Am I the only one? (Physical product invention)

[OldFaithful]

I've been reading various posts on the forum, and have found very few folks with a plan similar to mine. I believe there might be a member that has a tool manufacturing business, but I'm not sure that I recall that correctly. I can't be the only one that believes inventing a physical product (or products) and producing it himself/herself can be a Fastlane process...or am I ??? Does anyone else plan, or might be currently working the plan, to achieve Fastlane process thru innovation, manufacturing & production?

I've seen a couple members that are trying to invent a product and have it made offshore, then bring it back here and sell lots of them. That's not what I'm asking about, because I believe that violates the C of CENTS, aka "Control". I'll tell you why. In my experience with offshore manufacturing, I've had little control over the quality/performance/intellectual-property and I believe that puts my future in someone else's hands. I'm referring to designing the product, assembling it here in the US and selling from here (hopefully globally). That's not to say that some of the components can't be made offshore, because some components are less critical to overall performance and they are excellent candidates.

Most other folks here appear to be focusing on ecommerce or ebusiness plans with no brick & mortar footprint. It seems the most common process is to find a product already made overseas and sell it here in the US to the largest market one can tap. Nothing wrong with that, and there is definitely a place for it, but it's not for me because of my previous experience & preference for "Control". However, there were several other plans that TMF pointed out as potentially Fastlane.

- Internet content
- Subscription
- Lead generation
- Social network ads
- Brokers
- Advertising
- eCommerce/distribution
- Innovation (!!!)
- Iteration (!!!)
- Rentals
- Software

Perhaps I'm missing the key threads that I've been searching for. If so, please redirect me. If there are folks here using innovation, manufacturing & production to achieve their Fastlane...what have been the lessons learned? How did you overcome roadblocks & push on? Are there any progress threads out there? Got any suggestions?

Thank you!

 

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[GuestUser450]

Are there any progress threads out there?

Yep...but they're on the inside.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

to achieve Fastlane process thru innovation, manufacturing & production?

I just want to say that I believe this is the better opportunity so congrats to you on this pursuit.

and have found very few folks with a plan similar to mine.

Are there any progress threads out there?

I can think of FIVE guys in a matter of seconds who have extensive progress threads based on a product-based businesses -- stuff built and manufactured from scratch, not a China import.

However all of these gigantic progress threads are on the inside.

 

[OldFaithful]

However all of these gigantic progress threads are on the inside.

Ahhh, so that's why I haven't found them yet. Thanks.

 

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[Delmania]

However all of these gigantic progress threads are on the inside.

Twist that knife a little harder, will you? I'm already convinced I want a yearly sub, but trying to make the sell to my spouse is a hard one.

 

[Sovereign]

In my experience with offshore manufacturing, I've had little control over the quality/performance/intellectual-property and I believe that puts my future in someone else's hands.

So true, not to mention endless delays, poor quality and maybe (mark 'maybe') intentional sabotaging.
Still, if the design is correctly designed with the above in mind (meaning it is forgiving of manufacturing errors) China is a good start especially for low budget startups.

Intellectual property on the other hand is mostly just a falls sense of security as far as i understand, as there are usually ways to modify the design enough to bypass patents, etc. Fast and hard execution is your best defense against copycats.
Though patents can be a nightmare especially in the days of Google patents where you can simply patent the mixture of water, salt and sugar, and then claim that anything that contains this mixture for purposes of eating/drinking is subject to that patent...

 

[biophase]

I can't be the only one that believes inventing a physical product (or products) and producing it himself/herself can be a Fastlane process...or am I ??? Does anyone else plan, or might be currently working the plan, to achieve Fastlane process thru innovation, manufacturing & production?

I've seen a couple members that are trying to invent a product and have it made offshore, then bring it back here and sell lots of them. That's not what I'm asking about, because I believe that violates the C of CENTS, aka "Control". I'll tell you why. In my experience with offshore manufacturing, I've had little control over the quality/performance/intellectual-property and I believe that puts my future in someone else's hands. I'm referring to designing the product, assembling it here in the US and selling from here (hopefully globally). That's not to say that some of the components can't be made offshore, because some components are less critical to overall performance and they are excellent candidates.

Most other folks here appear to be focusing on ecommerce or ebusiness plans with no brick & mortar footprint. It seems the most common process is to find a product already made overseas and sell it here in the US to the largest market one can tap. Nothing wrong with that, and there is definitely a place for it, but it's not for me because of my previous experience & preference for "Control". However, there were several other plans that TMF pointed out as potentially Fastlane.

Sure you can do it this way. But you have additional hurdles.

First if you invent, innovate your own product, you need to create the market. You don't have proof that somebody wants what you are selling. It would be a shame if you set up your factory and produced 1000 gizmos only to find out nobody wants it. It would be a little bit easier to have a overseas factory make you 1000. Then if it fails you only invested in the 1000 units.

As for going offshore, I think that this is all a mindset. True you have issues from offshore with quality, timelines, etc... But as you stated, the materials you purchase are coming from offshore too. If the material quality is poor, it doesn't matter how good your assembly and manufacturing is.

Also, instead of factory delays and communication issues, you will be dealing with employee, production line and safety issues. You basically just change your headaches into a local one. The amount of work will actually be greater and the cost per unit will be higher. Yes, you can sell made in the USA for more than made in China. I've looked into this and can't pull the trigger as the numbers and time commitment just don't make any sense at all.

You can never have total control. If you want it 100% on the manufacturing side you need to be the one making the components from the bottom such as purchasing your own steel, plastic, etc... You won't ever know if the batch of nuts and bolts you got just happened to be weaker than normal.

 

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[Supa]

Twist that knife a little harder, will you? I'm already convinced I want a yearly sub, but trying to make the sell to my spouse is a hard one.

The question is not if you can afford one, but if you can afford to not have one

There are threads, that you can read in for days and be able to get some value out of every page in it. Not sure where I would be without having those great footsteps to step in

 

[Sovereign]

You can never have total control. If you want it 100% on the manufacturing side you need to be the one making the components from the bottom such as purchasing your own steel, plastic, etc... You won't ever know if the batch of nuts and bolts you got just happened to be weaker than normal.

@OldFaithful
This is why you establish a quality control if you have a company which manufactures its own product. You test/screen all input materials at the beginning and screen for defects at every few steps in your own manufacturing process.
On a low budget this is largely impossible, although i think there are companies which will ''rent'' you their own production lines (halls, machines and people) and abide 100% by your prescribed process. Of course your production price will be higher, but it's a good option if you are just beginning and do not wish to tarnish your brand with dreadful quality products.

Second option is to make a simpler version of your product, which you can make by yourself. This way you can produce 100-1000 units at minimal expense, this way you can confirm a market exists and you might even have profit.

 

[OldFaithful]

China is a good start especially for low budget startups.

I'm sorry @Sovereign, but I must disagree here. I've designed parts and had them sourced in China for my Slowlane job. I've never found the Chinese suppliers to be interested in low volume, low budget projects. Perhaps it is specific to the industry, but the domestic sources were much more willing to take a small job. Perhaps it would be different in another industry.

You can never have total control.

Yes @biophase, you are correct that one can never have TOTAL control. However, I've design & released product with domestic vs Chinese components and always had a better product (in terms of performance, quality & delivery) with the domestic parts. So I have experienced more control over the product & my success with domestic sources.

Thank you both for sharing your perspectives.

 

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[OldFaithful]

I've been part of product startups before -- both as employee and as an investor -- but this is my first foray into starting my own product manufacturing business. I'm far from an expert (getting there!), but happy to try to answer any questions you have based on my experience. Also happy to post a thread here with my experiences/learnings once we've relaunched and I have some time, if anyone is interested...

Thank you for you input. I for one, would be interested in reading your progress post. I'm glad to find another manufacturer here and wish you the best of luck in your product launch. That was the primary inquiry of my OP!!! Where are other Fastlaners that have chosen invention/manufacturing/production as their process??? This post has diverged into analysis of a single side note: offshore vs domestic sourcing.

 

[timmy]

I've been reading various posts on the forum, and have found very few folks with a plan similar to mine. I believe there might be a member that has a tool manufacturing business, but I'm not sure that I recall that correctly. I can't be the only one that believes inventing a physical product (or products) and producing it himself/herself can be a Fastlane process...or am I ??? Does anyone else plan, or might be currently working the plan, to achieve Fastlane process thru innovation, manufacturing & production?

I've seen a couple members that are trying to invent a product and have it made offshore, then bring it back here and sell lots of them. That's not what I'm asking about, because I believe that violates the C of CENTS, aka "Control". I'll tell you why. In my experience with offshore manufacturing, I've had little control over the quality/performance/intellectual-property and I believe that puts my future in someone else's hands. I'm referring to designing the product, assembling it here in the US and selling from here (hopefully globally). That's not to say that some of the components can't be made offshore, because some components are less critical to overall performance and they are excellent candidates.

Most other folks here appear to be focusing on ecommerce or ebusiness plans with no brick & mortar footprint. It seems the most common process is to find a product already made overseas and sell it here in the US to the largest market one can tap. Nothing wrong with that, and there is definitely a place for it, but it's not for me because of my previous experience & preference for "Control". However, there were several other plans that TMF pointed out as potentially Fastlane.

- Internet content
- Subscription
- Lead generation
- Social network ads
- Brokers
- Advertising
- eCommerce/distribution
- Innovation (!!!)
- Iteration (!!!)
- Rentals
- Software

Perhaps I'm missing the key threads that I've been searching for. If so, please redirect me. If there are folks here using innovation, manufacturing & production to achieve their Fastlane...what have been the lessons learned? How did you overcome roadblocks & push on? Are there any progress threads out there? Got any suggestions?

Thank you!

Hi Oldfaithful ...........

What your doing is indeed great and I would never try to knock it. I did it for 35 years and created a job for myself, and not even a good one at that. Instead, I have since decided to create a future for myself . Labor laws and overhead running costs are so high that the alternative seems the logical option IMO . I develop simple physical products, but split the manufacturing between 2 or more Chinese manufacturers and I always assemble here. Delegation is key and allows me to move slowly up the food chain ( so to speak).....I never have to worry about the back door and always try to hide my innovation simply and cheaply without patents ...........Think of the 5 lever lockset as an example of what I mean. Ever try to open one????

 

[OldFaithful]

I did it for 35 years and created a job for myself, and not even a good one at that. Instead, I have since decided to create a future for myself

Hello @timmy. Nice of you to stop by. I can understand your frustration, and hope to find a way to transition from full time startup entrepreneur to "part time present" business owner. Indeed, if we focus on the technical aspects of running the business, we merely create a new job for ourselves...instead of creating a Fastlane processes. I want to basically replicate the business model that I'd worked with in a previous vocation. The owners of the business didn't come to the office if they didn't want to, and they left early if they so desired. Essentially the business was self sustaining.

I can appreciate what you're saying about "hiding your innovation", as that technique is an integral part of my plan as well.

I also understand (partially, as I've got no employees as of yet) your difficulties with labor. I've got a friend that runs a local diner and continually tells me that his biggest problem is the employee. I hope to offset the labor/overhead conundrum through automation, as my products allow assembly via automation. I've had some experience with it and found that automation allows one to compete with low cost offshore labor.

What was the obstacle or obstacles that turned your business into a job instead of a Fastlane process?

 

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[timmy]

Hello @timmy. Nice of you to stop by. I can understand your frustration, and hope to find a way to transition from full time startup entrepreneur to "part time present" business owner. Indeed, if we focus on the technical aspects of running the business, we merely create a new job for ourselves...instead of creating a Fastlane processes. I want to basically replicate the business model that I'd worked with in a previous vocation. The owners of the business didn't come to the office if they didn't want to, and they left early if they so desired. Essentially the business was self sustaining.

I can appreciate what you're saying about "hiding your innovation", as that technique is an integral part of my plan as well

What was the obstacle or obstacles that turned your business into a job instead of a Fastlane process?

......" I learned at aged 25 that profits are better than wages. I could have learned it at 15 but nobody brought it to me " Wages can make you wealthy but profits will make you rich...........by the great Jim Rohn


Going forward....the only way I see the fastlane road in our space is as managers building products with systems in place to facilitate scale. Patents are dead so first to the marketplace is critical. Design / production / Sales and Marketing should all be in house and by trial an error. USP built around personalisation to create added value thus allowing for a higher per unit price. Hopefully with the advent of 3D printing, robobotics and sensor technology we can all make product as cheap as China. The cost of electricity then becomes the only revolving overhead cost. The equipment and machinery owned by some fund that earns X % per unit produced. P.S. This is not me currently ( just the future me )

 

[Paul Thomas]

Twist that knife a little harder, will you? I'm already convinced I want a yearly sub, but trying to make the sell to my spouse is a hard one.

"make the sell to my spouse"? come on... its TEN dollars / month!

 

[MJ DeMarco]

I've changed the title to reflect the thread content.

Btw, I'm not a big believer that you need to have (and can have) 100% control over your business. Instead, you need 100% insight into and 100% authority in your business. When you have total insight and authority, you can adjust your business as necessary to conditions outside your control. 100% control is impossible. For example, you never have 100% control over your sales and distribution channels. Planning to sell in stores? What happens when retail demand changes (outside of your control)? Planning to sell on your website? What happens when SEO algorithms change and people can't find your product (outside of your control)? Planning to ship product yourself or through a drop-shipper? What happens when USPS/major shippers adjust their pricing and it impacts your margins (outside your control)?

Not sure if you are referring to the Commandment of Control as it pertains to this forum but if you are, you've misinterpreted it.

Control isn't about physical control over every nuance. It's about risk mitigation and diversifying catastrophic risk inherent in some businesses. The litmus test for control is pretty simple: Is there someone (or something) that can instantaneously kill your business overnight? If the answer is YES, then there is a control violation. Just to give an example, if Amazon banned my company from selling books, I'd still be OK. Yes it would hurt, but I'd still be able to sell books because the real asset is my list, readers, this forum etc.

Nonetheless you are correct as stated, 100% control is impossible. But having 100% control over how we react to the uncontrollable is where the cow is milked. If an MLM goes under because the CEO was indicted, there's nothing you can do about it. Except start over.

 

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[million$$$smile]

I have a small manufacturing business that makes physical products. ALL of the products are manufactured in the USA.

40 products in our brand.

Every Single Product Is Made In The USA

Now mind you, we do not make all of the products in house. We have some of them made by companies that are already set up to manufacture and will private brand also. These are in the tool industry. Some of the tools are manufactured by the largest tool producers in the USA under our brand.

But we also manufacture in house a small leather tool pouch line. About twenty leather products currently. We also have a couple tools that I have designed that we have manufactured right down the street and have several moonlighters that keep us in stock. These steel products are some of our biggest sellers.

You may wonder how we did it, so here is the short story.

I am extremely familiar with the end user having been involved in this industry nearly my whole adult life (except a foray as a flight attendant of all things when the construction industry took a downturn)

#1 I know the MARKET inside and out. I know what the end user NEEDS having been personally involved for many years. This alone eliminated much of the gamble of developing this business.

#2 I already had a MARKET for the products as soon as they were produced. This was because I also have a popular online ecommerce website that sells other brands to the same consumer. This online presence had already been established for over 10 years, so I was fairly certain that I could sell the brand as long as it was ACCEPTED.

#3 The products would not have been ACCEPTED in the marketplace if they were NOT US made. Professional tradesman for the most part DEMAND American made industrial hand tools--and I knew that.

#4 After we had basically tested selling them online ourselves, we began to slowly develop our wholesale market to other stores. We now have a good amount of industrial distributors that order for their B&M and online stores. We have taken it slow. As we grow internally, we slowly grow externally.


I don't mean to brag, but I am proud of the fact that this business was started with $500 and not one more dollar has ever been added or borrowed to where it is today. It just took a tremendous bunch of work and perseverance and reinvestment.

Also some here may not believe me, and that is ok. I really don't care.

You see, I'm way too busy building the next new product...

I thought about starting my own thread on how it was done in detail but it would be better to write it on the inside when it happens

OP, don't let anyone steal your dream.

If you have an idea for a new domestic made product, then by all means go for it. There is plenty of room, probably as much room domestically to have a GOOD product made here than offshore.

Good luck and I'm pulling for ya.

R

 

[WUCUBE]

I've been reading various posts on the forum, and have found very few folks with a plan similar to mine. I believe there might be a member that has a tool manufacturing business, but I'm not sure that I recall that correctly. I can't be the only one that believes inventing a physical product (or products) and producing it himself/herself can be a Fastlane process...

Joined the Forum yesterday and I was asking myself the same question OldFaithful has asked, thanks for that Oldfaithful and good luck!

Just spent the last 10 months Inventing/Developing a Product and about to launch into the Market over the next few weeks.

I think the reason that there is a general preference for being the ‘middle-man’ over manufacturing and invention, is because of the difficulties involved and the very long runway when starting a Manufacturing Business.

Personally the ‘Middle-Man’ (Import/Resell) position has served me well for years, and there are great advantages when starting up as one can get traction quickly, and pull in some Cash.

For example the last 10 Months have left me financially disabled and almost mad, working 10 hour days 7 days a week… Without a single penny in return! Not a Dime.

My point is that the invention/Manufacturing route is a very hard road, and honestly without my past experiences & sheer stubbornness, with some help from the Book by MJ, I would have quit.

Not saying other entrepreneurial ‘Fast Lanes’ are easy, because we all know they are not, just saying this invention/manufacturing route is a real Bastard!

BUT. Who could refuse to chase a 900% Profit margin right?

Offshore Manufacturing?

A distinction should be made I feel between Manufacturing and Assembly. I worked at Jaguar for a while and it is not an accident they are called Assembly Plants, because that is exactly what they are.

If one takes the position of Assembler then one can source multiple manufacturers of the components, regardless of geographical location, thus having multiple back-ups and maintaining a level of control, which puts the C in CENTS.

The truth is that if one has 50 components converging into an assembly point in the US then the product is ‘Made in the USA’… Right?

The big issue is the Assembly of your invention in certain places, such as the Far East, because culturally there is not the same respect for intellectual property.

Just last week I sent a product to a manufacturer in China and asked if they could make an exact copy?

Yes of course we can at ½ the price, and no we don’t care about intellectual infringement such as Patents and trademarks… Just give us ½ up front and we’ll have it done in a week!

So if one has a truly innovative product and gets it ASSEMBLED off-shore, you may as well wipe your arse with your patent…?

 

[OldFaithful]

I've changed the title to reflect the thread content.

Thank you for helping re-direct this thread by changing the title.

 

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[OldFaithful]

I thought about starting my own thread on how it was done in detail but it would be better to write it on the inside when it happens

I look forward to reading more, perhaps from the inside as well. I appreciate what you shared here though.

OP, don't let anyone steal your dream.

If you have an idea for a new domestic made product, then by all means go for it. There is plenty of room, probably as much room domestically to have a GOOD product made here than offshore.

Thank you @million$$$smile, I genuinely needed the reminder & encouragement. I do indeed have an idea and while I worked in the field I saw many projects passed over for various reasons...so I know the need is there and room does exist in that particular market.

You are correct about another matter too. There is still considerable demand for product with "USA" on it. There are a lot of blue collar guys here in the midwest that look for those little letters.

 

[OldFaithful]

Just spent the last 10 months Inventing/Developing a Product and about to launch into the Market over the next few weeks.

Hi @WUCUBE, welcome to the forum. I'm glad to hear that you're getting so close to your product launch. I hope it goes well. Don't be surprised about the lack of incoming $ during your 10 month development. The returns will come after the sales, once you've provide your value to your customer. I'm sure it will go well.

My point is that the invention/Manufacturing route is a very hard road

You are correct, it is a hard road, but I already do it for my Slowlane job. Why not do it for ourselves and convert it into a Fastlane process. That's a good question... Are you taking steps to make this a Fastlane process, and if so, how are they going?

Please keep us updated. I'd love to hear more about how you deal with the roadblocks. Thanks.

 

[million$$$smile]

The truth is that if one has 50 components converging into an assembly point in the US then the product is ‘Made in the USA’… Right?

No, I don't believe that is considered 'Made in the USA'.

'Assembled in the USA', maybe

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Made_in_USA

 

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[WUCUBE]

Hi @WUCUBE, welcome to the forum. Are you taking steps to make this a Fastlane process, and if so, how are they going?

Please keep us updated. I'd love to hear more about how you deal with the roadblocks. Thanks.

Hi Old Faithful. Thanks for the Welcome.

After reading TMF it seems the product has the potential to be a fastlane business, fitting all the criteria and such.

To be honest I've been so focussed on getting it right I'm not sure what to do with it now, which route to take.

I was going to post a thread and hope for some advice on this Fomum? But not used to this media and so unsure of appropriateness.

When I saw your thread though I felt impelled to pipe up. Really interested in what you are up to...

Can you talk about your product yet?

 

[WUCUBE]

No, I don't believe that is considered 'Made in the USA'.

'Assembled in the USA', maybe

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Made_in_USA

Thanks for that. It seems you are Proud of your products being Manufactured in the USA rather than a marketing strategy.

I really like that.

May I ask a question?

We have before had Manufacturers Insurance for another Product which was manufactured in Europe, but my insurance would not cover me for USA & Canada.

Is this the same in reverse for you in USA selling into Europe?

 

[350z]

I've been looking into an actual physical product myself. I would guess the reason why e-commerce/affilate marketing/rebrand import-export and such is a lot popular because of how easy it is.

Case Example: PeelHQ (some iphone case) is literally a rebrand of cases you can find on aliexpress at 0.70 a unit. New packaging, a logo, a bit of social media presence has their "product" selling for 24.99. And the best part is that you could probably follow their business plan with nearly anything else as well.

But with actually innovating, creating, designing, and manufacturing a product from your brain into reality is quite some work. For my own product, it's been quite slow. Talking to, matter of fact, finding manufacturers is probably one of the most hardest things so far. It might be my approach, but being 18, inexperienced, and a bit clueless on how to actually take a product from paper to physical could possibly be another reason. Sent a few emails to local companies (generally looking at plastic and glass manufacturers) and got 0 responses back. I'm thinking might be best to dabble in 3d printing and get a prototype to present yourself a bit more serious. It's a few hurdles at first, but I think with persistence I might be able to get somewhere with this.

I hope you have the best of luck and if you want to expedite your process, having connections would make shit a lot more easier.

 

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[Sovereign]

I've been looking into an actual physical product myself. I would guess the reason why e-commerce/affilate marketing/rebrand import-export and such is a lot popular because of how easy it is.

Case Example: PeelHQ (some iphone case) is literally a rebrand of cases you can find on aliexpress at 0.70 a unit. New packaging, a logo, a bit of social media presence has their "product" selling for 24.99. And the best part is that you could probably follow their business plan with nearly anything else as well.

But with actually innovating, creating, designing, and manufacturing a product from your brain into reality is quite some work. For my own product, it's been quite slow. Talking to, matter of fact, finding manufacturers is probably one of the most hardest things so far. It might be my approach, but being 18, inexperienced, and a bit clueless on how to actually take a product from paper to physical could possibly be another reason. Sent a few emails to local companies (generally looking at plastic and glass manufacturers) and got 0 responses back. I'm thinking might be best to dabble in 3d printing and get a prototype to present yourself a bit more serious. It's a few hurdles at first, but I think with persistence I might be able to get somewhere with this.

I hope you have the best of luck and if you want to expedite your process, having connections would make shit a lot more easier.

Don't spend all that money on the prototype yet. Those things can be pretty expensive.

Do you have a 3-D model (digital) and manufacturing drawings?
If the answer is 'no' on the drawings those are needed first.
3-D (digital) model is often not mandatory at all.

Are you approaching companies with the right tooling?

And what requirements are you setting to them in your first mail?

Also note that smaller manufacturers will be more receptive to you than big companies.

 

[350z]

Don't spend all that money on the prototype yet. Those things can be pretty expensive.

Do you have a 3-D model (digital) and manufacturing drawings?
If the answer is 'no' on the drawings those are needed first.
3-D (digital) model is often not mandatory at all.

Are you approaching companies with the right tooling?

And what requirements are you setting to them in your first mail?

Also note that smaller manufacturers will be more receptive to you than big companies.

3-D Model, no. Manufacturing drawings, yes. At least to the point of specifications and dimensions, I'm not the greatest artist.

As for the correct tooling/equipment, yes, my product is not sophisticated at all. Hopefully I don't come across as naive to the whole process, but I would assume all that is needed is a mold-injection technique. My product consists of mainly two materials (I might consider a silicone/rubber element in the future, but I would like to get base model completed), plastic and glass, with glass being the majority of it.

In my requirements, I am not very demanding. I simply ask if they are able to manufacture a custom unit from scratch (although, one company I emailed apparently offered a "reverse-engineer" service and I think that would be very useful) and what the pricing would be set at.

As for the scale of the company, I really do try to support smaller businesses, but there's not much I can find, at least locally. Which is why I have been considering 3D printing, but that wouldn't solve my glass problem. I could get away with 3D printing the plastic components, but it would not suffice with glass.

 

[Sovereign]

@350z :
You don't need to be an artist.
Actually i could almost say you mustn't be an artist, because usually it is very difficult to work with artists and people who consider their product to be a ''work of art''. Hence very few people will bother to even try to work with you.

What you need for production are 2-D manufacturing drawings made to ANSI standard.

• Do you have tolerances specified?
• Do you have surface roughness specified?
• Do you have the material specified?
• Do you have all the required views?

If your product involves molding you also need to supply the manufacturer with a digital 3-D model in the right format (IGES and STEP are standard, STL is now accepted more or less everywhere as well).
An exception to this are cases where the molded product consists solely from basic geometrical shapes.


When you say 'glass' do you mean glass filled plastic or glass as a standalone material?
If you meant the letter you must be aware that plastic and glass are quite dissimilar in regards to their processing requirements.

I am not sure, but i think you would need 2 companies, 1 for plastic part and 1 for glass.
Or find a company which will make 1 part and outsource (subcontract) the other part.


When looking for quotes try just asking for a quote for X number of units, because asking them if the product can be made may signal to them that you are not interesting in buying it, but are just looking for pricing.
Also don't mind if they don't answer it is their loss.
Try finding a company which specializes in manufacturing prototypes and small series. They might be the most receptive and offer to help.


3-D printing:
You can print with glass like filaments, though they are not fully transparent (more like heavily frosted).
Keep in mind that printing can be expensive as 1 kg of filament costs from $20-$30 and printing can take dozens of hours.
Also if the product is very complex the operator may need to try several times and this inflates the price.

The last problem is you might end up with poorly printed parts - and those look dreadful...
Well printed parts on the other hand look awesome.

Anyhow, prototypes are made for any or all of the following 3 reasons:

• To verify your hypothesis (workings of the product)
• To verify all fits well at given tolerances
• To impress the people who might pre-order your product
• To persuade your higher-ups

Making it to impress potential manufacturers is a lost cause because it doesn't convey to them what they want to hear.

 

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[350z]

@Sovereign
Alright, I looked up a few more examples of manufacturing drawings, and it seems I'll have to revisit my drawings (It wasn't as detailed as ones I have looked at just now).

The reason I believe I would use molding is because I was looking up processes on how glass is made and manufactured and looked at an episode of How It's Made on glass bottles, and it would seem that both the manufacturing of glass bottles and my product is related. It also would be possible to make my product strictly from geometric shapes (Sphere + Cylinder), although it would look a lot rougher than what I have sketched out. But, having a rough model would prove valuable to work with and experiment on and would be a lot better than having just paper schematics.

The glass that's required is your regular everyday glass that's used in glass bottles (think Snapple/Coke). Nothing fancy.

And yes, I would need two different manufacturers, one that produces the plastic component and one that produces the glass component. There is also a rubber/silicone part that I now believe to be essential to the product itself, but I don't think it's propriety to any sort and could possibly found at any local hardware store, but I have not yet confirmed so. My main concern is that both the plastic and glass part is unique, and it will have to be custom made (This is the first major hurdle I'd like to overcome).

There also is a mechanism within the product (which would derive from the plastic components) that I would also need to look at (most likely refine as well) and make sure it works properly. This is also one of the main reasons as to why I was looking into creating a prototype.

The only components I would feel comfortable 3D printing is the plastic parts, but having it poorly printed would be dreadful, so I will have to stick with plastic manufacturers.

 

[Sovereign]

For manufacturing drawings i'm not sure what program you already use, but you need something like AutoCad.
Look up DraftSight, it's free and well suited to your needs.
I think you can also easily find dxf/dwg drawing templates (layouts) for it.

Glass and plastic are somewhat similar but, molding glass requires much higher temperatures than molding plastic. Also glass requires controlled cooling after molding and better surface quality of the molds. Hence glass is generally more difficult (and thus expensiver) to mold.

For your prototype, besides 3-D printing, you might want to consider making parts from different materials like wood or EPS since they are easier to form.
If you can find EPS (or similar material) ball and cylinder/tube of roughly the right dimensions you can cut/glue them into your desired shape by yourself.
You could also use molding techniques used by RC modelers.
This is often enough right to the final stage.

When you need final plastic and glass parts print the plastic, even if you get bad surface you can sand it by hand; and for glass try finding a small/medium glass fabricator, perhaps a glass artist, just someone who makes glass products by hand.


Rubber/silicone - can be pressed, stamped or molded, even cnc-ed depending on your design

There also is a mechanism within the product (which would derive from the plastic components) that I would also need to look at (most likely refine as well) and make sure it works properly. This is also one of the main reasons as to why I was looking into creating a prototype.

To 3-D print you will require a digital 3-D model.
If this model is made in a proper CAD program you can usually verify everything without needing a physical model.

Cheap option is free-CAD, as it is free, but it might be the most annoying option as well.
Other better programs will require more learning from you, but you can always outsource modeling if you want.
Before you outsource modeling or prototyping be sure to have all dimensions well thought out and unambiguously specified, otherwise you will need to pay for several revisions instead of for just 1 model.