Here at Sofeast we often work with partners to help support you and deliver the right results when you’re developing a new product to manufacture and bring to market.
The partners you see are grouped corresponding to the new product development stage you’d work with them during:
# Collecting applicable safety requirements
Compliance Gate can help guide you through applicable regulations. Search their knowledge base and you might already find a wealth of information about what your product will need to comply with. Particularly useful for simple products. To get in touch it’s best to book a free consultation with them.
Product safety consulting Inc. based in the MidWest of the USA, provides consultancy and testing for major North American and European product safety certifications for most product types.
# Setting the right contracts to protect yourself from the manufacturer
Harris Bricken is among the best boutique international law firms, and their attorneys can set up agreements for safeguarding your intellectual property and your other business interests. You can contact Dan Harris for advice on Chinese legal matters.
# Accounting firm and related business services
Hongda in Shenzhen provides local assistance with accounting, Chinese tax matters, and other financial needs that importers from China may have. They are a local company, but they speak English and have offices around China. Get started by contacting them for initial advice.
# Designing the aesthetics of the product (industrial design)
Our clients have worked with a group of industrial designers and design houses with good results, and we are happy to recommend them (based on your product type and where you are located). Here are some examples of product design partners we work with (both design houses and individual designers):
- In Canada: the team at Waterloo Technical has a great team of industrial designers as well as product development engineers, and they have rich experience managing projects with North American clients. Contact: grant.unsworth(at)waterlooti(dot)com
- In the UK: Andy Bartlett is a freelance industrial designer who worked on a variety of products, from mobile phones to toys. Andy has a talent for concept exploration and sketching. Contact: andy(at)andybartlettdesign(dot)com
- In Shenzhen, China: two industrial designers in our area that we recommend are Jean Baptiste De Clercq [jeanbaptiste(at)c-r(dot)design] and Diego Meneses [paul(at)diegomeneses(dot)com]
# Developing prototypes of your product
Here, the right fit will be highly dependent on your situation and specific needs. We collected a list of prototyping companies in China on this page.
We might also be able to help you create prototypes ourselves since we have an in-house R&D team and some common prototyping equipment (3D printer, CNC machine…).
# Professional product presentation videography & photography
Zen & Zany, based in Shenzhen, has helped fast-growing Chinese startups create videos to launch their products for overseas markets, helping clients raise $7 million+ on crowdfunding.
China Product Photo – Anton and his team provide excellent product photography and videography in China for websites and online stores.
# Pre-selling products
Kickstarter offers a great way to pre-sell your product, provided you already have a prototype. It is a way to confirm market demand and get advance payments.
Indiegogo is another crowdfunding site that may be a good fit.
Many of our customers have done a campaign on one of these sites, and then on the other one. It is much less work the 2nd time, but the amount raised might be higher.
# Contract manufacturing
The Sofeast group includes a wholly-owned contract manufacturer, Agilian Technology. Agilian is based near Shenzhen airport and usually works with customers who come with a product design (and usually a full prototype). The 8,000+ square meter facility includes engineering staff who focus on new product development and can handle prototyping, process engineering and setup, quality and testing processes setup. Once a new product’s manufacturing is considered ready for mass production, it is handled by the production department.
# E-commerce distribution in the USA
Our preferred solution for e-commerce distribution in the US. East Coast-based Ship it Done is a 3PL warehouse with transparent pricing and a lot of experience of assisting e-commerce vendors in the USA. Their services include storage, pick and pack, fulfillment, and expertise in dealing with Amazon FBA, eBay, crowdfunding, and more.
Please note:
We have listed companies that we have worked with for a long time and/or were highly praised by some of our other partners — unfortunately, we do not respond to requests to be included in this list, which is strictly curated by our top management.
