Deciding to outsource manufacturing can be a difficult task for any business owner. You may not realize, but there are over 6,500 contract manufacturers in the USA willing to mass ship products (and China, the worlds largest manufacturer, has exponentially more). Even more importantly, your product is critical to your business, and you want to work with someone you can trust and will have the means to bring it to the market.
As a Contract Manufacturing Partner, Fieldtex knows how important a good working relationship is, especially if you’re looking for a company to partner from “conception to commercialization”.
According to a recent report published by market research firm Visiongain, “Medical device companies are rapidly adopting the use of contract manufacturers as a strategic plan to stay ahead in an intensely competitive market space” (source). Outsourcing your manufacturer helps you avoid spending money on the facilities, tools, or systems needed to prototype, develop, and produce your product.
You are able to use that money on other aspects of the business, such as the marketing, promotion, or sales space. While commercializing a product, you want to work with a company that will be able to meet your manufacturing needs. Primarily, you need three essential elements: quality, delivery, and customer service.
Quality
It may be possible – and probable – that sending your product over seas to be mass-produced is less expensive. So why pay more for the US? The answer is simple: US contract manufacturers uphold the quality of our products. The ideas of US made products are rooted in quality, comprehension, and lower probability of faults.
Most US contract manufacturers also work with US made materials. Our customers, new and recurring, love the comfort of knowing that they are working with a company that has years of experience and satisfaction in the industry. Be sure to read customer testimonials and look at past products a company has worked on to see if the partner in question would be a good fit for your product.
Delivery
While seeking a Contract Manufacturing Partner, deadlines are vital in getting your product to the market. After establishing a lead-time, you and your partner should be able to work together to develop a timeline between the start and finish of your production. Our belief is that you should never be worried that your product could be late.
As mentioned before, ordering overseas is going to be a cheaper option. But do you have the assurance that you will get your delivery on time? Will you be able to receive monthly – or even weekly – deliveries of stock throughout the production run?
The answer is: probably not. Working with a Partner that is willing to work and communicate with you regularly in order to cater to your timeline is imperative to your business’ commercialization. Having an unreliable Partner can make or break production.
Customer Service
Fieldtex Corporate: where we manufacture your custom products.
First impressions are important, and another invaluable aspect of choosing a contract manufacturer is timely communication. Sometimes, a first impression can reveal how the rest of your business partnership can go based on communication and answers to your questions (more on this here). We recommend requesting to visit the production site and touring the production floor if the contract manufacturer is locally based.
We are more than happy to take clients or potential clients on a tour – the transparency of the business could be strange at first, but it is a very important device in the business-to-business partnership, especially if you are going to trust them with production. It is also important that you ask any questions you may have about development of your product and that your partner is willing to answer them straightforwardly. This is important through the entire process; your partner should want to know that you are being taken care of in a professional and satisfied way.
Although choosing a contract manufacturing company can be stressful and challenging, as long as you do your research and are satisfied with the quality, delivery, and customer service you will be receiving, you will not make the wrong choice.
For further reading on working with a contract manufacturer such as Fieldtex through the prototype to production process, check out our article on MedCity News!