Despite my tiredness yesterday, I did make contact with the manufacturer who still hasn’t turned in the quote. This time, I spoke to a design engineer rather than a salesperson.

He basically told me that they were busy, and my designs needed a lot of work. I explained that the designs were never meant to be final. They were my way of communicating what I wanted to a manufacturer located in another state. As per the tender docs I sent to them, I was planning on paying for the next design phase to get it ready for manufacturing. This is something I’ve already explained before to his boss.

I asked him to tell me now if they’re too busy to work with a small business like me. Otherwise, we are both wasting our time.

He said that he’ll try to get me something this week. However, I am now concerned about their lack of experience with recycled plastic as he suggested that all the parts needed to be black. This is the difference between talking to the engineer and the salesperson – you can really start to understand their capability. I wish I was able to speak to him sooner.

Oh well, it would still be great to get their quote, but I’m not going to depend on it at this stage.