You’re scrolling through manufacturing websites that make promises about your product, but you’re sourcing from your customer’s design.
How does this impact your journey as compared to the traditional direct buying experience? Well, you may not realize that you will encounter a different set of challenges during the product development process.
Strouse often works with clients who are sourcing custom parts for their customers' needs. Based on our experiences, we want to share the issues that occasionally arise with indirect sourcing that could lead to wasted time or errors throughout the process.
If you’re wondering how we plan to help you benefit YOUR customer, buckle up as we explain a converter’s purpose, potential misconceptions, and possible solutions.
Who is Strouse, and What Do You Do?
Strouse is an adhesive tape converter whose primary purpose is to convert flexible materials into custom part designs for many industries.
You can download the guide above if you’re interested in how the design and discussion process leads to full-scale production. It contains information on die cutting and Strouse’s capabilities.
Common Misconceptions When Working With a Converter
Flexible material converting isn’t the easiest industry to understand, so we’ve compiled a list of myths and misconceptions. If you’re working to develop your customer’s product, the following information should help explain the role of a converter and put your mind at ease.
MYTH 1: ALL CONVERTERS ARE THE SAME
Although it may seem like many converters are similar, all converters have varying equipment, experience, and engineering abilities. Selecting the wrong converter could result in production quality issues, causing wasted material and defective parts.
Additionally, an experienced adhesive converter will utilize their expertise to optimize your design for manufacturing, simplifying the process and saving you money in the long run. Finding a converter that can execute your project standards is an essential part of the pre-production process.
MYTH 2: YOUR DESIGN OR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IS AT RISK
It’s natural to be as protective over a new creation as a mama bear guarding her cubs, but a mama bear doesn’t have the comforting presence of a mutual NDA to guarantee her cubs’ safety.
Trustworthy converters are willing to sign a mutual NDA to protect both parties. A three-way NDA can also be discussed depending on the number of parties involved.
Finally, many converters (Strouse included) don’t sell their own independent products. Converters excel in helping customers bring their custom designs to market, and it may reassure you that Strouse has never created our own product. We only want to use your design to help you build your product successfully.
MYTH 3: THERE’S NO REASON FOR A CONVERTER TO MEET YOUR END USER
You’re probably thinking, “If I’m providing you with the information, why do you need to meet my customer?”
While technical drawings are a helpful necessity, they’re only a piece in the grand product development scheme. Producing functional custom parts requires more background information than you may realize, including a working knowledge of the part component and its assembly or application.
Information can get lost in translation when you act as the middleman between a converter and your end user. For example, our engineers must ask technical questions for product development, but when the explanation as to *why* we’re asking questions gets left out of the email chain, an end user might be reluctant to reply.
It may not seem obvious, but these delays can cause substantial lost time for all parties involved. Meanwhile, direct communication enables our engineers to properly inquire about design changes, applications, and other production factors in a timely manner.
MYTH 4: THE DESIGN ITSELF IS SUFFICIENT INFORMATION TO BUILD A CUSTOM PART
As previously mentioned, a standalone part drawing doesn’t provide enough information to build a fully functioning, complex custom part.
Think about it like this: if someone handed you a drawing of a circle and told you to make it into a 3D object, you’d still have a lot of questions, right? Now consider if the drawing had tight die cut tolerances and you wanted to gather as much information as possible to meet the desired specifications.
Many aspects outside of the part drawing influence the final production process, including:
- Projected quantities
- Types of substrates (surfaces to bond to)
- Part application
- Assembly process
- Quality standards
- and more
Converters ask for additional information to build a better, more accurate part for your customer.
How Does a Converter Benefit My Customers?
Whether you use the part components or sell them to an end user, a converter’s ultimate goal remains the same: to deliver functional custom products.
Converters also often assist with additional functions such as sourcing materials, optimizing the product for assembly, helping across a product line, or scaling your project.
If you’re interested in reaching out to a converter, contact one today to see how Strouse will help satisfy your end user. By reaching out for a project consultation, you’ll take the first step toward getting custom, precise components with a fully optimized manufacturing process.
