steps to getting a product manufactured abroad.

[bi22le]

Hi all,

First of, is china really the best place to get things manufactured cheaply? Once you consider risk of bad quality, dodgey company practices, hidden costs of importing and lead time problems is it really worth the effort?

Following on from my welcome post i would like to ask the UKBF brains for advice.

i would like to investigate the potential of getting several components manufactured abroard and shipped to the uk. i need to work out the cheapest and logistically the best way of assembling my product. to give you an idea it can be compared to a stroller push chair.

I can either get components made and sent here for assembly, get it part assembled abroad or get the whole thing assembeled abroad. So what are the plans of action to investigate this route? I am thinking:

-Work through a design brief and stages of design to get a reasonably fully designed product
- cad up the parts that cant or are to expensive to make in the uk.
- make contacts with a business house in china and send drawings of the components.
- get several quotes and keep my mind open to a change of plan. it wont be an easy ride!!

Any help and advice welcome.

 

[bi22le]

Keep your business in the UK man our country needs all the help it can to get our economy back.

I will if i can, currently nobody manufactures with aluminum oval or elliptical tube in the uk.

Also its so expensive in the uk. we already manufacture so much here and support local business. I am a huge supporter of uk manufacturing and business.

Any useful advice.

 

[CornerstoneEnts]

Hi
I am new here. I actually live in Guangdong Province in China which is one of the major manufacturing centres in China.

I am English and have been here for three years.

If anyone needs any help with products or manufacturers then I am on the doorstep so to speak. Also I can act as buying agent for retailers etc.

I have some Chinese Language but with a Chinese wife and translator assistant we have no language problem.

I run a couple of online businesses which leave me with time on my hands.

I have Skype installed which means anyone can call a London Number and get through to me so that cost is low.

William

 

[Deleted member 142653]

Hi William,
I'd be interested in getting in touch with you about getting our products manufactured there - or possibly components sourced. What's the best way to contact you?
Thanks,
Dids

 

[alexhill7]

Hi,

I have 9 years experience in getting products manufactured in China, yes you can buy cheap and have poor quality and pay more for better quality, we have been working with various suppliers up and down the country, the areas can differ vastly in quality.

Be careful of middle men making lots of money, we made this mistake to start with, and never finding the actual true cost.
Does this product already have orders? i.e volume orders? as you need to think about filling containers to make the sipment viable.
What steel grade do you need?

Yes it is still worth the effort manufacturing in China, we have fantastic quality at 1/3 uk manufacturing price.

Best regards
Alex

 

[Homshaw]

Know a couple of people who have done this. One China - One Thailand

Quality of suppliers vary you need to find a good one, there is a language difference and misunderstandings can occur when things get technical. middlemen will bump up the price - even came across one who took the money and did not supply the goods. If things go wrong they could end up with your expensive tooling and if they don't deliver its a bit daunting suing someone in China. If its an innovative product they might not be that concerned about patents and copying it


Having said that done properly it could help the bottom line just from what I've seen there are pitfalls

 

[Moneyman]

dont go direct. it is a nightmare. use a british company with overseas people who can check quality etc before it leaves the factory and you get a guaranteed price at your door. The management time etc that can be wasted getting things done
What sort of components?
if they are not labour intensive you might be better with something closer to home.

 

[rickythomas]

It has been a tough task for businesses to get product manufactured permission abroad, i think steps are really hard for us to follow, there should be more transparency in between the rules.

 

[Moneyman]

1) One small point. If you get final assembly packing etc done in the UK there are quite a few grant incentives in some areas to open a factory. Worth a thought.
you also get to keep quality control as you can check each part.
2) see if there are similar parts on competitors machines. If so trace back the parts. they are probably off the peg and therefor cheap to buy. they probably have a distributor in the uk. The chinese manufacturer is probaby outsourcing all the bits. possible savings on import duty by getting components.
The more components, the greater potential for one bad bit of quality control to destroy your reputation. the Chinese companies have a reputation for cutting corners and downgrading quality on components. this occours on second and third orders.

 

[keytop]

Hi all,

First of, is china really the best place to get things manufactured cheaply? Once you consider risk of bad quality, dodgey company practices, hidden costs of importing and lead time problems is it really worth the effort?

Following on from my welcome post i would like to ask the UKBF brains for advice.

i would like to investigate the potential of getting several components manufactured abroard and shipped to the uk. i need to work out the cheapest and logistically the best way of assembling my product. to give you an idea it can be compared to a stroller push chair.

I can either get components made and sent here for assembly, get it part assembled abroad or get the whole thing assembeled abroad. So what are the plans of action to investigate this route? I am thinking:

-Work through a design brief and stages of design to get a reasonably fully designed product
- cad up the parts that cant or are to expensive to make in the uk.
- make contacts with a business house in china and send drawings of the components.
- get several quotes and keep my mind open to a change of plan. it wont be an easy ride!!

Any help and advice welcome.

You can get the cheapest products,But need to be more carefully when place the first order.
Here is Soros Chen from guangzhou,China. Who work for several importers from Euro as their buying agent, Just like their “eyes” and “ears” in China.
Any related business problem, Will try to give you some advice.