How to tell whether Providence is… or isn’t… the perfect fit CM for you
Why is it so difficult to find the right contract manufacturer? After all, you are spoiled for choice, with hundreds of thousands of companies of varying sizes and specialties.
It’s precisely because of the cluttered market that choosing the best among them is so difficult.
Plus there’s a high risk to getting it wrong: You do not want to find out halfway through product development (or worse, assembly), that your CM cannot deliver. When speed-to-market is critical, you can’t switch horses – even slow ones – mid-race.
Differentiators vs Commodities
On paper, a good many CMs look the same because most manufacturers won’t consider working with them unless they fulfil fundamental criteria. These offerings are commodities. For example, any CM that doesn’t have ISO 9001 could pose a risk.
Commodities include the facilities and capabilities you require, such as factory space, clean rooms, injection molding, tooling and experience manufacturing your type of product.
Differentiators are tougher to quantify. These are the unique differences that require a closer look and usually a few meetings.
This post aims to demonstrate what sets Providence apart.
But first:
When Providence Isn’t the Right CM for You
Providence ticks all the commodities boxes. As we’ll see, we are better at many of them than many of our competitors, but that does not necessarily mean we are the right CM for you. If any of the three scenarios apply to you, you need not read any further.
If you have all the design and manufacturing resources and expertise you need in-house, you don’t need us. In fact, you don’t need a CM at all.
If you only need help with one small process in the manufacturing chain AND are certain you will never need to grow, scale up production or expand your offerings, consider small, single function CMs.
If you have your heart set on one of the 5 largest CMs because you yourself are big enough for them to prioritize your work (over, say, Apple or Toyota) when things get tough, well, you are probably already on their client list. If not, keep reading. You may be surprised at what Providence can offer.
Check out our infographic on “right-sizing” your CM choice.
And now…
The Providence Differentiators: What Makes a Partner
There are four pillars that set Providence apart.
Strategic Approach
Handing over a piece of your process to a third party can feel risky. We get that. However, we pride ourselves on partnerships in which our customers feel they have more control over their products and processes, not less.
When you come on board, you are immediately assigned a dedicated team that will work with you in the long-term. Sure, you might have only engaged us for one job, but most of our clients end up staying with us for years and even decades. This is in no small part because of the built trust and easy communication with a team who, from the very start, has been invested in understanding not only your project and products, but in your values, goals and work culture.
Accountability to Brand
Success is how you build your brand and obtain the trust of your customers. Your brand’s strength greatly impacts your reputation and earning power, and Providence takes every step (and then some) to ensure your intellectual property is protected. We are ISO 27001 certified and compliant with global, country and region-specific protection acts.
Our network of IP experts in several countries ensures your protection does not stop at borders. Let’s take China, for example. While many of the stigmas and stereotypes about protecting IP in China are undeserved, Providence ensures multiple layers of protection wherever we are.
Manufacturing Excellence
Earlier we pointed out that most CMs can boast of similar facilities and capabilities; some just do better than others.
Providence does it better. Vertical integration of our business means that not only can we provide experts for every phase of the design, development and production process, but that these experts talk to and consult one another regularly. They have amassed a great deal of interdisciplinary knowledge and so know when to involve colleagues to ensure there are no mistakes that will only become apparent further down the production line.
We pride ourselves on our Design for Excellence (DfX) methodology, which ensures that, beyond fitting technical specifications, your product has been designed for quality, usability, cost, manufacturability and numerous other considerations.
Innovation
Our eyes-on-the-future approach means we are keen to hear about, support and proactively propose ideas that will drive your company’s growth. This goes beyond scaling up production of a successful product, though we certainly can do that. It means our experts share all ideas that work to your benefit. This includes anything from suggesting more cost-effective parts or manufacturing processes to discussing new trends and technologies that could sharpen your product’s competitive edge.
Bonus: 3 Questions to Help You Narrow Your Search
When you first meet your prospective CM, you will naturally have a lot of questions for them. To gauge whether or not they are the right fit, there are also a few questions you can ask yourself.
- Does your CM feel the weight of this project like you do?
Does your prospect ask a lot of questions, not just about what this product is supposed to do, but also why it is important to your company? A true partner invests in the success of your project. - Do they make strategic suggestions, even if it means less money for them?
A CM who only cares about the current project will try to make as much money from you as possible before saying their good-byes. A CM who prioritizes trust and relationship-building won’t mind taking a few hits in order to help you out. - Does your CM know what they’re NOT great at?
Trust also depends on honesty. The right partner will not oversell their capabilities, knowing that it will only hinder the future of the relationship.
Choosing the right CM is not easy, but we’ve tried to make it easier. For more tips, download/ read our free guideline.
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About Providence Enterprise
Providence Enterprise is a Hong Kong medical device contract manufacturer of Class I and II medical devices with manufacturing in China & Vietnam. We specialize in electro-mechanical assemblies and high-volume disposables. We are FDA registered and ISO 13485, ISO 14971, ISO 14001, ISO 27001 certified. Our capabilities include fabricating tooling for silicone rubber and injection molded plastics, clean room injection molding, electronics, clean room assembly, and sterilization.