There are many benefits that come with choosing a contract manufacturer. With this comes the pressure of ensuring you find the right partner like FS Tech to produce your products and supply chain.
Finding the right partner to manufacture your products can be challenging, but it doesn’t mean you should give up just yet. Here are some challenges you may face when selecting a contract manufacturer.
Limited Selection of Products on Offer
Choosing the right contract manufacturer is a big decision that can have a big impact on both the quality and quantity of products they can produce.
Since many contract manufacturers don’t regularly produce PCBs, they may only have a limited selection of materials, boards, and technologies available to them. If you are looking for an established manufacturer, it can be difficult to find a partner that can produce a product you want with the materials or a board assembly format, that you require.
However, if you are an established company looking to expand your PCB manufacturing, there may be a number of contract manufacturers that offer a huge range of products. As with most decisions, it’s important to do as much research as possible before selecting a contract manufacturer.
The type of products and materials available from each manufacturer can vary greatly, so it’s important to find a partner that has the particular board materials, board formats, and technologies that you require.
Cost Doesn’t Always Reflect Quality
Another challenge when selecting a contract manufacturer is the issue of cost. While it’s important to find a partner that can offer you a competitive cost for manufacturing your products, it’s important to remember that cost does not always reflect quality.
During the manufacturing process, there are many factors that affect the cost of producing a PCB. When you choose a contract manufacturer, it’s important to find a partner that allows you to manage these costs and keep the cost of your PCBs low.
In many cases, you may be able to manage the manufacturing process to keep costs low or choose a contract manufacturer that allows you to purchase PCBs in large quantities to reduce the cost per unit. Although it’s not possible in all cases, you may be able to reduce the cost of your PCBs by choosing a contract manufacturer that has a low cost per unit.
Lack of transparency
The lack of transparency in the manufacturing process can cause confusion and frustration for PCB manufacturers and customers alike. Often, there is a huge gap between the technical specifications of products, and the descriptions and images used in the procurement process.
This can cause confusion and frustration for customers, as it can be difficult to understand how exactly a product will function and what functionality is within the specifications.
With experience, many manufacturers become very transparent in their descriptions and allow customers to understand the specifications of their products.
When selecting a contract manufacturer, it can be helpful to ask manufacturers to write down the specifications of their products on paper and explain the functionality of each parameter. This can help you understand the parameters of your products, and understand which parameters your contract manufacturer is focusing on.
Lack of experience in your product or technology
Another important factor to consider when selecting a contract manufacturer is the experience of the engineers and managers. Many companies have a few contract manufacturers that produce a certain range of products, and then have a fully-fledged manufacturing team that handles the production of high volumes of products.
If your contract manufacturer does not have a great deal of experience in your product or technology, it can have a significant impact on the quality of your products. It’s important to find a partner that has experience in the types of products and technologies you are offering.
In highly complex products, it’s likely that your contract manufacturer has experience in the technology you are using, but they may not have experience in the technology you are using within your products.
Confusing Technical Specifications and Product Descriptions
The lack of transparency in the manufacturing process can cause confusion and frustration for customers, but also for engineers and managers that manage the manufacturing process. Often, there is a huge gap between the technical specifications of products, and the descriptions and images used in the procurement process.
This can cause confusion and frustration for customers, as it can be difficult to understand how exactly a product will function and what functionality is within the specifications. With experience, many manufacturers become very transparent in their descriptions and allow customers to understand the specifications of their products.
When selecting a contract manufacturer, it can be helpful to ask manufacturers to write down the specifications of their products on paper and explain the functionality of each parameter. This can help you understand the parameters of your products, and understand which parameters your contract manufacturer is focusing on.
Inadequate After-sales Service
Another challenge when selecting a contract manufacturer is the issue of after-sales service. Some contract manufacturers only offer a one-year warranty on their products, while others don’t offer any warranty at all.
When selecting a contract manufacturer, it’s important to find a partner that has an after-sales service team that can assist you when your products fail. It can be frustrating when your products fail after only one year of usage, especially if you were expecting higher-quality products from a contract manufacturer with a longer warranty.
Many contract manufacturers offer a simple warranty that covers the lifespan of your products. However, it can be frustrating when your products fail after only one year of usage, especially if you were expecting higher-quality products from a contract manufacturer with a longer warranty.
Summing up
Choosing the right contract manufacturer is an important decision that can have a huge impact on both the quality and quantity of products they can produce. When selecting a partner, it’s important to remember that cost does not always reflect quality, and transparency in the manufacturing process is extremely important.
Be sure to find a contract manufacturer that has experience in the board materials, board formats, and technologies you are offering, as well as an after-sales service team that can assist customers when their products fail.
