If you’re running a business that sells products, you’re going to have to engage with manufacturing at some point or another down the production line. You can spend all the time and money in the world conducting market research and developing the perfect product, but without a manufacturing process in place, you’re not going to be able to bring this product to life to sell to your target demographic. Manufacturing is the process that will provide you with something to sell and, consequently, the opportunity to actually make some money. Now, there are plenty of different ways to go about manufacturing, but hopefully, some of the information below will help to get the ball rolling in the right direction for you and your business.

Understanding Manufacturing

First, let’s make it very clear what manufacturing actually is. Let’s start out by settling on what exactly manufacturing is. Manufacturing is the process of taking raw materials and combining them or joining them together in a way that will create your final product. When products come off the manufacturing line, they will be ready for product testing (if necessary), packaging and final order fulfilment.

How to Go About Manufacturing

When you decide to start manufacturing your products, you have two key ways to go about the manufacturing process. There are to manufacture your products in-house or to outsource the process to a third party. Each has pros and cons, so it’s important to think this over properly before diving in the deep end.

In-House Manufacturing

When you manufacture goods in-house, you invest in the space, equipment, machinery and staff required to bring your products to life. This can cover anything from a factory space to conveyor belts to epoxy flooring coatings. This means big initial outlays. However, over time, you’ll be producing your products yourself, saving yourself the middleman costs of a third party producing the products on your behalf. Manufacturing your goods in house also gives you more control over the production process. You’ll know exactly what’s going on at any time. You’re also not tied into any contracts if you decide to suspend the production of certain products for any reason.

Outsourced Manufacturing

Outsourcing manufacturing tends to be a good option for new businesses and startups. When you outsource, you don’t have the huge initial cost of setting up your own manufacturing facilities. Instead, you simply hand the work over to a third party who already has the machinery, facilities and staff at hand to create your goods for you. A benefit of outsourcing your manufacturing is also that if you find your product doesn’t work and you decide to change it, you can always change what you’re selling, designing something completely new and not worrying about having to sell and replace the machinery and equipment you own. Instead, you switch third party manufacturers to someone who can create your new products.

These are some starting points to take into consideration when getting started with your manufacturing process. Hopefully, some come in useful for you!