7 Success Tips For Choosing The Best Quality Manufacturer

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When searching for a manufacturer to use, it’s important to not just focus on getting the cheapest quote. Quality control is essential too – your product needs to be well-made. You also need to be certain that a manufacturer will be able to meet your deadlines and follow your specs. Research is often key to picking out the best manufacturer. Below are 7 success tips that will help you choose a high quality manufacturing service.

Get recommendations from other companies

One solution is to tap into your network. Do you know any other company owners in a similar industry to yours? Are they able to recommend manufacturers that they’re currently using or have used in the past? Direct competitors may be reluctant to tell you this information, but directors of companies selling similar products will likely help you. Connect to company owners using LinkedIn or attend events to meet other product owners. 

Read online reviews left by other clients

Reviews can give a good insight into the pros and cons of using a specific manufacturer. You can check out reviews on Google and on specialist platforms like Alibaba. Ideally, you want to find a relevant manufacturer who has lots of positive reviews and very few negative reviews. Make sure that the most recent reviews are mostly positive, and consider how a manufacturer responds to negative reviews. 

Consider the quality of their past clients

Another great way to choose the best quality manufacturer is to assess the types of clients they’ve worked with previously. Some manufacturers may have only worked with a few small brands. Others like Glass Rock may have experience serving huge brands like Coca-Cola and Pepsi. This experience can give you an idea of how successful a manufacturer is and how likely they are to be able to scale your product if needs be. 

Check for certifications and awards

Certifications and awards are proof of a manufacturer’s commitment to excellence. Consider industry-standards accreditations like ISO 9001 and FDA compliance (for food and drink products). Awards from trade associations or innovation contests can further validate that a company is high quality by showing that they go the extra mile. You should be able to find most of this information on a manufacturer’s website. If not, you can contact the manufacturer and inquire directly about the certification they hold. 

Assess their communication and transparency

It’s important that you choose a manufacturer that is easy to communicate with. If responses are slow or they seem to misinterpret your requests, this could be a red flag. You need to be particularly careful when offshoring manufacturing – while many large manufacturers will have a fluent English-speaking representative you can speak to, some smaller manufacturers may not have anyone on their team that speaks English well, potentially leading to communication errors. You should also consider transparency. How willing is a company to answer questions about their manufacturing methods or past clients? Those who seem reluctant to answer these questions could be hiding something. 

Request samples of past work

In many cases, it is possible to request samples of a manufacturer’s past work. This can give you a true tangible idea of how high quality their products are. Use this opportunity to closely examine the sample for durability and finish quality. You may even be able to order a prototype of your product for a fee, provided that you have a final design ready. This allows you to accurately assess what your product will look like if you decide to choose them as a manufacturer. Some companies order prototypes from multiple manufacturers to compare them.

Organize a factory visit

Most manufacturers are also willing to host factory visits. This is an opportunity to assess working conditions and machinery quality, while also getting to know the manufacturer staff. This could be worth doing if you’re offshoring manufacturing, however it does mean paying to travel overseas. A virtual factory tour may be possible in some cases – this could involve a staff member taking you around the factory via video call so that you don’t have to travel to the site. This guide at Supply Scope offers some tips on questions you may want to ask during a factory visit. 

Finding the best quality manufacturer

All in all, finding a high quality manufacturer involves dedicating time to research. Do your online research into reviews and certifications, and then directly contact each manufacturer that appeals to you. Be prepared to invest in prototypes of factory visits if you really want to get an idea of their quality first hand.