I asked Herve Hy Meng, design director at Hintside, to share his experience and suggest some best practices. His company helps importers as well as startups/inventors avoid the traps of China production.
They have an interesting approach to product development that he describes in this Q&A.
Q: Let’s say you advise a company in the West that has an idea for a new type of product, and that wants to have it made in China. What part of the design process should that company take care of? And what part of that process can be left to the manufacturer?
The design process can be divided into 3 main parts: the concept – the development – the production. Design and production are not two different worlds.
At Hintside we believe that the manufacturer should be consulted very early in the project, in order to give feedback on feasibility at every step. It increases flexibility and reactivity by introducing designs that can really be produced the way they look.
The importer can either outsource the design or make it internally, but the key is the interaction along the project between the suppliers and the design team.
A good hand-over to the manufacturing process is not only a matter of perfect technical files, but also of communication along the project.
Q: You have probably seen many importers who send technical designs to a Chinese supplier, without adapting the designs to the factory’s capabilities. What types of problems can occur in this case?
A product is always detail-oriented.
One common and huge mistake is to think that a manufacturer can, in a few minutes, grasp what other people spent months or years designing.
Here are a few problems we have observed in this case:
- Wrong understanding (language, vocabulary)
- Software incompatibility (can’t open files, can’t read, can’t modify)
- “Ping pong” communication between too many actors: designers, buyers, salespeople, technicians…
- Consequences: longer time to manufacture, longer time to market, and higher total project cost.
Q: For first-time productions, or for new factories, do you advise a pilot run (for a first trial)? How do Chinese manufacturers welcome this suggestion? Any tips on how to make this more attractive to them?
If you have an order in hand, you can try to negotiate a small run before final production. Whether you succeed or not will depend on the quality of the relationship you have managed to build with the factories.
It’s an insurance for you and for the manufacturer. A pilot run is always useful because it allows mistakes to be identified before mass production starts. There is nothing worse than a production rejected at the client’s doorstep.
Showing your commitment to the project is critical. A pilot run means faster approval. After confirming samples, production can be launched sooner. This is in the manufacturer’s interest!
Q: New product developments often take more than 3 months. What methods do you follow to get from idea to production in the least amount of time?
We believe a good design process has to include the followings:
- A strategy in terms of marketing / visual identity
- Strong project management so that the different parties know how to integrate different components
- A capacity to offer several choices of design, with the supplier’s approval regarding feasibility and complexity
- Technical files that are adapted to the manufacturer, in order to have proper tooling in production
- Production follow-up on a daily basis, and technical problem-solving in the field
Our company Hintside runs on Agile Management, like many software development teams, and applies it to product development.
It allows us to be flexible and to prioritise tasks. Product development involves many moving parts, and focusing on the right things at the right time is a guarantee of success.
It is all about coordination and preparation. Not about trying to push deadlines and costs beyond their limits.
—
If you have questions for Herve, don’t hesitate to email him at: herve (at) hintside.com.