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When you’re going to be manufacturing products, it requires you to have an understanding of the design, materials, and budget; it’s a massive undertaking for any business and something to think about carefully. These are some of the things you need to know before starting up your own factory. 

Market research

Before doing anything else, be sure to conduct thorough market research. This is so important, the last thing you want is to be producing products that no one wants. Look at the competitors you have in your industry and work out how your product provides additional value to your customers. Always build and test a prototype before sending any product into mass production; you need to know that you’re 100% happy with how it’s going to turn out. 

The logistics

Think about whether manufacturing your own products will be a possibility, it will mainly depend on what you want to make and what your budget is. If for example you want to make very complex items which require a lot of technology and specialist materials, it could be worth outsourcing to a company since they will already have everything they need in place, from wire forming equipment to injection moulding, high powered machines and much more. If your business makes products that are easier to manufacture such as clothes or other textiles creating products yourself could be in reach, you’d need to just invest in some commercial sewing machines.  

Costs

Creating a factory to produce products isn’t just about the equipment and machinery; there are so many other things to think about, and all of these costs can add up in a big way. You will need to consider the premises (usually factories need large premises which cost more money, not to mention warehousing space for raw materials and the end product to be stored. You’ll need to think about hiring staff; these people need to be trained and experienced in the types of machines you want to run. Then there’s transportation, maintenance and repairs and more. You’ll need to find companies you can make regular purchases of materials and raw goods from, make sure you work out exactly how much you will need to spend to get started to see if it’s doable.

Health and Safety

There are risks involved in any workplace, but when it comes to manufacturing, there are even more health and safety considerations to bear in mind. Just look at the statistics, over the past 5 years, each year an average of 22 workers died in workplace accidents in the manufacturing industry. There were over three thousands reports of major injuries and over four thousand reports of injuries that kept workers away from work for seven days or more too, so even if you’re careful, things can still go wrong. Power tools, machines, vehicles, high heat, and chemicals all might be used, which makes for a more dangerous workplace. Make sure you have the correct insurances, and that staff is adequately trained. Follow health and safety rules to the letter to avoid mistakes being made that could harm employees and put you at risk of lawsuits.