Prototype to Production: 7 Sneaky Pitfalls to Avoid
from China Manufacturing Decoded Hosted by Sofeast
In episode 290 of China Manufacturing Decoded, Renaud Anjoran is back and joins Adrian to explore seven common pitfalls that can derail manufacturing projects during the critical transition from prototype to production. A working prototype may look and feel like the final product, but moving from prototype to mass production is a far more complex journey than most teams expect. From premature tooling to unreliable crowdfunding campaigns, missing test plans, and skipped pilot runs, these mistakes can cost enormous time, money, and credibility if not handled correctly. Episode Sections: 01:19 – Why moving from prototype to production is more complex than expected 04:26 – The analogy of the factory as “a big 3D printer” and why it’s wrong 05:42 – Preview of 7 pitfalls discussed in this episode 05:56 – Pitfall #1: Confirming a product design that isn’t ready for mass manufacturing 10:02 – Pitfall #2: Going for tooling before the product design is frozen 13:40 – Pitfall #3: Running a Kickstarter/Indiegogo campaign too early 19:33 – Pitfall #4: Crowdfunding with no margin (and the debt it creates) 23:30 – Pitfall #5: Not preparing a test plan for performance and reliability 27:29 – Pitfall #6: Skipping pilot runs before mass production 30:07 – Pitfall #7: Failing to have the manufacturer sign a development/manufacturing contract 36:01 – Recap of all 7 pitfalls and final thoughts Related content... The New Product Introduction Process Guide Product Tooling: Possible To Avoid Paying for it in Full? Crowdfunding Failures: 4 Great Prototypes That Failed To Launch Prototype, Patent, then Market: A Misguided Concept Avoid Sending Immature Product Designs to a Chinese Manufacturer! How Reliability Testing Is Critical To Obtaining Great Mass-Produced Products Why A Pilot Run On A New Product, Before Mass Production, Is Very Helpful How To Create A Valid Manufacturing Contract In China To Protect Your IP Get in touch with Sofeast Connect with us on LinkedIn Contact us via Sofeast's contact page Subscribe to our YouTube channel Prefer Facebook? Check us out on FB
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Chapters
- 0:21 Introduction to Prototype to Production
- 5:42 Sneaky Pitfalls Awaiting in Production
- 9:08 Confirming Product Design Readiness
- 10:02 Timing Tooling with Design Freezes
- 13:37 The Risk of Premature Crowdfunding
- 19:33 Margin Miscalculations in Crowdfunding
- 23:33 Importance of Performance Testing
- 27:29 The Necessity of Pilot Runs
- 30:05 Contracts: A Crucial Step
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