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Guide

WORKING WITH
A MANUFACTURER.

Reference

The gap between a sample you love and a production run you can sell is where most first product launches fail. It is rarely the factory's fault and rarely deliberate — it is the specification that was never written precisely enough to be wrong.

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What to know
The tech pack is the contract
Materials, measurements, tolerances, construction, finish, packaging and the acceptable variation on each. Anything unspecified will be decided by the factory in the way that is cheapest and fastest, and they will be right to.
  • Specify tolerances, not just target measurements
  • Name materials by specification, not by description
  • Say what happens to rejects before the first one exists
Samples, in order
Each stage answers a different question, and skipping one moves its risk into production where it is expensive.
  • Proto — does the idea work at all
  • Fit — does it fit the size range
  • PP (pre-production) — the approval sample, made as production will be
  • TOP (top of production) — pulled from the actual run to confirm it matched
MOQs are set by inputs, not by attitude
A factory's minimum usually reflects a fabric mill's minimum or a mold setup cost. Understanding which constraint drives it tells you whether it can move — and if it is a mold, it cannot.
Protect the IP before you send it
Your patterns and specifications are everything needed to make your product without you. Ownership of tooling and what happens if the relationship ends belong in the agreement at the start.
Where to go next
PROTECTING WHAT YOU MADE.
Intellectual property is territorial.
Read it
MAKE IT WHEN IT SELLS.
Traditional manufacturing asks you to guess demand months ahead and pay for the guess.
Read it
PRODUCTION
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