December 21, 2022 How Tailored Manufacturing is Supplying Quality Goods

Helping businesses manufacture and transport products while providing end-to-end visibility over their supply chain.

By Edward Routh, Founder — Relloe

The business of manufacturing is relationship-based. Companies form relationships not only with their customers, but with their suppliers. Today’s market is primarily impulse- and quantity-driven. When anyone can buy large quantities of an item with the click of a button, without ever having to form a relationship with anything, companies that break from the norm and seek out tailored manufacturing options are sure to stand out.

In traditional manufacturing, large quantities of goods are produced to sell these items to as many people as possible. However, this approach to manufacturing eschews the focus on quality and instead prioritizes quantity. One only needs to look at today’s fast-fashion industry to see this approach in action. Fast fashion companies can quickly supply their customers with cheaper, less sustainable products. The quality is often sub-par, but the efficiency of ordering and the store’s ability to order in bulk trumps the quality concern.

Compared to fast fashion, tailored manufacturing presents far greater opportunities for customization. This quality allows companies to bring quality back into focus for its customers.

Supplier Vetting

When a company wants to bring a product to the market, it must find one that meets its production needs and quality expectations. If they want to focus on quantity over quality, there are plenty of options for them to choose from. With the rise in digital technology in manufacturing processes, items can be made en masse almost as soon as they are ordered. However, finding a supplier that can provide a more boutique, tailored experience for a product may be a bit more challenging.

A strict vetting process for a company’s suppliers is key in forging an ongoing relationship that consistently results in quality goods. Background checks, interviews, meetings, and deep dives into the supplier’s output should steer companies towards the best supplier for the job. Failing to vet suppliers properly can result in a poor quality product and greater quantities of money lost.

Vetting a supplier all comes down to asking the right questions. What is their turnaround time for production? What is the price, and what are the payment terms? Can these suppliers show the company examples of their past quality work?

When a company focuses on tailored manufacturing, the right supply partner is the cornerstone of that process. Putting time and effort into vetting will ensure that the correct supply partner is found.

Streamlining the Tailored Manufacturing Process

Once a supplier is appropriately vetted and selected, streamlining the tailored manufacturing process will help a company get its product to market faster. Tailored manufacturing is helpful for small and medium-sized businesses looking to streamline their production process. There is also a significant reduction in waste with custom manufacturing, which not only assists with streamlining a company’s supply chain, but also helps the environment.

Companies should take care to organize the processes and logistics of delivery, customs handling, trucking/shipping, warehousing, fulfillment, and regulation compliance. It is a large number of considerations, yes, but once these are addressed and set processes are in place, the entire operation can be considered streamlined. With an efficient, streamlined process, companies can get more of their quality goods to the market, meet deadlines, and — ultimately — make their customers happy with each purchase made.

The difference between process success and failure can fall on communication. Even with the most successfully streamlined approaches, failing to communicate clearly and openly with suppliers can cause the entire operation to tumble. Having open lines of communication throughout the supply chain can further help streamline the entire process.

The desires of customers, both present and future, also drive streamlining. Companies that learn to look beyond simple order fulfillment and consider what their customers ultimately want are bound to not only find they prefer a tailored manufacturing experience, but that the experience leads to business success.

By reducing waste, emphasizing quality control, improving communications, and investing in a better way to manufacture goods, companies can streamline operations and ultimately offer better service overall to their customers.

Tailored manufacturing can help elevate one’s business. Even though the process of manufacturing goods is cheaper and easier than before, the onslaught of cheap, mass-produced goods lacking quality is not necessarily a positive for the market as a whole. There still remains a place for a more bespoke path for companies, found in tailored manufacturing that emphasizes smaller runs of quality products. The flexibility, environmental benefits, and focus on quality makes tailored manufacturing an option that businesses should strongly consider.

Originally from the UK, Edward began his career in product and marketing, setting up a product design studio in Los Angeles with a small team of passionate and creative entrepreneurs. Edward went on to work with startups across the technology sector, including eCommerce and digital retail, as well as gaining supply chain experience handling the manufacturing and distribution for a CBD company based in the UK.

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