Important things you need to be aware of when starting a manufacturing company.

1. Start with an idea-: The first thing you need is an idea. What is that thing you want to start manufacturing? It is important to come up with innovative ideas and not just a copycat kind of manufacturing business. I mean, you can copy but it has to be a better version of what already exists. Some of the ways to come up with innovative ideas include-:

Choose a niche you like-: There might be a product you are passionate about; this is a good place to start from.

High demand products-: There are certainly some products whose demand exceeds supply or products that typically have high levels of demand; you can look into any of these products.

Fill a gap-: You could also look for existing gaps in the market that you can fill. For instance, if you live in a place where getting clean, portable drinking water is a problem, you can consider production of packaged water to fill this gap.

Solve a problem-: Another way to find profitable niches in manufacturing is to find out some of the products that people are dissatisfied with, and then come up with a better version that would be more satisfactory to people.

Innovations-: Nothing stops you from thinking of a product that doesn’t already exist in the market.

2. Find out laws and regulations-: We are all guided by the laws of the countries we reside in. Before you go further with your manufacturing plan, you should find out what the position of the law is on the item to be produced. You should also find out what licenses and approvals you would need and then comply accordingly.

3. Select a production facility-: You would need a place to use as your production factory. This of course depends on the size of your business. If it’s a small manufacturing business, you can start from home provided that there are no zoning laws preventing you from doing so. But if it’s a big manufacturing business, you have to look for a production facility. Some factors to consider when selecting a facility include- your needs, funds available, budget and infrastructure suitability.

4. Choose Equipment and Machines for Production-: The next step to take is to find out what equipments and machines you would need to manufacture the product. When you have found this out, you can now start to think of how to get these machines. Some things to put into consideration include quality of the machines; you don’t want to spend money buying a machine that would end up giving you problems. You should also take price into consideration but never at the expense of quality. You can also reduce the costs of purchasing equipment by hiring equipment or buying from suppliers who provide flexible financing options.

5. Decide on your production method-: There are different ways to produce any given product and it’s important to find out and adopt the most cost effective option. Some of the popular production methods include; job production which involves a single person/worker making a product from start to finish, batch production which involves several people working on different stages of the production and assembly line production method. Select the method that is both cost effective and efficient.

6. Plan your raw materials-: You would also need raw materials to make your product and this must be planned beforehand to ensure that you would always have access to the materials you need at every point in time. You have to determine the quantity of each material you would order for, the size of your order and your re-order level. You can make use of material planning software or economic order quantity formula to do this easily.

7. Find out your production costs-: This is important especially when you need to decide how much capital you would need to start your business. There are different costs in productions. There are fixed costs, direct costs, indirect costs and variable costs. It is important to find out what these costs would be.

8. Decide on Logistics-: How would you move your raw materials around? What about your finished products, how would you transport them to wholesalers and buyers? Would you have to purchase a vehicle or contract this function out? It is important to figure this out beforehand.

9. Marketing-: This is very important as well. You need to figure out how you would create awareness for your product and increase patronage. You can hire a marketing consultant to do this for you or find out cheap ways to do it yourself.

10. Funding-: When you have figured out all you need and how you would get them, then you should write your business plan and find out how much you need to start your manufacturing business. Then you can start looking for capital to fund your business.

11. Protect your innovation-: You don’t want anyone stealing your ideas hence; you have to protect yourself through patents and copyrights. You should also perform risk assessment and protect yourself through product liability insurance and other necessary insurance coverage that may be needed for the type of your business.

12. Consider Export Options-: A good way to expand your business is by exporting to other countries; find out how to go about this from the export promotion agency in your country.