Custom Mould Development Process
Starting from a design
Custom mould development starts from a design, which may be a drawing, a sample or a specification. The company states that it has its own mould workshop and can develop a dedicated mould for a customer, with the mould belonging to that customer's account. That ownership point is the first thing to understand about custom work: the mould is made for one customer's design and is held for that customer, rather than being a general catalogue mould available to any buyer.
A design for a custom handle, fitting or ornament should state the material, the finish and, where the piece is load-bearing, the rating required, because those three facts determine whether the design can be moulded and how the mould must be made. A design that states only an appearance, without material or rating, cannot be assessed, and the workshop will need to ask for the missing facts before it can proceed. The custom mould page introduces the service, and the materials guide lists the materials available.
Making the mould
Making the mould is the workshop's work, and its duration depends on the design's complexity, which is why no development period is published for custom work in general. A simple shape in a standard material will take less time than a detailed shape with undercuts or with a special finish requirement, and a buyer who is given a period for one design should not assume the same period for another. The period for a particular design is confirmed at enquiry stage, once the design has been assessed.
No mould fee is published either, for the same reason: the fee depends on the design, the material and the quantity, and it must be confirmed at enquiry stage. This blog does not invent a fee, a period or a minimum quantity for custom work, and a buyer should not assume any of them from a catalogue figure, because catalogue figures belong to catalogue models, not to custom designs.
Samples before production
Samples are the bridge between mould and production. Once the mould is made, samples are produced from it, and the customer approves the sample before bulk production begins. That approval step is essential, because a mould that produces a sample the customer has not approved cannot be corrected by producing more pieces from it; the correction must happen at the mould or at the sample stage, before production.
A sample should be checked as a catalogue sample would be: finish against a physical sample, fit against the casket or application it is for, and, for a load-bearing piece, rating against the requirement, with a load-test record requested where the rating must be proved. A custom sample that passes those checks can go to production with confidence, while a sample that fails any of them should be raised before production, not after delivery.
Production and repeat custom orders
Production from a dedicated mould follows the same pattern as catalogue production: the material, finish and rating are specified, the quantity and lead time are confirmed, and payment is by telegraphic transfer or letter of credit, with shipments from Wenzhou by full or less than container load. The lead time for custom production includes mould development as well as production, and it cannot be read from the catalogue lead time of typically 30 days, because the catalogue figure excludes mould development.
Repeat custom orders use the same mould, held for the customer's account, which is the advantage of a dedicated mould: the design does not need to be remade, and the finish and rating can be held across orders, subject to the same confirmation discipline as catalogue repeat orders. The repeat-order guide gives the confirmation wording, and it applies to custom orders as well, with the mould reference added to the model, finish and rating.
OEM and ODM in the same process
OEM and ODM work follow the same process, with a different division of design responsibility. In OEM work, the customer supplies the design and the company manufactures it. In ODM work, the company contributes design as well. In either case, the product, finish and rating must be specified model by model, just as for a catalogue product, because a custom product has no catalogue page to refer to, and its specification must be created in the enquiry and in the sample approval.
A buyer considering OEM or ODM work should therefore enquire with the same completeness as for a custom mould: design or design brief, material, finish, rating where load-bearing, quantity and application. An enquiry that omits any of those items will generate questions, while an enquiry that states them all can be assessed and quoted without delay.
What custom work does not include
Custom work does not include listing another customer's design in the catalogue. Custom products belong to the customer who commissioned them, and a buyer browsing the catalogue should not expect to find another customer's custom design among the 313 catalogue items. The catalogue and custom work are separate routes, and a design seen in the catalogue is a catalogue product, while a design made for one customer remains that customer's product.
Custom work also does not include a certificate claim. Certificates are available upon request, but no certificate name, number or issuing body is published, and a buyer who needs a named certificate for a custom product should ask for the certificate list before ordering, rather than assuming a certificate from the custom nature of the work.
Protecting a custom design
A custom design belongs to the customer who commissioned it, and protecting it means keeping its details within the commissioning relationship. Drawings, samples and specifications supplied for a custom mould should be treated as that customer's information, and the mould itself, belonging to the customer's account, should not be used for another customer's product. That protection is part of what a dedicated mould means, and it should be confirmed in the enquiry, not assumed.
A customer commissioning a custom design should also keep its own record of the design, the mould reference, the sample approval and the production history, so that a repeat custom order can cite the mould and the approved sample, rather than redescribing the design from scratch. A custom design whose record is lost must be redesigned, while a custom design whose record is kept can be reordered from its mould, which is the advantage that justifies the mould's cost.
Before payment, confirm the model number, material, finish, quantity, lead time and any load-test record for your order with the sales team.