Why is compliance testing so important for buyers who import products from China? Compliance testing helps assure your product's compliance with your market's product and safety standards. By conducting such testing, you'll be testing whether the product is safe for consumers under normal use, doesn't contain hazardous substances above acceptable levels, and won't be restricted from being imported. Because importers are usually held responsible for any safety problems caused by … [Read more...]
The Conundrum of Investing in Tooling Before a Final Prototype
In most new product development projects for electro-mechanical products, there comes a time when the company (and its investors) need to make a leap of faith when it comes to investing in tooling. They often need a lot of advice and discuss it with us. Let's discuss the conundrum buyers face of doing so before a final prototype is made. … [Read more...]
From New Product Design to Production: What Is on the Customer’s Plate?
Many people contact us with an idea for a new product they want to develop... and nothing else. We usually explain that they are not ready for talking to China-based manufacturers until they have done more 'homework'. Over the weekend, I listened to an episode of the Predictable Design Podcast (The Importance of Defining Project Milestones), which covered the main steps every new company that wants to manufacture a new physical product has to go through. It is a great listen. It inspired … [Read more...]
What Is the APQP? (Advanced Product Quality Planning Process)
The APQP, or Advanced Product Quality Planning, is a proven approach for developing a new product to be made in high volume and under strict quality, timing, and cost requirements. It was developed in the automotive industry. (Virtually all tier-1 suppliers of car parts have to implement this approach.) It has also been adopted in other settings with similar requirements, with great success. Adding some structure to the design & development phase I have heard many people tell … [Read more...]
Incubator VS Accelerator VS Go It Alone: The Startup’s Conundrum
If you are a startup at a very early stage with growing your business and getting products to market, you have a few choices in order to get on the right path. Do you go with Startup Incubator VS Accelerator, or dispense with them and just go it alone? Here are the options in more detail (we'll focus more on hardware startups, rather than purely software startups, as working with them is where most of our experience lies): … [Read more...]
Manufacturing in China can be risky! 10 Examples of China IP Theft
Depending on your product, it may make a lot of sense to manufacture in China (for example, for complex products that need to be developed fast). But the risks of China IP theft haven't gone away. I wanted to share a few examples here. As many manufacturers there start to feel the pinch due to orders slowing down, as their customers tighten their belts during the global coronavirus pandemic, it's only likely to get worse as some unscrupulous characters try to make a quick buck out of unwary … [Read more...]
New Product Concept Brief: 5 Things Your Industrial Designer Needs To Know
If you have a new product concept that you want to manufacture in China in mind, don't go straight to talk to a manufacturer (your concept is still too immature). Instead, you need to start working on 2 axes at the same time: Market demand confirmation - will a sufficient number of people want to buy your product? Industrial design - what will it look like? (I am assuming you are designing an electro-mechanical product.) To illustrate your product concept effectively, you'll be … [Read more...]
7 Typical Pitfalls for Hardware Startups Producing in China
A few years ago, I remember reading about the Coolest Cooler, a nice product that raised an amazing amount of money on Kickstarter: over 6,000 people bought it for a total of 13 million USD!! Yet, they went bust leaving a lot of frustrated backers and interested onlookers scratching their heads as to where it all went wrong for one of the most famous hardware startups of recent times and indeed the most funded Kickstarter campaign of 2014. In this post, I'll explore what went wrong for them … [Read more...]
How to Increase Speed of Developing New Products in China
Developing and manufacturing new products in China, especially if they're customized, is not an easy task. Many new products being launched using crowdfunding platforms such as Kickstarter have delays – in some cases, they are more than 6 months late. (See the typical delays we have observed here.) Actually, delays have to be expected if the business founders have no prior experience of manufacturing in China. Unless they get really lucky and pick a supplier that happens to be a very good … [Read more...]