How do I find a manufacturer (in China) for a custom product?

You may be able to find the manufacturer on , a hardware community that directly connects you with Taiwan and  China-based manufacturers and suppliers of varying sizes. Among them  are vendors which are manufacturing Kickstarter's most iconic  smartwatch, Apple products, award-winning smart glasses, etc. You can also find mentors (http://www.hwtrek.com/discover/experts) and vendor solutions (http://www.hwtrek.com/discover/solutions) within the HWTrek community. VentureBeat: http://venturebeat.com/2014/03/18/this-asian-platform-hopes-to-beat-kickstarter-with-direct-manufacturer-relationships/ Disclaimer: I'm part of the HWTrek team, so my answers could be biased.

Thanks for the A2A Bradley. Here's a list of some electronics suppliers: http://www.tradesparq.com/catalog/all/Electronics-manufacturers some of these suppliers export to major retailers (Best Buy, Walmart, etc.). Most of these suppliers are based in China, and most will have a cheap prices. Some of these manufacturers create custom products, you can directly contact them.Another alternative for you while using our site is, if you find a similar product on the market already and want to find out who their manufacturer, type in the company's brand name (let's take Walmart for example), and see who they import their products from.  http://www.tradesparq.com/Customs/10790672/Customs-Data-Walmart-Whse-6087-Tabloid?lang=en-US#sthash.9kugqMri.dpbs. *Disclaimer: I work for Tradesparq where we believe in trust and transparency in international trade.dley

Many people have great ideas of new product.But they might do not know what the next? Below are some of my opinion for your reference.I have been in plastic injection molding and tooling for more than 6 years. From my experience,when you come up with some new projects, you need to know:1, What are they made of?Usually, different materials are made by different processing. For example, when your new project is a metal part, you should not find a plastic manufacturer.2,Do you know what the processing it should be?If it is made of metal, do you know what the processing it should be? If not sure, do you have samples or prototypes available? All manufacturers custom make parts as per samples or prototypes or 3D drawings. If you have more than one samples/protoypes available, you can send one to the manufacturer to know whether it is in their field.For us, if it is not within our capabilities, we can usually help to transfer the sample/prototype to other factories as per the customer's request. Metals are usually made by die casting(it is also called metal injection molding or MIM), stamping, or extruding.If it is made of plastic, they can usually be made by plastic injection molding, blow molding, rotocasting, extruding, rotational molding,etc. Also, plastic injection molding is the widest used method. For which processing, it depends on the design or constructure of the part. If you are not sure, come to us for help.3,What should you prepare?Money,of course. *_*  Then a prototype or sample or 3D design drawings.  To make prototypes, you can find a local rapid prototyping company to do it. If just need to be similar to an existing product, you can get a similar sample from existing market, and tell the manufacture where you need modifications. If it is not new, just need to copy, you can easily get a sample. To make 3D design drawing, one of my customers, I heard that he finds a university engineering major student to create the first 3D. And then send to the manufacturer, the manufacturer must know where should be modified, as the student might not know knowledges in manufacturing.For any assistance, you can get in touch with me: sales01(at)rpimoulding(dot)com  Vicky Liu from Respon Plastic Industrial Co., Ltd. in Xiamen,China

We at MorphoMFG help companies manufacture their dream products from start to finish. Drop us an email at josh (at) morphomfg . com Talk soon! -

A great starting point to find a manufacturer in China is http://www.alibaba.com. With that said, you will have to spend hundreds of hours sorting through manufacturers to find the right one on their platform. That is why I started http://www.trysourcify.com, a new startup that is creating a marketplace of the world’s top manufacturers. We introduce you to two or three manufacturers that we have pre-vetted and that are capable of producing your product.With that said, if you want to start on Alibaba and try to do it yourself, here are the steps I suggest taking to find a manufacturer:1. Conduct initial communication.Having communication with a product supplier is probably the most overlooked part of the process of outsourcing manufacturing. But in order to manufacture anything, you must first clearly present what it is you’re trying to make. Your wording needs to be as simple and straightforward as possible.Alibaba is in English as well as several other languages. Companies on the site are based around the world and are not limited to China.When you’re dealing with manufacturers abroad, you might find that the companies have someone on staff who speaks English but not well. Too many mixups result from using complex terms without an easy translation.2. Cross reference.Why trust one source when there are multiple? If you’ve found a manufacturer on Alibaba that seems legitimate, start searching the Internet to learn more about the firm. Find out if the company has its own website.Check the trade shows for your industry to see if that company has attended and investigate if it is listed on outsourcing websites like Global Sources and HKTDC. If everything adds up, perhaps you have found a reliable manufacturer.3. Follow up.Once you’ve begun the outsourcing process and feel comfortable with the manufacturer you’re working with, start getting to know the company better. Initial communication can be used to judge response time. Then follow up by being in constant communication with the supplier. For your production run to stay on track and result in success, be in touch with your supplier at least once a week. This will allow you to familiarize yourself with the supplier and ensure that your products meet your expectations.Hope this helps! Feel free to reach out if you have questions.