Trying to better understand how product manufacturing works

[birdy05]

Hi I'm hoping to get some help understanding how to get going on manufacturing a product. I have zero knowledge or experience in this area. I've tried googling to do research but I find the results I get are blog posts with SEO sucking motivational content that doesn't actually give any useful advice haha... If anyone has any recommendations of websites or books that go into detail about the process of manufacturing a product that would be really great, or even some good search terms I can use in google to help me actually find something of value would be helpful. I'm trying to understand the actual process of producing the product, not the coming up with the idea or creating a CAD file etc.

How does the manufacturing process work, do I need to get a separate supplier to provide the materials, a separate one for assembly of the product, a third for packaging, and a fourth for shipping?
Are there places that are capable of doing all those things or are at least in partnership together so it makes communicating and transporting a lot easier? Do that have a specific name for that kind of business so I can find them?
If not how would I go about getting these separate vendors working together to complete my product? What I'm planning to build is pretty simple it only requires 2 or 3 materials and is quite small.

How does a manufacturer typically schedule or prioritize their clients, should I some how prepare for unexpected delays because of this throughout the manufacturing process even among different batches?
Should I be in connection with a back up manufacturer in case something happens with this manufacturer? Or is there some sort of agreement that prevents you from building in more than one place?

A lot of the articles I read online stressed the importance of protecting your product or filing a patent. I'm not too knowledgeable about patents but is it necessary for something that is a common product? For example if I were designing a shoe or a belt or clothing they aren't unique revolutionary ideas but what if you want to build something that is already out there but just your own version of it?

If anyone with experience is able to answer these questions that would be helpful, or if you have some resources you can link me to check out that would be good as well. Thanks

 

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[Dwight Schrute]

If anyone has any recommendations of websites or books that go into detail about the process of manufacturing a product that would be really great, or even some good search terms I can use in google to help me actually find something of value would be helpful.

I'm assuming you want to get something new manufactured, something that isn't "on the shelves" yet.
If that's the case, the term you're looking for is "New Product Development".

To answer your questions: It depends.

• Check if the company is actually capable of manufacturing a product like yours. (Pick up the phone, ask questions)
  
• Are there any parts that company may needs to outsource?
  
• Handling the supply chain management:

• Get stupid and pick up the phone. Ask questions.
• Manufacturers mean business. Creating molds for new products is expensive. Prepare to spend a lot.
  
• Read books, not blog posts. Everybody and his mom is a blogger nowadays.

Two good books which come to my mind right now are
"New Product Development for Dummies" and "One Simple Idea for Startups and Entrepreneurs".
Those should answer 90% of your questions, or help you find an adequate solution for your particular situation.

As with patents:
Get in touch with a patent lawyer/patent office, many of them don't charge any money for a meeting shorter than 1hour.
Most of the time you don't even need a patent, nor does it protect you.

Sorry for not going into detail, as I'm still in the process myself and every situation is different.
This post just represents what helped me and what I've learned so far.

 

[birdy05]

Yah any information that points me in the right direction is helpful, so much appreciated! I know a lot of it has to do with contacting places and seeing what they can do but understanding the process definitely makes things easier. Searching New Product Development is giving me way better results thanks for that I definitely agree about the blog thing its super annoying so I'll check out those books. Thanks for the tip on the patent as well, didn't know that.