Marche International is your perfect source for part production, assembly, packaging and freight shipping. We have qualified hundreds of factories for contract manufacturing.
Marche International is an independent contract manufacturer. Our specialty is manufacturing products in southeast Asia for the U.S. consumer market. Our key to manufacturing success is our staff of engineers, quality assurance, outsourcing specialists, and project managers both in ShenZhen, China and Lawrence, Kansas, U.S.A.
Marche International Manufacturing Process
Below is a generalization of the process we use for manufacturing products to meet or exceed your expectations.
1. Prototypes
Even if the product is extremely simple, it’s a necessity to rapid prototype samples before contracting a tooling or plastic injection molding factory. Please see our ‘design a product’ and ‘Product Engineering’ pages for information about designing and prototyping a product in preparation for contract manufacturing.
2. Contract Factories
This is the most important step in the manufacturing process. It’s also the most complex. Most products will require multiple factories. For instance, if a product has a plastic housing and a metal handle, it is likely that one factory will Plastic Injection Mold the housing and a different factory will stamp out the metal handle. Each part is then evaluated and assembled at an assembly factory.
Some products will require twenty or more independent factories. The key to success is to work with a trustworthy group (product development company) with a proven track record. The product development company should be open to inviting you to observe their network of factories and showing you products they’ve developed through contract manufacturing.
Trust – Marche has offices in the U.S. and China, making it easy to meet face to face and maintain a transparent relationship.
Competitive Pricing – Marche’s pricing will not be beat. The key factor in providing competitive pricing for our clients is our vast network of manufacturers. Our office in ShenZhen, China has qualified hundreds of trustworthy factories. Knowing their strengths and weaknesses makes it easy for us to get multiple bids and contract the factories with the best pricing and reliable quality.
3. Pre-Production Samples
After all the design, engineering, and tooling is done and the factories have been contracted, they will work to produce the first sets of manufactured products. Usually only a few products are made. These samples are called ‘T1’ or ‘preproduction samples’. They almost always have issues that need to be resolved by engineers. The engineers do what is called ‘tooling modifications’ to correct issues caused by defects in the plastic injection tooling or other types of tools which make the parts for the product.
U.S. Engineering and Customer Review – Marche has engineers in China and the U.S. who work together to perfect the manufacturing process. Having engineering in the states is also advantageous to our American customers because they can easily review the product without having to travel to Asia.
4. Initial Purchase Order
Once the pre-production samples are perfected, the initial purchase order is placed and the manufacturers prepare for and start production. Project management is key here. Knowing the lead times of each part and understanding where you may have a bottle-neck can greatly decrease your time to market.
5. QA
Products are tested at a set sampling rate. A document called the CAC (customer acceptance criteria) is used to guide the QA. The CAC provides information about how the product needs to be tested, and what performance specs it needs to meet during testing.
Marche International QA – Although any legitimate manufacturer will have in-house QA, we find it necessary, at least during initial production runs, to place our own QA employees at the factories. Our QA team works with our engineers to understand exactly how the product works, and where things might go wrong.
They work together with our U.S. office and our clients to create and execute detailed CAC documentation, which acts as a playbook throughout the manufacturing process.
