One manufacturer out, two left

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I spoke to one of my manufacturers today. This is the one that I had concerns about earlier in the week. We both decided that they should pull out of the selection process for making my products.

They’re too busy to even touch my designs any time soon. Furthermore, we both have concerns about their lack of experience with recycled plastic.

Even today, the engineer was worried that recycled milk bottles (that go through a blow moulding process to make them) might not be compatible with their machines. This is the first I have heard of this concern as it was another manufacturer that suggested that milk bottles would be the most appropriate to get the colours I wanted for my products.

We both agreed that it was the best decision for them to pull out as a result. He still offered to send me some estimated unit prices on one of my products so that I could compare the price against the other quotes. That was a very generous offer in which I am grateful.

By this decision, I’ve decided to also cancel the Monday factory tour with them. This may allow me to get back to Canberra in time for a function that evening.

So, no bridges burned, and the right outcome all around.

Milestone: Request for Quotes sent to Manufacturers

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I sent the design and tender documents to the three manufacturers today. Since I didn’t have any industry experience, that was actually a huge milestone for me and the business. I should be celebrating.

Instead, my monkey brain wants to think about the potential worst case scenarios: the manufacturers not wanting to work with me or the quotes coming in way too high to have a business case.

In a weird way, I welcomed the distraction of having to figure out widgets and custom theme issues with one of my new websites today. IT help desks are starting to become my best friends!

Preparing Tender Docs

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I’m brain dead from working on the tender docs all day, but at least I’m done. I’ll do one more review in the AM and then send them out to three manufacturers to provide quotes.

I’m not going to pretend to know everything about the manufacturing process. Instead, I’ve left plenty of room for the companies to provide me with advice and assumptions in their response while still trying to get apple to apple comparison. Hopefully this simple tender format will short-cut the time it takes to gain knowledge and pricing.

Ugh…preparing tender docs for the manufacturers

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I realised late last night that I need to give the three manufacturers more than just design documents if I want to get apple to apple comparison quotes and everything else I need from them. Fortunately, I used to write tender documents for the government and large companies early in my career. Unfortunately, I never liked writing them. Sigh… Nevertheless, this will have to be my primary focus over the next few days while I’m waiting for the last product design to be completed.