arranged a certain way. How much would it cost to get an automated factory made? Who should I talk to abou tthis? Industrial design engineers?

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Typically, when a product is mass produced in an automated factory, they are cranking out extremely high volumes.  But you don't necessarily need automated and you don't need to go to China.  US companies that are run well can be as competitive as abroad.  Many times can be less by the time you factor in; time required for China to produce a sample that meets your specs, language barrier, cost of shipping, usually a container so therefore larger quantities to fill and then the time of about six weeks on the water.

If you have the prototype completed and it is working as you like, then you don't really need an engineer.  Although many manufacturers have in-house engineers that can help you tweak the design to be produced more efficiently and at the best lowest cost. 

 

I would find a couple companies who work with the metal you referred to and contact them to give you a quote.  They'll ask you for quantities, so have a number.

 

Best of success

 

Doug

 

 

 

 

Making arrangements to have the product manufactured is only one of the problems you have to solve. Many factories, both in the US and China, will manufacture the product, and the minimum product run will usually be at least 5,000 units. In my area, there is the (Tampa) Bay Area Manufacturers Association, and south of us the Sarasota Area Manufacturers Association. I'm sure there are trade associations in your geographic area that you can contact. Or look for an inventors' meetup group in your city and talk to them about what manufacturers they have used. Or find a Chinese-American Chamber of Commerce that can give you contacts for making the product in China.

The other problem is knowing what you're going to do with it after it is made. Who will buy it, and at what price ? As a SCORE counselor, I know of an inventor who arranged to have 5,000 copies of her invention manufactured, and almost all of them are still stored in her garage. Do you have prospective customers who have ordered the product ? Are there other companies or individuals selling a similar product now ? What is your plan to educate the market generate the demand to sell what you make ?

Good Luck !

It might be worth spending some time to think about whether there are ways to get the manufacturer 'on your side'.  Either get them excited enough about the project that they agree to give you a bit of their downtime at a reduced rate (the feasibility of this obviously depends a lot on the type of manufacturing), or convince them that the sales that they'll make when you succeed will be more than worth their trouble now.

Basically, treat them like a human ally, rather than a giant machine that takes money in and puts products out.  There's some more information on that concept in a book that I read recently called 'Action Trumps Everything' (if you want, the PDF can be downloaded free here http://bit.ly/gTFK4t) that talks about 'enrolling' people in your vision, rather than 'selling' them on it.

Hi Messianic,

How are you going with this?

I just thought I would add some comments. It seems to me that you need some manufacturing, some assembly and some packaging done. Is that correct?

If so, then you want to find someone who can do all of that (or at least manage it). Sometimes it is good to find a manufacturer that makes similar products and then ask them to quote. I find Alibaba to be a good place foe that.

Also, while it is good that you have a prototype, it is good to have drawings. These are essential for quality control. They specify key dimensions and tolerances, and they can include notes of other requirments and tests that you want you product to be able to pass. You might want an engineer to help with that.

In my experience, the manufacturer will give you what you want as long as you can properly explain it. Beware of the supplier who just says yes all the time. You want someone who puts effort into making sure they understand what you want.

I hope this helps and let us know how it all goes.

Regards

Clint