Hello my helpful orchid friends, I have decided it may be in my best
interest to find a manufacturer who can produce my jewelry for me
should the demand exceed my production capabilities. Granted, I am
just starting out, but my teacher always said,“When something is a
hit, it hits BIG!”. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to go about
this. My line is made up of a variety of things that I’m not sure one
manufacturer could cover. Not only that , but some of my materials
were hard for ME to find, no less someone else. Has anyone been
through this process before? How is a manufacturer found and if your
materials are unique would you supply them to a manufacturer if they
couldn’t produce them themselves? How much does a prototype cost and
is everything paid for up front? None of my classes ever covered
this aspect of the industry. Can anyone recommend a class or a book
that might help me out? Thanks again, A. Derenthal
Dear Morticia, I have been working on this very problem for about 2
years now and have some fantastic suppliers. I have a caster and a
fabricator I work with. The one problem I have with creating a
production line that you will not be working on yourself is that you
need to design with that in mind, there for not all pieces you are
presently making might work for production. You need to have
predictable stone suppliers or your production tends to become more
one of- in mass. This may or may not be attractive to both the
purchaser of your product or the producer of your product. Please
contact me off list if you have any questions I can help you with.
The suppliers I have I would be happy to put you in touch with.
@Patania_s Sam Patania, Tucson