Need Help in Sourcing custom plastic parts from China

[ultrasounder]

Hello Folks,

I am currently working on a hardware product Concept that requires me to customize a generic kitchen appliance to fit the needs of my requirements. Though I have a hardware background ( electrical engineering) I have never personally worked on sourcing anything directly from China. At work, There is always the friendly "Supply chain lady Teresa" for that. I get quotes from local and international supplier, she generates POs, POs get approved. Bada Bing Bada Boom and I have a shiny plastic enclosure for my First Article Engineering samples.

I am in the process of creating an SAAS that helps vendors switch to a subscription business(My process thread) model. This SAAS product is a Hardware/Software play and I want to customize a very generic kitchen appliance to fit it in the form factor that I have in mind. Even if I did go the route of creating a 3D model, 3D printing SLAs(Websites where you can 3D print are dime a dozen) to prove out form factor and tolerances, how do I go about locating a manufacturer say in Shenzen/DongGuan who is capable of taking my 3D model, create a mold and make this custom plastic parts for me ?. I haven't even talked about integrating the plastics with my custom PCA yet . Initial builds will happen in my garage for market validation/early customers.

I have not validated this idea yet, but I was inspired by another Venture funded startup doing a very similar thing. THIS would be MY validation, where I make a few MVP parts and solution sell(@MJ DeMarco term)this to store owners that want to switch their customers to a subscription model where reordering becomes automatic with the pain point of manual ordering removed from the picture. I have identified the niche market which by itself is undergoing a major shift to E-Commerce only thanks to C0VlD-19. Its just a matter of producing a parts, hook it up to the Shopify store and start selling to early adopter stores. After sufficient early adopter feedback, design iterations switch to the production mode and start making and selling at scale.

I was looking to get help from this forum from folks who have already gone down this path before. Any pointers would be much appreciated. Am very open to consultations(per hour or however You charge) to enlighten me on this path. Your process threads or links to Your product currently on market would greatly help.
Thanks for taking the time to read through this. Much appreciate it. DMs open.
Ananth

 

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