It really is a global marketplace. As a consumer, you have more choices of available suppliers than ever to bring your product to the masses. Even within our industry segments of membrane switches, screen printed overlays, flexographic labels, rubber keypads and functional die cut parts, there are options from regional producers to international suppliers.
As an engineer or purchasing decision maker, it is important to understand your options and lay out the pros and cons for each purchasing decision. If you are firmly in the “made in America” camp, your decision is easy but the days of buying on price vs. buying on quality may be in the past. There are some strong market suppliers capable of producing your product based on either of those criteria in all parts of the globe if you know where to look and are willing to go through some trial and error and make a few mistakes along the way. So how do you choose?
It goes without saying that there can still be significant risk in off shore purchases. You have to be vigilant in your purchase and quality decisions. As the saying goes, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Are you willing to hang your reputation on the lowest cost supplier? There will be suppliers that win on price by virtue of geographic location but in the end, struggle to meet your expectations on quality. Suppliers that understand the needs of their customer and respect their intellectual property and design constraints exist but are also fewer and further in between.
What if you didn’t have to make that choice? What if you could find that one supplier with domestic production and engineering facilities that also has ties to quality suppliers in low cost regions? What if you could find that one supplier that will listen to your needs, help you address your concerns and have the expertise and the resources to review your product and be able to adjust based on your feedback?
Design Mark maintains a full service production facility in Wareham Massachusetts with capabilities to manufacture your custom labels, graphic overlays, membrane switches and functional die cut products. Design Mark also maintains strong partnerships with key domestic and off shore suppliers that have been evaluated for their pricing, quality and delivery and found them to align with our strategic goals, core values and our quality management system. Design Mark has done the due diligence to take the guess work out of your decision making process. Of course we want to work within our core competencies and manufacture your products in our domestic facility but we realize that there are occasions that you will need to search for other solutions. You can shop confidently knowing that we have the resources to combine our manufacturing skills with our available strategic partners to get you the product you want at the price you need. There will always be products that don’t make logistical or financial sense to purchase off shore. There will also be products that fit within the off-shore purchase criteria. Don’t put your product at risk and your timeline in jeopardy by making the wrong decision.
If you would like to learn more, contact Design Mark to discuss your application or to set up a “lunch and learn” seminar with our team.
For more information on Design Mark or our Lunch and Learn series, contact us at Sales@design-mark.com or visit our Request a Quote link on the home page.