High-Quality Manufacturing is so "in"! How Can You Get Some?

Getting quality product from offshore manufacturers entails laying out and adhering to a development process.  Time to market is important, but delivering poor-quality product is probably worse than delaying your ship date a bit.  If I buy a product and it doesn't live up to it's promise (translation: it's a piece of &$#@), you better believe that I'm not going back to that brand. 

To build quality INTO your products, consider the steps in the process that may need to take place and the time you may need to accomplish them.  Below is an example GANTT chart (you should be able to click on it to open it) for a product development schedule of a consumer electronic product I just came up with (this one is pretty cool and if 1% of the human market buys one, man...)

This is a pretty raw chart, meaning it's not based on a whole lot of information, and activity timelines could lengthen or shorten a bit depending on the issues that arise, the kind of product, etc.  This particular product requires complex, high-quality injection molding.

We're at least 6 months out from being production ready.  What's taking so long?  Well...

• Production Package Release: The company has provided a full design package including industrial designs, parts drawings, Bill of Materials, and Specifications.  This is important.  It lays out exactly what the product will do, look, feel, and how. 
• Factory Review/Component Sourcing/Costing:  A factory then needs to review all the materials received, answer any initial questions, go out and contact the appropriate suppliers, review relevant information with them, assemble all of the initial production and cost information, and pass that back onto the company.  It's similar to the telephone game you played in Kindergarten, only harder.
• Looks-like/Works-like Prototype Build: If the company builds a prototype, this will give them a good indication that the factory is nailing down the concept on their end and may provide the company with something to show the market, investors, etc.
• Contract Negotiation/Prototype Approval: There's usually some back-and-forth with the factory regarding costs.  There will also likely be some modifications made to the prototype after the company's review, until the prototype is "approved" by the company.
• Tooling Release (start):  Upon the approval of the prototype, the company issues a tooling release to the factory.  It's time to build those big steel molds so that we can shoot molten plastic into them a million times or more.  The timeline on this may vary quite a bit.  Usually, 3 weeks or so is a minimum.  But, if my satellite imaging/dog feeder/garlic dicer needs to have specific finishes on the plastic to give them that sleek and shiny look, then extra time may be needed to polish and fine tune the tools to accomplish this.
• First Shots on Tools: When the tools are completed, the factory runs them.  They shoot the plastic in them and see what comes out. 
• 1st Engineering Pilot/Parts Review:  The factory tries to put the pieces together to test for "fit and function".  They may also pass the peices onto the company for feedback.
• Tooling Modifications:  More than likely, modifications will need to be made to the molds to get them right.
• Final Shots on Tools: The tools are run again.  Steps like this probably won't take a week.  But it never hurts to have a little buffer time that may be eaten up somewhere else in the process.
• Final Engineering Pilot/Parts Review: The pieces are tested and reviewed again by the interested parties.
• Tooling Release (complete): When the pieces work, the company issues a tooling release indicating that the tools are approved.
• Package Art Release: The company issues the packaging art to the factory.  This may happen at different steps in the process and is not really dependent on the other steps.  However, it's advisable to be moving into this phase earlier rather than late. 
• Print Proof Review/Approval: The factory sends packaging "proofs" back to the company for review.  If the proof looks good, the company signs off.
• Product Testing: The product, in packaging, is needed for these steps.  Depending on the kind of product and the duress it will be under during transportation, use, etc., the factory will put the product and packaging through several tests.  Tests may include drop testing, environmental testing, transportation testing, power testing, throw it against the wall and see what happens testing, put it in the smoke break room and see what colors change testing, and finally my favorite, pour red bull and vodka into it and see if it can stay out at the club until 6am testing). 
• Production Pilot:  Once the product meets the specs in the testing, the production line is set up, run, and debugged of potential issues.
• Production Unit Review/Approval:  The first articles (the first units coming off of the production line) are reviewed and sent to the company in package for approval.  This is their baby and represents what will soon turn into millions of products flying off of the shelves into consumers garages or "what-have-you" drawers. 

I've now hit my bullet point quota for the next year, but there's quite a lot to do here.  Going through a process like this, with several tests and verifications along the way, helps to ensure that what a company gets out of the production line on the other end is what they wanted in the beginning.  Notice that this doesn't even include incoming QC inspections, production line inspections, and 3rd party inspections before shipment.   But if you allow yourself enough time to go through this process correctly and efficiently, you end up keeping your promise to your customers with high-quality products going into their hands.  That's so hot.