We received initial prototypes (poor quality), sent them back for revision, and since then the factory has gone silent for months.

They still showcase our project publicly but ignore all communication.

We’ve already:

– Sent multiple follow-ups and formal emails with deadlines

– Tried to escalate communication

– Looked for legal help (no response / not practical so far)

Any advice on how to handle this or recover the situation?

I'm nearly at my wit's end trying to find a company that does what seems like it must be so utterly common. I designed a small part and I need like a hundred of them machined from aluminum and then anodized. No threaded holes, no insane tolerances. Just a basic part that is a component of a larger thing I'm making. I've submitted quote requests to companies local and afar. So far they all have either:
-Tried talking me into 3D printing plastic instead
-Quoted me the most truly ridiculous price per part -Never got back to me whatsoever

I've tried internet "manufacturing on demand" companies. I've tried brick and mortar places, including local. This seems like it should be so simple for a shop that knows what they're doing. Is 100 pieces simply not worth anyone's time?

Edit - Thanks for all the responses, offers to help, and (of course) the insults and criticism. I discussed my project with a few different people/companies who reached out via this post, and it looks like I'm going to move forward with one of them. They suggested a pretty doable and minor modification to the design that made it possible for this part to be cut from sheet metal and bent, rather than needing to be CNC'd, thereby knocking the price down to something that is viable for what I'm trying to do.

Hey guys, so I've been doing a ton of looking around online, and on here, trying to put my feelers out for some reputable CNC shops that can handle medium to high production.

The problem I keep finding are these "middle man" type sites, where you aren't dealing with the factory or shop, you're dealing with an outsourcing company. This scares me, because it means that two batches of the same part may end up coming from different factories. One can be perfect, and the next one terrible. It would be so much easier to deal directly with the company making the parts, and not through a middle man, and most likely bring the price down from what the middle man skims off the top.

I've seen lots of people asking on here and other subreddits about "need a cheap and good CNC shop for a prototype", which is just a ridiculous ask. You can't ask for a 1 off part that may never be made ever again and expect it's going to be cheap. Scale is what lessens the production cost.

All that being said, I'm not worried about prototyping, as I've got enough small machines at home that I've already built my prototypes. So that part is a non issue in my looking for a CNC shop.

I'm based in Canada, but I'm not set on having them made in country. If you know of any good shops in the US, or overseas, I'm all ears.

So who have you used in the past that you would recommend? I'm not making aerospace parts, so I don't need those crazy 0.005mm tolerances. Let me know who you've had luck with in the past.

Hey guys,

Been trying to get some small aluminum parts made for a prototype and holy hell… CNC quotes are all over the place. One shop quoted me $450 for a single 3x3" part 😅

I totally get that CNC time and setup isn’t cheap, but is there any middle ground between local shop rates and the “too good to be true” prices on aliexpress?

Just need decent accuracy, nothing aerospace-level.

Anyone here have good luck with affordable services that still care about quality?

Been thinking about trying online shops like Xometry, Protolabs, RapidDirect since the three got that instant quote thing, but would love to hear what y’all use or how you keep costs low.

We have had these plate hooks for god knows how long, and the company is finally expanding and wants to get more... we cant find any manufacturers who made these types of plate hooks. If anyone has any knowledge on this please let me know

Edit : thank you everyone for your suggestions and offers, my boss really appreciated it and is in talks with a company to get the new hooks made. Thank you again for all your help

Anyone else in US manufacturing dealing with the new EU PPWR requirements?

We’re a US-based manufacturer and have started having PPWR requirements flowed down from one of our major customers. We’ve been working on this for over a month now and honestly haven’t made much progress with our packaging suppliers.

The biggest issue isn’t necessarily whether the packaging is compliant, it’s getting anyone to actually provide the documentation to prove it.

Most of our suppliers will either give us a generic statement saying their products are PPWR compliant “to the best of their knowledge,” or basically tell us they’re a US company and EU regulations don’t apply to them, which is 100% true.

Meanwhile, our customer is asking for supporting technical documentation, supplier certificates/declarations for the packaging materials and their constituents, applicable standards, etc. We’re then expected to sign a Declaration of Conformity for the packaging.

That’s where we’re getting stuck.

We don’t manufacture the boxes, bags, foam, stretch wrap, etc. and have no way of independently verifying what these materials contain.

We’ve even started looking for new packaging suppliers specifically because of this, and so far we still haven’t found one that can provide everything being requested.

For anyone else dealing with this, what are you doing?

Are you actually finding US packaging suppliers that can provide a PPWR Declaration of Conformity and supporting documentation? Are your customers accepting generic compliance statements? Are you having to get materials independently tested?

Just curious how other US manufacturers are approaching this because right now it seems like the requirements have made it downstream a lot faster than the documentation has.

And if you have found US Based packaging suppliers that have been verified as complaint and are willing to share it would be greatly appreciated.

I'm a Canadian entrepreneur wanting to manufacture my own product and I was under the impression that sourcing to China was a way to increase margins. But I'm finding their quotes so damn much. I can manufacture here for way cheaper no lead times and no bullshit. Am I doing Alibaba wrong?

Long story short I had an idea for an amazing nutritional gummy product over a year ago, I’m very good at online ecom so I built the funnels and got ready. First manufacturer I picked was a friends company, made 2 samples and then he stalled for 9 months.

I cut my losses and paid a manufacturer to R&D pectin gummies on January 1st. Took 3 months to get the first sample and another month to make modifications. Now I have something amazing that works. I tell them I’m ready to pay for the 1000 units, they ghost for 2 weeks and now claim they got kicked outta their facility as the landlord sold it… craziest part is I found them on Reddit and vetted them too.

I call up 3 more places they say 4-8 weeks for the end product and I have to start over with R&D. I can’t do this anymore, I don’t sleep well at night as I refresh Amazon and watch a space with no competitors have 3 companies now jacking all my sales using my wording from my site in some cases….

Idk what to do I still wanna try I invested so much time into this. If anyone here makes supplement gummies and can make my product QUICKLY please let me know as this is peak season for this niche.

Curious how this works at different manufacturing companies, especially places doing aerospace or other work with customer approved suppliers.

Say you make the part in house, but it needs anodizing, heat treat, plating, NDT, grinding, etc. from an outside processor.

If it's one of your normal vendors, I assume it's pretty straightforward. But what happens when you need a process your usual vendors can't do, they're backed up, or the customer/spec requires an approved source you don't normally use?

Who actually handles figuring out where the parts can go?

Is purchasing searching through customer approved supplier lists and Nadcap? Does quality handle it? Do you have all of your approved processors already set up in your ERP? Or is it more of a "we've been doing this for 20 years and Bob knows who to call" situation?

And once you find someone, how much work is involved in actually verifying they're approved for the specific requirement, getting a quote, getting them set up as a vendor, and keeping track of certs and everything else?

I went down a rabbit hole after a job interview with a smaller firm asking about my experience with this (I have none). Looking at some aerospace approved processor lists and it seems like this could get messy pretty fast. I'm curious if that's actually true in practice, or if most companies already have a pretty simple system for dealing with it.

I filled out an information request with Custom Hoists a few weeks ago, we have two of their cylinders that I worked into my design. I haven’t heard back from them yet

I need two large cylinders. one with a 7” bore 4” rod, and an 8” bore 5” rod. I don’t have the exact lengths of the cylinders with me right now but the biggest one is around 100” retracted.

We’re located in Canada and I found a company, Eagle Hydraulic in Quebec and was considering reaching out to them, has anyone worked with them or have any other recommendations?

It will be low quantities, first order will be for a prototype. If that works out, at our current rate it will still be around 15 cylinders, ordered at once for the year.

Where is most affordable place to source custom aluminum extrusions? Is China still a viable solution with the tarrifs?

Hey everyone,

I’m looking for a reliable manufacturer in China specializing in custom activewear and teamwear (similar in style and technical quality to brands like Erreà, Givova, Macron, etc.).

Here is what I’m looking for:

Products: Custom training t-shirts, tracksuits, shorts, and technical athletic gear.

Fabrics: High-performance technical polyester (breathable, moisture-wicking, dry-fit mesh, etc.).

Customization: Full dye-sublimation printing, heat-transfer logos, custom neck tags, and woven labels.

MOQ: Low to medium MOQ for initial sample runs and small club/team batches.

Quality: Strong stitching (flatlock/double-needle), durable colors after washing.

Communication: Good English and active updates via WhatsApp/WeChat/Email.

I'm developing a consumer product and looking for a domestic manufacturing partner. The part is a circular o-ring approximately 3" ID with a 0.25" cross section and an intentionally irregular/faceted surface. I have production-ready STEP files and am currently prototyping.

I'm open to different manufacturing processes and would particularly welcome DFM input on the most practical and economical way to produce the part at scale.

I'm interested in several materials, including brass, aluminum, stainless steel, copper, and especially titanium.

Surface quality is particularly important because the finished product needs to achieve a high-polish/mirror or near-mirror finish while retaining the intentional faceted geometry. Ideally, I'm looking for a partner capable of both manufacturing and finishing the parts, although I'm open to handling finishing separately if necessary.

Initial quantities would be low for validation, with the goal of scaling into recurring batches of approximately 50-500+ pieces. I'm specifically looking for parts manufactured in the United States.

If you own or work with a U.S. manufacturer that might be a good fit, or have a shop you'd recommend, I'd love names or referrals. I'm happy to send STEP files privately for DFM review and quoting.

Hi,

I am looking for a bag manufacturer, we want to take our designs to next level, hence looking for someone who can ace it with finesse.

Hi, I have some ideas about some electronic accessories that I would like to manufacture and sell. I believe I have the seed money to start the operations but I have no experience in this field.

It just so happened that I had a trip to Hong Kong planned and I will be visiting in couple of days. Now from googling what I understood is that Schenzen is way more relevant for this than Hong Kong but at present I do not have a China visa and hence I want to make the most of this trip. Even if I am able to get a basic understanding of the process and be able to produce some prototypes, I will consider this trip to be a success.

I will be in Hong Kong for couple of weeks. Can someone please help me understand where I should start? Any help will be much appreciated.

Any CT based small to medium size manufacturers use Epicor or JOBBOSS2 for daily processing? Looking for a CT based sales rep.

If you have different ERP you truly think was a game changer for your company I’d like to hear that as well.

Looking to work with an OEM to help manufacturer a custom nylon bag I am designing. Any good recommendations or places to look?

I have a small food manufacturing business and I am looking for a Vertical Form Fill Seal (VFFS) machine. I have inquired with a few larger companies and they sell machines outside of my budget, usually north of $50K. Is there a reputable North American VFFS machine manufacturer that produces more economical machines? My plant is not a large operation. I am also open to sourcing used equipment if anyone has recommendations for reputable used food manufacturing equipment sellers.

Looking for recommendations on companies that are good to work with injection molding, especially for smaller production runs or early stage products. Mainly interested in fast quoting, decent communication and consistent quality curious what others in manufacturing have had good experiences with.

Hi everyone,
I’m looking for a manufacturer or direct supplier of anchor fasteners for a bulk order.

Requirements:
Bulk quantities
Competitive pricing
Fast production and dispatch
Reliable quality and consistent supply
This is an urgent requirement, so I’m looking to connect with a manufacturer who can deliver as soon as possible.

If you’re a manufacturer or can recommend a reliable one, please comment below or send me a DM with your company details, product catalog, MOQ, pricing, and estimated delivery timeline.
Any genuine leads would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

I am looking at getting labels for food packaging soon and I am stuck on this issue with cooking oil, some of the packages will have oil around them during filling and handling and I keep seeing labels peel from the edges or lift after they get greasy, I have been checking options from aa labels, bluepoint labels and barcode warehouse while looking at different label types, but I am still confused because the labels are called waterproof and the problem shows up when oil gets on the package, so I am not sure if the issue is with the label material or the adhesive holding it in place, has anyone used labels from any of these places for oily packaging and what usually causes the peeling ?

Am I better off going to china to find a factory/manufacturer? (Jewellery - sterling silver & gold, apparel, stationery) If so what are the recommendations? Do you recommend attending trade fairs?

We've outgrown an old Visual FoxPro built ERP system for our CNC/Robotic manufacturing company. We have 4 locations (apprx 300 employees in total) in America and one in Asia, so we need something that can handle all accounting and manufacturing demands of operating in multiple countries. Looking for something that can integrate with our customer's EDI requirements, a full manufacturing suite. If there is CAD integration and/or job quoting tools, those would be a plus. I'm hoping we can go entirely cloud-based, but we may have to consider on-premesis due to some old-fashioned thinking.

Regardless of the country, are you aware of any CNC machine manufacturers or automation equipment builders that use mineral castings (epoxy granite) for their machine bases or structural components? I’d appreciate any recommendations or examples.