Plastic manufacturer quotes are in

Tammy Ven Dange, , , , , , , , , , Leave a Comment on Plastic manufacturer quotes are in

I finally have all the manufacturer quotes even though not everyone quoted on every item or even every part of the process. Of what I can see, it looks like 2 of the 3 products can be made at a reasonable cost here in Australia with recycled plastic. The third product needs to be redesigned to lower the cost.

Of the moulds (or tooling as they say), the most expensive quote is three times the cheapest one even though everyone says they get their moulds made in Asia. Since this difference is so dramatic, I need to understand why before I choose a manufacturer. Otherwise, the reasoning for the cheaper price may hurt me later if I go that route.

More to learn every day.

I say molds, you say moulds

Tammy Ven Dange, , , , , , , Leave a Comment on I say molds, you say moulds

I spoke to the manufacturers today about my Request for Quotes. I think we’re all on the same page now. Essentially, they believe they can give me unit product costs estimates, but will struggle with giving me the moulds’ prices until they have redone the design work. That’s because the moulds (or tooling) are outsourced to other companies.

What I have also learned is that there are many things to consider when designing the moulds. For instance, I can combine parts or create multiple pieces of the same part in the same mould. The bigger the mould, the more it costs. However, I can save money in the unit cost. Of course, if we get it wrong I might also have a lot of excess parts the customer doesn’t need.

I’ve also learned that it may be possible for the manufacturer to amortise the tooling cost into the products with them essentially acting as a bank. That could be really useful depending on how much money I can raise from investors. I’ll be surprised if they’ll do this though without a large order – something I can’t agree to do until the products are proven.

I’ll write a longer article next week about what I might have done differently in the design phase.

Moulds – first estimate costs for Product #2

Tammy Ven Dange, , , , , , Leave a Comment on Moulds – first estimate costs for Product #2

Received rough pricing estimates for the moulds of my “easiest” of three products (Product #2) from Manufacturer #1. Two options above the $30k mark with GST. Yikes! That’s expensive. The cheaper of the two ($9k difference) combines two parts into the same mould. The other option is for 2 separate moulds. I’m going to need to rethink my funding model. I could go broke with the moulds before I even have a product to sell.

Approved early design work to start for Product #3

When Start-up Costs are High

Tammy Ven Dange, , , , Leave a Comment on When Start-up Costs are High

I realise now why so few people go into manufacturing products – the start-up costs are huge! Service-based and information-based businesses can largely be started with little capital. Even my previous tea company only needed about $5k to get started before I had a batch of products to sell.

My ambitions to do something with recycled plastic this time is far more expensive than any business I’ve ever tried. Sure, I can buy something from China and private label it for minimum costs, but I wouldn’t be fulfilling the purpose of the social enterprise (to reduce plastics going to landfills and waterways by making great products out of Australian recycled plastic).

How much am I talking about? Well, the design and mould costs alone for my simplest product is estimated to cost $30k. This is before I even have one product to sell.

While 3-D printing has definitely revolutionised the cost of prototypes, the process itself is not ideal for mass production or even performance testing of products that must have some level of strength or rigour.

Therefore, in order to make more robust and mass produced items, moulds still have to be made in a material that is significantly stronger and can withstand greater heat than the product material itself i.e. plastic.

Having these costs upfront is useful as I can more accurately assess risks and cashflow. At the same time, I can’t afford to fund all these moulds myself with only the savings I put aside after selling my investment property.

I always think that roadblocks are God’s way of telling me to pivot or shift directions.

I’m going to have to rethink my funding model to make it happen. Maybe, I go ahead and pay for the full design and product prototypes and see if I can somehow pre-sale or crowdsource cash to pay for the moulds. I may also be able to afford one mould if I can get a local government grant in August to start this project. Having the prototypes ready will be useful to convince people that the idea is worthy.

Any advice from my readers?

-Tammy

Searching for manufacturers and parts

Tammy Ven Dange, , , , , , , Leave a Comment on Searching for manufacturers and parts

Went to hardware store to see if there were any standard parts that I might be able to use for Product #1 or #2. Nope! And nothing like these products really exist there.

Put together a rough budget with no real idea about how much it’s going to cost to get these products manufactured. I heard that simple moulds could cost about $20k each. This is definitely going to be the most expensive business I have after started.

Found an Australian product designer/manufacturer online – Manufacturer #1. I liked what they had done for another business in their case studies – makes me think that our values are aligned. I need to put together some sort of product requirements doc for a prototype before I call them. I’m not really sure how to do that, but I suppose I can use a similar format that I would have used for software development in my old IT days

Learning about manufacturing moulds

Tammy Ven Dange, , Leave a Comment on Learning about manufacturing moulds

Learning about manufacturing moulds today. If I understood it correctly, a mould is used to produce a product that needs to be hollow in the middle. A die is used to make solid pieces – often with materials such as steel. I’m not sure which one I need right now for my product idea. They seem to be mentioned interchangeably in my research and conversations so far.