A report by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 2020 stated there were 352,049 patents filed and a report by Nielsen IQ in 2019 that an average of 30,000 new products launch each year. So less than 10% of patents filed make it through the manufacturing process.
When discussing the cycle of manufacturing the first three steps are:
STAGE 1: CONCEPT AND DEVELOPMENT
Companies are consistently looking to build a “better mouse trap.” Either by modifying an existing product or with a complete redesign. It could be as simple as a spatula that is ample enough to hold a large frozen pizza or a small medical device that could lead the fight against deadly diseases. To perfect your product, your company goes through the design and prototype phases, endless meetings, and design discussions. The research and design are completed. You prototype it, and then you prototype it again and again, and it is ready to go. Now what?
STAGE 2: ORDERING PROCESS
TWO PATHS
Path 1: You attempt to manufacture it yourself (DIY). Your company spends more money than it should be researching manufacturing plants, researching where the best country to invest and trust is. Still, you may be asking the wrong questions, and maybe the factory you thought was good is horrible at getting products out on time. It could be you have an existing relationship with an offshore factory (let’s call this factory ‘Factory A’) that has been manufacturing a product for you for years and doing an excellent job with that particular product. But now you have created a new item to be manufactured.
This new product may need different materials, additional manufacturing expertise, or specialized machinery that Factory A does not have but ‘Factory B’ might have. But ‘Factory A’ never discussed any manufacturing issues with you. You want a product, and the factory wants more business regardless of your manufacturing needs or requirements.
When your cargo finally ships, you may not know what happened during the project’s manufacturing or transportation phase. It is not as well-made as the approval sample. Was this due to your testing and inspection criteria not being clear? Was there no one representing you at the factory to test and inspect during production and the final product? Possibly during their manufacturing, issues were discovered that did not present themselves when making the sample? Whatever the reason, you have received a defective product. Now, what happens?
OR
Path 2: Instead of defaulting to your existing supplier or corresponding with an unknown entity on the web, you reach out to an experienced OEM custom offshore manufacturing company headquartered in the USA, like ITI Manufacturing, with decades of experience. We manage the complete offshore supply chain. While you design it, we’ll manufacture it to your specifications.
We protect you from all manufacturing defects and communicate the status of your project weekly from the time we begin until you take possession.
We also are deliberate about reporting all issues that arise. These issues are not a “might happen.” They will, and ITI acknowledges all problems immediately and works to satisfy them as quickly as possible to our customer’s satisfaction.
STAGE 3: PRODUCTION SCHEDULING
ITI Decades of Experience
Since 1974, we have had one goal: to ensure that our clients receive the product they design. From the specifications to raw materials verification, sample approval, production, testing, inspection, packaging (if needed), logistics, and paperwork, including all duties and tariffs, ITI Manufacturing manages it all.
STAGE 4: MANUFACTURING
Source Multiple Offshore Manufacturing Factories in Multiple Countries
Offshore manufacturing is all we do, and we do it well. ITI has been representing our customers offshore since 1974. . We source up to three factories to select the best choice for your item. Our staff travels in person to the factories and interviews the factory owner and management face to face.
Quote
Upon interview completion, each factory will contact its suppliers, create a custom quote, and forward their quotes to our offshore managing office. Our customers receive weekly updates regarding the sourcing process during this time.
Weekly updates continue until our customer takes possession of the shipment. Our customers tell us these updates give them real-time visibility, transparency, and predictability, enabling them to be much more proactive rather than reactive with their internal planning and customer communication.
Once the factory receives the order and deposit, they will make multiple identical approval samples. They will make one for the customer, one for our USA office, one to be kept at the factory, and one for our offshore office managing the project.
Our U.S. office’s National Account Manager (NAM) communicates directly with our customers during the authorization sample process. Only after our customer approves the sample do we authorize the factory to begin production. The factory will manufacture a second sample and approve it if you need another sample.
STAGE 5: TRANSPORTATION
Our staff manages all logistics and paperwork. ITI Manufacturing may arrange for the ocean freight, or it may interface seamlessly with our customer’s freight forwarding company. Delivery could be a foreign port, the West or East Coast of the United States, the nearest US Customs warehouse, multiple distribution centers, the client’s domestic, local warehouse, or a combination. ITI’s delivered quote is a total cost based on where our customer will take possession of the shipment.
Post-Shipment and Follow Up
The NAM follows up with our customers after delivery to verify all is well. Our proven process follows all projects and variations based on your project’s unique characteristics.
ITI Manufacturing is your offshore manufacturing office. That’s how we see ourselves. Manufacturing products and components for our customers is our only source of revenue. We do not manufacture or sell products of our own. We are employee-owned and take our responsibility for doing what it takes to support our customers seriously.
