ODM projects

How to proceed your projects step by step

Q&A for ODM

To show you how an idea becomes a product, we will describe it in the form of Q&A and use some photos/videos of a real project we'd completed as examples.

1. I got an absolutely great idea, can you help me reach it?

You can picture your ideas as possible as you can, and put it in the email. If you have made the sample, that will shorten the developing time.

Email Us Your Ideas

You can email your ideas to us. In addition to the text description, it will be better if there are videos or pictures to help explain your ideas. If you have concerns and hope to keep it secret or private, we can sign a confidentiality agreement with you.

Example

Fire Wallet

2. What are the steps to go through from an idea to the prototype of the product? What should I do?

From an idea to the completion of the product prototype, three stages are required, namely the feasibility study, the designing stage, and the prototype stage. Taking the Fire Wallet as an example, each stage is explained as follows:

ODM Stages

Feasibility Study

Designing Stage

Prototype Making

Feasibility study

We will evaluate the feasibility of your ideas. First, we will do some tests to find a possible way to develop it. Then we will begin to evaluate the following conditions:

– Can the idea be achieved technically?
– What is the supply status of related materials?
– Can it be modularized and do mass production?
– How much does this project cost after a rough estimate?
– What is the ex-factory price of the product?
– Can the product arouse the attention and interest of the market?

Of course, the above-mentioned information, such as the cost to invest in, the market acceptance on selling price, and product function, is also helpful in your own evaluation.

The following continues an example of Fire Wallet to illustrate the “feasibility study”.

# Solution 1

Lighter Ignition

The failure rate is too high.
It makes too much noise.
The wallet becomes too thick, and the appearance looks not good.

# Solution 2

Fire Glow Ignition

The probability of successful ignition is 90%.
There is no noise problem.
It’s a bit slow to emit the flame.
When it ignites, the fire glow becomes very hot, so it is dangerous in use.

# Solution 3

Electric Arc Ignition

The probability of successful ignition is 100%.
To emit the flame, it’s quicker to use an electric arc to ignite than use a lighter or fire glow.
When you ignite, the electric arc becomes hot, but the high temperature lasts for only a short time. Compared with the fire glow, using an electric arc is less dangerous.
The cost of the electric arc is about $1.50 higher than the fire glow.

Designing stage

After finding the most feasible solution, we will start designing the product. We will offer design suggestions, including the appearance, the function, and the rough cost to our client. They can evaluate whether our design meets their expectation. The following continues an example of Fire Wallet to explain the “designing stage”.

Prototype stage

After the design is confirmed, we will start to produce the prototype of the product. Usually, it is necessary to make several versions of the prototype to determine all the product details fully.

All Prototype V1 Prototype V2 Prototype V3

3. After the prototype is completed, before mass run, what other things we need to evaluate?

With the prototype approved by the client, we can evaluate more accurately the following conditions:

1). MOQ of mass production: 3K

2). The unit price of the product

3). Related mold costs

4). Lead time for mass production

5). The delivery of the pre-production sample. Before mass production, we will send a pre-production sample for the client’s final confirmation. At this time, slight improvements can also be made upon request.

6). For electronic products, FCC or CE certification may be required.

7). Customized packaging of the product

8). The total amount to be invested in the first order

4. Approximately how long will it take for each development stage? What is the estimated cost?

According to the table below, from feasibility study to pre-production stage (No. 1~ No. 5), it takes about 12~18 weeks (3~4.5 months). Regarding the cost, we don’t charge you in feasibility study, designing or mass-run sample stages (No. 1, 2, 5). Your cost mainly falls on making prototypes (No.3) and tooling (No. 4). Due to different complexity in each project, the costs of these two stages will be different. Generally speaking, it’s around few thousands in each stage.

After these stages are done, it’s time to prepare for mass production. At this time, the main cost is the order amount (that is, the u/p of the product multiplied by the order q’ty), plus a few hundred dollars in FCC/CE certification (if necessary) and sample fee for making packaging box and lining.

No.	Stage	Time required	Estimated cost (USD)
1.	Feasibility study	2~4 weeks	Free
2.	Designing stage	2 weeks	Free
3.	Prototype stage	4~6 weeks	By case
4.	Tooling-making stage	2~4 weeks	By case
5.	Pre-production sample	2 weeks	Free
6.	FCC or CE application	1 week	Few hundreds
7.	Packaging sample	1 week	Few hundreds
8.	Mass-run stage	4~6 weeks	U/P*QTY=Amount
Total		16~20 weeks	No. 3+4+6+7+8

Remark

About the time required in the prototype stage, please note that the example given here is an electronic product, and it usually takes 6 weeks when 3 versions of the prototype were done. For a non-electronic product, it usually needs to make 2 versions of the prototypes, and it takes about 4 weeks. So it takes less time than an electronic product. Besides, the prototype fee for non-electronic products is relatively a little bit lower.
In the above table, you will see in No. 6. FCC/CE application, 7. Packaging sample, and 8. Mass-run stage, the time required is separately indicated. But in fact, they can be carried out simultaneously, so the total time required for these three stages is 4-6 weeks. In addition, if the product is non-electronic, there is no need to apply for FCC or CE certification, so this fee will not be incurred.
In mass production, because the MOQ of many raw materials requires 3K~5K or it needs some start-up fees during processing, that’s why we set 3K as the MOQ of the order. If the customer only needs 1.5K or 2K, generally speaking, we will allocate the cost of over-purchased materials to the order quantity of the customer. As a result, the unit price of the product may be a few dollars higher, but it can meet customer’s needs for smaller orders.

5. How to proceed with your customized packaging?

1). Usually, we will provide various box types for you to choose.

2). After the box type is decided, we will arrange the lining placement and provide you a template according to the product size.

3). Based on the template, you can start designing your packaging box.

4). After receiving your design, we will make a sample accordingly. The sample fee is $200.

5). After the sample is confirmed, we will start the mass production of your packaging boxes.

As for box inner linings, 3 types are commonly used: the sponge, EVA, and the blister. Their unit prices are similar. The table below is a description of their advantages and disadvantages.

Material	Advantage	Disadvantage	Range of application
Sponge	Tooling cost is low. The die-cut fee is few dozens of dollars.	The item may not be firmly fixed when put in the sponge.	Non-electronic products
EVA	Tooling cost is low. The die-cut fee is dozens of dollars.	The item may not be firmly fixed as putting in EVA.	Non-electronic products
Blister	The item can be firmly fixed, and the accessories can be placed at the bottom.	Tooling cost is slightly higher.	Electronic products

Sponge

EVA

Blister

6. I have great ideas, but I don’t have enough budget. Can I turn my ideas into products?

If your product idea is suitable for sales on our platform, we can cooperate with you, too. That is, the relationship between us can change from a supplier-customer relationship to a partnership.

We need you to participate in the development of the project. All R&D and mass production costs are fully paid by us, except for the cost in the prototype stage (it’s about a few thousand dollars. Please refer to the “prototype stage” in Question 4.), which is paid by you.

When the product goes on sale, you will get a certain percentage of the product price as a reward.

Get in Touch with Us

If there is anything unclear, you can click “Contact Us” to our contact page. There, you can book an online meeting, writing us message, or calling us by Skype or by mobile phone.

AudioTronic