Product Development When Manufacturing in Asia

Planning to bring a custom-designed product to market? In this article, I share the basic 3-step product development process applicable to essentially all types of consumer products.

1. Product Specification

Factories in China, Vietnam and elsewhere in Asia, generally manufacture products entirely based on the product specification provided by the buyer. Every single material, logo, print, dimensions, and function must be provided. This information is normally communicated to the supplier through a Bill of Materials (BoM).

Bill of Materials (BoM) Example

Note: The Bill of Materials normally includes the material, colors, design file attachment titles and the quantity of each material/part/component on a per-product unit basis.

Design files

In addition to the Bill of Materials, you must also provide design files. This includes design drawings, renderings, STEP files, logo files, packaging layout files and everything that’s needed to show what the final product and packaging are expected to look like.

Note that most manufacturers don’t offer design services, especially not to new buyers. It’s therefore essential that you either have someone in your team with the relevant design expertise, or find a freelancer.

2. Product Development

Once the bill of materials and design files are in place, it’s time to turn your idea into a real product. In other words, it’s time to get prototypes made. There are two reasons for this; First, you need to test the supplier’s ability to manufacture the product. Second, you need to test how what it’s like in real life - before you enter production.

Option A: Rapid Prototyping

Rapid prototyping techniques, such as 3D printing and CNC, makes it possible to quickly develop low cost ‘proof of concept’ prototypes. While not made using the actual materials and tooling, such prototypes can still help you test and adjust the design and functionality of the product at an early stage.

For comparison, injection molds can cost thousands of dollars to produce, not to mention the fact that it often takes more than 2 months to produce it. Further, molds can normally not be adjusted in case you make design changes - meaning that you would need to restart the process all over.

3D printed or CNC demo samples can be made in a matter of hours on the other hand.

Keep in mind that 3D printing and CNC prototyping are normally only offered by specialized rapid prototyping companies.

I will also mention that a 3D printed or CNC prototype is not a replacement for a ‘real’ preproduction sample made using the actual materials and tooling

Option B: Supplier Managed Product Sample Production

In most cases, the product sample process is managed entirely by the manufacturer. Based on the product specification, the supplier attempts to get the product sample made, including the molds and tooling.

The problem is that this approach is a bit like black box manufacturing. The buyer rarely has any insight into the process and doesn’t know what’s happening on the factory floor.

It’s not uncommon for buyers to spend months waiting for samples that turn out to be far from what they originally specified. It’s also hard to know if they’ve made design changes without telling you, or decided on shortcuts that pose risks to both product quality and compliance.

That said, supplier managed product sample development still serves as the ultimate test for the supplier. If they manage to come through and deliver a workable product sample, then they will likely manage mass production well.

Option C: Contract Manufacturers

Electronics, medical devices, and other products that require a fair bit of R&D work rarely come out well if managed entirely by the supplier. Luckily, there are contract manufacturers that specialize in both the R&D aspect of prototyping and mass production.

That said, they operate in a rather different way.

When dealing with a “typical factory”, you’d normally expect a unit price and sample cost quoted upfront - based on your product specification.

Contract manufacturers will also give you a quotation, but only for the initial work to source materials, components and make the initial prototype. In addition, they will also bill you in case the project turns out to cost more than initially expected.

You’ll only know the cost once they have sourced materials and components, and estimated the labor cost to assemble the product.

However, they also offer the benefit of transparency and engineering capability.

This is essential when it comes to more complex products, as you need a partner that can navigate the complex process involving component selection, PCB design, safety aspects, and testing.

Handing over complex product development to traditional suppliers rarely works well. Further, it’s not exactly unheard of that OEMs come back telling their customers that the product will cost more than expected, or even ask for more money to complete the product samples.

3. Prototype Testing

Prototypes should be subject to strict quality testing before entering production. One of the main reasons for doing so is to assess and prevent quality issues that may occur after weeks or months of usage - which may not necessarily be easy to stop during a regular pre-shipment inspection.

This is not only the case for more complex products but even something as simple as a t-shirt.

You can’t say if the materials and prints are good enough before you’ve washed it 10 times.

Further, product testing is also necessary for some products, as you need to ensure that the product is fully compliant with all mandatory safety standards.