how can I find an good(hopefully inexpensive) manufacturer abroad( outside US)?

April 4, 2011 5:39 PM

Need help finding manufacturer abroad to produce a product. I'm struggling finding companies that are still interested when I tell them I am a small business startup (with a great idea!). I understand that telling manufacturers that I'm not going to put in a huge order they are less interested but a girl needs to start somewhere! There are so many people that read this site I thought someone might have an idea or experience doing this. Thank you very much!
posted by femmme to Work & Money (5 answers total)

Without more details it is hard to help however have a look at alibaba.com for international manufacturers and suppliers.
posted by Kerasia at 6:08 PM on April 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

You can also try www.elance.com to find someone to make a prototype for you; you can then price shop for full production.
posted by holterbarbour at 6:35 PM on April 4, 2011

Would you be a little more specific about at least the manufacturing discipline involved? I can help with things like castings, machine work and such but if you want other manufacturing methods it isn't so likely.
posted by jet_silver at 7:23 PM on April 4, 2011

eMachineshop.com does small runs of mechanical parts. There are similar outfits for electronics.
posted by Harald74 at 4:16 AM on April 5, 2011

Can you give us a vague idea of what you're looking to make? I do this kind of thing every day. True, most factories aren't going to start a production line for a really small quantity, but there are ways to do small runs while minimizing tooling costs if you use the right materials. For example, if you were molding something in plastic, you could injection mold it (expensive tooling) or cast it in polyresin (about 1/10th the mold cost).

Without any idea of what your item is made of, it's hard to help with this. Feel free to PM me; I can make anything and usually find a solution to small quantities. I'd be happy to point you in the right direction.
posted by PSB at 5:52 AM on April 5, 2011