Plastic Injection Moulding/Tooling

[Bevo09]

I have a new pelmet system that I am looking to launch to enhance the look of roller and vertical blinds. The prototypes/ designs have all been finalised and I am now ready for sourcing the aluminium extrusion and plastic injection moulded parts which are "end caps" for the extrusion.
I have got the extrusion sorted and will be placing the order next week for the 1st order of the extrusion. I am struggling with the end caps, the tooling costs that I have been quoted from the UK have been way more that I expected running from 6 to 10k (it is only a small tool) plus the cost of the moulds have been very high for such a small part. In an attempt to reduce the cost I have been looking at China and have had very favourable quotes, but after reading horror stories from dealing with China it has got me worried, one particular company has quoted a very good price at $2K for the tooling but I am struggling to find out any concrete information about this company (China Synergy Manufacturing Co. Ltd.) which makes me nervous. On the plus side the payment terms are 50% down and the balance on satisfactory samples then the "bulk" order has to be paid "upfront". I have asked if they will take a Escrow payment but they will not, but they do accept Paypal which got me thinking I would have some protection with the Paypal method. I am in a bit of a dilemma as to what to do ?
I would appreciate any thoughts or suggestions from you.
I "knocked" up a very basic web page showing the product :
pelmate.co.uk
which was used to get feedback from our trade.

 

[billmccallum1957]

Have a chat with @MY OFFICE IN CHINA

 

[GraemeL]

I have used this UK factory before without problem.
https://www.bpfonline.co.uk/

Graeme

 

[Bevo09]

Yes I have just sent them an email!

 

[MOIC]

I have responded by email.

We can look after the whole process from start to finish, including:

Obtaining comparison quotes before deciding on the best supplier.

Preparing moulds

Prepare & approve prototypes

Order processing

Quality control

Final inspection

Door to door shipping

After sales service

 

[pentel]

Hi, We are UK based and would be really pleased to provide a quotation. We have some inavative tooling systems which can be very cost effective.

Dealing with China can be challenging as several of our returning customers have found.

 

[MOIC]

Dealing with China can be challenging as several of our returning customers have found.

The key to success in working with China is having someone on the ground to visit and explain your requirements to each factory.

This is exactly what we do.

We have a team in China of native UK (English speaking) managers with an engineering & design background as well as Mandarin speaking managers to cover the general problems of working with China factories.

To try to deal with a China factory for an ODM product is not something we would recommend to be done remotely from UK (or any other country).

You must have a team in China that understands both business cultures, both languages and most importantly the exact requirements of each customer and how to convey it to the China engineers.

If you have the above system in place (which we do), then China is probably one of the best countries to deal with for a new product and benefit from the cheaper supply chain and price structures, whilst at the same time maintaining the quality of the product.

The key is having UK managers located in China that can visit the factories directly.