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Ask YC: How do you find manufacturers to outsource to?

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Re: Ask YC: How do you find manufacturers to outsource to?

#11

Post by waldrews »

noel_gomez wrote: post #9
waldrews wrote: post #7

You're probably going to want a design firm, rather than a manufacturing firm, to get you to the point where you have a physical prototype, CAD files of manufacturable parts, and choices of materials and processes. Then they can guide you to a contract manufacturer. Some resources: Design firms that work on toys: http://www.dexigner.com/directory/cat/Toy_Design/Companies.h... MIT product design course: http://ocw.mit…

I'm a lone entrepreneur with an idea, don't think I can afford professional design firm. I will check out the MIT and Berkeley courses though.

You still might want to get the bids and see what you can afford - even $10k might get you pretty far if you're willing to do a lot of the work yourself, using the design firm as consultants to guide you through the process.

Re: Ask YC: How do you find manufacturers to outsource to?

#12

Post by mixmax »

noel_gomez wrote: post #8
mixmax wrote: post #6

A friend of mine had a company that outsourced production of T-shirts to China. The problems he faced was not so much finding suppliers but dealing with the cultural differences of how to do business.

Can you be more specific on the "cultural differences of how to do business." Do you just mean language?

I didn't elaborate in the parent post since it might have sounded racist. Which it isn't meant to be.

It seems that asians have a different perspective of doing a deal than Europeans and Americans. Americans and Europeans think the negotiations are over when the contract is signed. Asians seem to think that the negotiations have only just started when the contract is signed, and they will try anything to cut corners if they can. So you basically have to watch every step extremely closely, making sure you don't release payments before the priduct is secured, etc.

This, of course, is just my impression - feel free to correct me if it isn't accurate.

Re: Ask YC: How do you find manufacturers to outsource to?

#13

Post by noel_gomez »

maxklein wrote: post #10

Hi Noel, there are many companies who work as intermediates between you and chinese manufacturers. These companies are based in china, but run by foreigners. They find the company, produce the product, arrange the shipping. So it's basically the same deal you would get, but perhaps 5% more expensive. For that, you avoid the cross cultural difference, you have reputable sources etc. I can introduce you to a company I…

Thanks Maximus, I sent you an email, but it bounced I used the maximus gmail address on your profile.

How would you respond to mixmax's post above? (on the cultural differences)

Re: Ask YC: How do you find manufacturers to outsource to?

#14

Post by maxklein »

noel_gomez wrote: post #13
maxklein wrote: post #10

Hi Noel, there are many companies who work as intermediates between you and chinese manufacturers. These companies are based in china, but run by foreigners. They find the company, produce the product, arrange the shipping. So it's basically the same deal you would get, but perhaps 5% more expensive. For that, you avoid the cross cultural difference, you have reputable sources etc. I can introduce you to a company I…

Thanks Maximus, I sent you an email, but it bounced I used the maximus gmail address on your profile. How would you respond to mixmax's post above? (on the cultural differences)

Sorry, my email in the profile was wrong. It's maximusklein@gmail.com, and not maximus@gmail.com

Regarding the cultural differences - I'll say this: It's very difficult to do effective work with chinese companies without micro management. The chinese work very hard, but sometimes they work very hard on the wrong things. An obviously flawed product will get created and nobody will bother to inform you till its too late. And the english is terrible. Products are mislabelled, punctuation is usually in the wrong spot.

Outsourcing to china is a very hands on affair. Quality control is not an option, it's a neccessity.

I've been to china often over the past few months, and it's a very different working philosophy from what I'm used to. So yes, be careful. Very careful.

Re: Ask YC: How do you find manufacturers to outsource to?

#15

Post by noel_gomez »

maxklein wrote: post #14
noel_gomez wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks Maximus, I sent you an email, but it bounced I used the maximus gmail address on your profile. How would you respond to mixmax's post above? (on the cultural differences)

Sorry, my email in the profile was wrong. It's maximusklein@gmail.com, and not maximus@gmail.com Regarding the cultural differences - I'll say this: It's very difficult to do effective work with chinese companies without micro management. The chinese work very hard, but sometimes they work very hard on the wrong things. An obviously flawed product will get created and nobody will bother to inform you till its too lat…

I have Chinese friends, maybe need to recruit them for effective communication.

Re: Ask YC: How do you find manufacturers to outsource to?

#16

Post by ig1 »

You seem to be missing an important step, before you find a manufacturer you probably want to create a prototype. While the idea might be great in your head, you won't know if it's any good until you've built a few prototypes and tested them on your target audience.

There's a TV series in the UK called Dragon's Den where inventors pitch their ideas to angels to get funding. You can actually learn a lot from watching it (in terms of understanding if your product will actually suceed or not and various problems you might encounter). It might be worth your time watch a couple of seasons of it.

Re: Ask YC: How do you find manufacturers to outsource to?

#17

Post by mrtron »

noel_gomez wrote: post #13
maxklein wrote: post #10

Hi Noel, there are many companies who work as intermediates between you and chinese manufacturers. These companies are based in china, but run by foreigners. They find the company, produce the product, arrange the shipping. So it's basically the same deal you would get, but perhaps 5% more expensive. For that, you avoid the cross cultural difference, you have reputable sources etc. I can introduce you to a company I…

Thanks Maximus, I sent you an email, but it bounced I used the maximus gmail address on your profile. How would you respond to mixmax's post above? (on the cultural differences)

My gf's company does this sort of thing regularly and manufactures LCDs, GPS units, etc.

As per mixmax's comment, I don't find this to be true. It sounds like miscommunication which could easily occur across a language barrier.

Email me if you have any specific questions.

Re: Ask YC: How do you find manufacturers to outsource to?

#18

Post by noel_gomez »

ig1 wrote: post #16

You seem to be missing an important step, before you find a manufacturer you probably want to create a prototype. While the idea might be great in your head, you won't know if it's any good until you've built a few prototypes and tested them on your target audience. There's a TV series in the UK called Dragon's Den where inventors pitch their ideas to angels to get funding. You can actually learn a lot from watching…

I am planning on prototyping first even though that may not have been clear.

There is a show in the US called American inventor which sounds similar to Dragon's Den (it probably is the same thing adapted for the US, like American Idol).

I have seen American inventor and you do learn a lot. The biggest lesson is not to spend too much on something which may not sell. I have seen people go on there and state that they have put their life savings or $50,000 to $100,000 on ideas which were not so great.

I have no illusions and tend to be pretty realistic. I think there is potential for my idea, but I would first prototype it and see if there is a market before building 10k units.

Re: Ask YC: How do you find manufacturers to outsource to?

#19

Post by briansmith »

Please read this: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2008/0804.frank.ht...

It is not so easy to outsource to Asia if you care about ethics, quality, or safety. You will need some broker with experience to help you sort out the good companies from the bad ones.

Re: Ask YC: How do you find manufacturers to outsource to?

#20

Post by noel_gomez »

briansmith wrote: post #19

Please read this: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2008/0804.frank.ht... It is not so easy to outsource to Asia if you care about ethics, quality, or safety. You will need some broker with experience to help you sort out the good companies from the bad ones.

Yeah, I know this is an issue I need to consider. I have also thought of the whole led based paint debacle which surfaced last year since my idea is for a toy.
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