Manufacture in China or the US?

You are an inventor or designer and you came up with an idea that will launch your startup. Or you had an idea, developed it, and are ready to take it to market. Does this sound like you?
If it does, you may have a series of questions, like these:

• Where should I manufacture?
• Should I manufacture locally?
• Should I manufacture in China?
• Are there better options than China?
• How will I communicate with the manufacturer?
• Is it really that much cheaper to manufacture in China?
• Is it worth it?
• Can I trust the manufacturer?
• How do I source the right manufacturer for my product?
• How are the payments handled?
• How can I avoid getting my idea copied?
• How do I manage shipping?
• Can one company do it all?
• Will my product look cheap if it is made in China?
• Will people think poorly of my product because it’s made in China?
• Where do I even start?

In this post, we will share some general reasons you may want to consider manufacturing locally over manufacturing in China. We understand the difficulty of the manufacturing process and know you might need more detail or have other questions. Please feel free to contact us for help!

Manufacture abroad or stay home?

If you are questioning whether to manufacture your product in China or the US, here’s what we can tell you. Our experience shows us that many new inventors have initial thoughts of manufacturing locally. For numerous reasons, it can be important to keep manufacturing close to home.

Many inventors have a fear of poor communication with companies in China. Keeping manufacturing local alleviates this fear.

Trying to keep costs as low as possible is always a priority, so you might be asking yourself if you can achieve that with a local manufacturer. In some cases you can. It’s virtually impossible for us to list the industries or products where local manufacturing has costs similar to those in China–it depends entirely on your product.

If your product has a lot of competition and there is a constant price war, it may be difficult to manufacture locally. But if your product has a niche market, you may prefer to focus your efforts on having the best quality and maybe even take advantage of the fact that you manufacture locally.

Maybe your product has a medium to high price point; in that case it may be possible to manufacture locally.

In cases in which your product is environmentally-friendly, you may be forced to manufacture locally, as it wouldn’t make environmental sense to do otherwise.

Some benefits of manufacturing locally

Keeping manufacturing home has many advantages as well. Manufacturing in China has the benefit of cheaper labour, but local companies can be more efficient and productive. Keeping production home also reduces transportation/shipping and logistics costs. When production is done locally, you can control the quality of your products. Many inventors also prefer to manufacture locally so they can retain their technology or designs at home.

For all these reasons, manufacturing in the US may be a much better option. Still, there are cases where it may just not be a possibility. If you need help with manufacturing, locally or in China, assistance with logistics, sourcing, or communication, or just to want to find an experienced manufacturer that can satisfy your production needs, give us a call. We can help!