I have an idea for a toy. How does one go about finding a toy manufacturer in China for example that can built it? Do they typically have in house resources to help with design and material selection?
You're probably going to want a design firm, rather than a manufacturing firm, to get you to the point where you have a physical prototype, CAD files of manufacturable parts, and choices of materials and processes. Then they can guide you to a contract manufacturer.<p>Some resources:<p>Design firms that work on toys:<p><a href="http://www.dexigner.com/directory/cat/Toy_Design/Companies.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.dexigner.com/directory/cat/Toy_Design/Companies.h...</a><p>MIT product design course:<p><a href="http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Sloan-School-of-Management/15-783JSpring-2006/CourseHome/index.htm" rel="nofollow">http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Sloan-School-of-Management/15-783J...</a><p>Berkeley's course covering rapid prototyping and manufacturing, including lecture videos:<p><a href="http://bmi.berkeley.edu/Me221/me221_resources.htm" rel="nofollow">http://bmi.berkeley.edu/Me221/me221_resources.htm</a>
<a href="http://webcast.berkeley.edu/course_details.php?seriesid=1906978169" rel="nofollow">http://webcast.berkeley.edu/course_details.php?seriesid=1906...</a><p>The Berkeley videos totally opened my eyes - I was a computer science guy with no clue about making physical products.
The guys behind MouseDriver (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/MouseDriver-Chronicles-John-Lusk/dp/0738205737" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/MouseDriver-Chronicles-John-Lusk/dp/07...</a>) did this.<p>I don't remember the details (and unfortunately I freecycled the book so I can't look it up now) but you might want to read that for yourself.
Hi Noel, there are many companies who work as intermediates between you and chinese manufacturers. These companies are based in china, but run by foreigners. They find the company, produce the product, arrange the shipping. So it's basically the same deal you would get, but perhaps 5% more expensive. For that, you avoid the cross cultural difference, you have reputable sources etc.<p>I can introduce you to a company I know personally based in Shanghai. They'll source any product you want. Send me a message if you're interested, I don't want to be seen as a shill.
A friend of mine had a company that outsourced production of T-shirts to China. The problems he faced was not so much finding suppliers but dealing with the cultural differences of how to do business.
Doesn't directly help you, but Bunnie, the guy who made the Chumby, has very interesting blog posts about getting a product made in China. Check out his blog starting around January 2007.<p><a href="http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?m=200701" rel="nofollow">http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?m=200701</a>
You seem to be missing an important step, before you find a manufacturer you probably want to create a prototype. While the idea might be great in your head, you won't know if it's any good until you've built a few prototypes and tested them on your target audience.<p>There's a TV series in the UK called Dragon's Den where inventors pitch their ideas to angels to get funding. You can actually learn a lot from watching it (in terms of understanding if your product will actually suceed or not and various problems you might encounter). It might be worth your time watch a couple of seasons of it.
Thomasnet is a free resource to find prototypers and design shops - <a href="http://snurl.com/28w08" rel="nofollow">http://snurl.com/28w08</a> [www_thomasnet_com]
Please read this: <a href="http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2008/0804.frank.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2008/0804.frank.ht...</a><p>It is not so easy to outsource to Asia if you care about ethics, quality, or safety. You will need some broker with experience to help you sort out the good companies from the bad ones.
My fiancee is in the retail business (seasonal gifts, in 600+ stores). The key is finding a good sourcing company - there are some that will work on commission once you prove yourself to be a good product developer. They'll even haggle with the plants to get you multiple samples before forcing you into a production line.