Has anyone ever had something they've designed manafactured?

[HankMcSpank]

The thing is, my little product calls for a couple of oddball things that I don't even know where to go knocking! for example a 3cm bit of spring stainless (or plated) steel, bent over on itself to about 110 degrees - with a small elongated slot on one of the legs for an M3 screw to go through (so it can be positioned/adjusted to suit) - now where do I go for one of those?!! (ok, I can probably fashion something that'll do - but do I really want to test my market with something 'that'll do"). Now in my naive little world, something like that ought to cost about 20p, but once i do eventually find someone to ask, you can bet you bottom dollar I'll get reamed!

Another example - a custom plastic case to hold a small pcb - it's got to look nice (we live in an Ipod generation which has set the bar impossibly high) - I wouldn't even dream of approaching a Uk manafacturer (or else there goes my profit)...so who to ask - and can you imagine the diffs with language barriers, timezones, samples etc ....dealing with Asia etc.

China is the obvious place but where the hell do you even go - I've not found a "So you want a widget X quote but don't know who to ask" website online.

What the chinese need is an agency/office here in the Uk, where I can turn up, desciibe what I need ......they phone a few trustworthy people their end & bingo...I've got my 'factory' lead! (or even better ....a quote)

But this is like swimming through treacle!

I find myself looking at the cheapest & nastiest of 99p toys & being amazed at the amount of seperate components involved (a chassis/case, an axle, a motor, switches, LEDS, battery compartment, a sound chip, speaker, wires etc - etc ...& on it goes) all the sheer number of parts, different 'disciplines' (& factories) needed to bring that whole thing together ...and still make make a profit selling it wholesale for probably near 10p!

And don't get me started on patents!!!!

[NB70]

What the chinese need is an agency/office here in the Uk, where I can turn up, desciibe what I need ......they phone a few trustworthy people their end & bingo...I've got my 'factory' lead! (or even better ....a quote)

Have you ever tried mfg.com for quotes? I haven't but it looks like one way to get quotes from China. I imagine that the initial setting up of the tooling etc accounts for a lot of the costs- so you need to order in big quantities to get a good price per part.

[battwell]

use alibaba .com
use gold rated contacts only if your parting with big bucks!

The thing is, my little product calls for a couple of oddball things that I don't even know where to go knocking! for example a 3cm bit of spring stainless (or plated) steel, bent over on itself to about 110 degrees - with a small elongated slot on one of the legs for an M3 screw to go through (so it can be positioned/adjusted to suit) - now where do I go for one of those?!! (ok, I can probably fashion something that'll do - but do I really want to test my market with something 'that'll do"). Now in my naive little world, something like that ought to cost about 20p, but once i do eventually find someone to ask, you can bet you bottom dollar I'll get reamed!

Another example - a custom plastic case to hold a small pcb - it's got to look nice (we live in an Ipod generation which has set the bar impossibly high) - I wouldn't even dream of approaching a Uk manafacturer (or else there goes my profit)...so who to ask - and can you imagine the diffs with language barriers, timezones, samples etc ....dealing with Asia etc.

China is the obvious place but where the hell do you even go - I've not found a "So you want a widget X quote but don't know who to ask" website online.

What the chinese need is an agency/office here in the Uk, where I can turn up, desciibe what I need ......they phone a few trustworthy people their end & bingo...I've got my 'factory' lead! (or even better ....a quote)

But this is like swimming through treacle!

I find myself looking at the cheapest & nastiest of 99p toys & being amazed at the amount of seperate components involved (a chassis/case, an axle, a motor, switches, LEDS, battery compartment, a sound chip, speaker, wires etc - etc ...& on it goes) all the sheer number of parts, different 'disciplines' (& factories) needed to bring that whole thing together ...and still make make a profit selling it wholesale for probably near 10p!

And don't get me started on patents!!!!