Offshore Outsourcing Services: Outsourcing Product Design

Advantages of offshore outsourcing product design

Outsourcing Product Design is the new buzz word in offshore outsourcing services. Sometimes finding the experts to do manufacturing or a specific aspect of design is the more profitable-route and ultimately economical.

Whether it is to cut costs, speed time to market, or get a new angle on a product design, many companies are outsourcing product design as a strategy to handle much of the work that was normally done in-house.
Offshore Outsourcing Services extends to manufacturing as well, but the benefits are different. Companies look to contract manufacturers to bear the financial risk since manufacturing internally requires a huge investment in production and test equipment and raw materials.
The point is once a company outsources they can focus on their own core competencies, devote more time to their customers, and move products out the door faster.

Offshore Outsourcing Product Design: Nitty gritty details

• "Typically you have to keep a couple of months of inventory in stock to draw from in order to manufacture your product," says Freid of Contract Manufacturing Consultants.
• "A contract manufacturer doing that for you, you just put in an order for a product, which you can immediately turn around and sell."
• Time to market is also an appeal for start-up companies. By outsourcing production they can get product rolling out the door faster.

Offshore Outsourcing Product Design: Is it for every one?

Says Freid of Contract Manufacturing Consultants “But contracting manufacturing is not for everyone”, who offers feasibility assessments for his clients.

"If the outsourcing value is small relative to the number of mechanical assemblies, that's not a program that's going to be attractive," Freid says. OEMs should also think twice if a product requires lots of changes or complex systems manufacturing.

Another consideration is the additional material cost. In order to meet their objectives, contract manufacturers need to mark up material costs by as much as 10%, according to Freid.

When should you outsource product design?
Freid says that companies tend to favor outsourcing product design and development

• If the design is for a low-end product relative to their other offerings,
• If the product requires design for manufacturability tests that are not available in house, or 
• If a design falls outside of its core competency.  

Now outsource product design and ring in a different point of view; a different style." to your products- Best of luck!