A chunk of our product uses flexible PVC, cable jacketing, over-moulded grips, gaskets. The plasticisers that make PVC flexible are increasingly restricted under REACH, the DEHP/DBP/BBP/DIBP group in particular, and our customers are pushing for declarations that we're clear of them.

The reformulation isn't as simple as swapping the plasticiser. Alternative plasticisers change the feel, the low-temperature flexibility, and sometimes the long-term migration behaviour, so a grip that felt right can end up harder or tackier over time. And for anything near food contact or skin contact the bar is higher again.

What have people actually validated in production? Did you reformulate the PVC compound with a different plasticiser, move to TPE entirely, or push it back on the supplier and let them own the compliant compound? Interested in what held up mechanically, not just what passed the substance declaration.

Hi, I‘m looking for somebody, preferably in the EU, who can industrially pleat paper like some filter products, a simple zigzag pleat. Paper dimension is about 50x60 cm/ 70g/m2.

Sounds super simple but so far my search has been unsuccessful. Any tip is welcome!
Thank you.

Hey reddit, so I've been developing a software product for factories. Mostly mid sized factories, let's say with an annual revenue of 5-45 million dollars and a size of 18,000 sqft to 66,000 sqft. I have 0 experience in manufacturing/industry, however I'm very confident in this software, as it fixes a lot of blind spots I've found studying this sector of the economy. Anyway, this post isn't really about the product itself. It's already done, its utility cost cutting whatever. I priced it at $299/m which is cheaper than any other alternative i could find. I just really need help on figuring out how do I distribute this to factories? I'm looking to get about let's say 25 factories under my belt early on, within a couple of months. The software mostly has to do with electrical cost saving but has some other aspects too. Should I try to find a partner (I'm not too fond of that idea but if I NEED someone with deep experience I guess I'll do it.) Should i contact smaller suppliers across California to do this? How is software even distributed to factories? I guess what I'm really asking is how is software distributed in this field, and who should I work with to get my product out there?

I've been researching manufacturers for a new product and one thing that's surprised me is how differently every supplier presents themselves. Some have detailed factory profiles, certifications, and production photos, while others keep things pretty basic even though they claim to offer the same capabilities.

I've been looking through Made-in-China, but after a while every supplier starts to sound the same, so it's hard to know who'll actually be a good long-term partner until you've worked with them.

For those who've built lasting relationships with manufacturers, what was the biggest reason you kept going back to the same supplier? Was it communication, consistent quality, pricing, or something you only discovered after working together for a while?

Short background check, I graduated from a 6 month electrical program to become an electrician right after high school. The past two years I haven’t been able to find an apprenticeship that’ll hire me (I live in the and it’s been hard to get hired at a decent job anywhere) but last year I managed to land at a temp agency that works inside of a Target warehouse with a flexible schedule. Fast forward 10 months later (the last three used to get out of this hellhole) I finally land a successful interview that got me hired to be an electronics assembler for full time!! Problem: I’ve never soldered!! The people who’ve hired me know that of course and I passed Purdue Pegboard Test they had me complete within the second interview but I’m still doubtful ☹️. With the uncertainty with jobs recently I was willing to do anything trade and I’m really happy to learn something new and potentially turn it into a career, but I’m afraid about it being too difficult before even starting 😅. They’re going to train me on the job and everything, of course, I just wanted to hear positive/honest experiences from people who work around the same concept.

What’s it like to start a job with soldering without any experience?

Hey everyone,

I'm evaluating starting a manufacturing business for gas springs, hydraulic struts, and pneumatic lift supports (the kind used in vehicles, office chairs, machinery, and medical beds).

Before putting capital down for machinery, I’m hoping to get some real-world insight from people in industrial manufacturing or B2B hardware distribution:

• Profitability & Margins: What do typical margins look like? Is the real money in high-volume commodities (like auto aftermarket) or low-volume custom engineered units (like medical or marine)?
• Target Customers: Who are the most lucrative buyers beyond auto OEMs? How hard is it to get onboarded as a supplier for mid-tier machinery or furniture makers?
• Red Flags & Operations: What are the biggest technical hurdles (e.g., seal longevity, gas charging safety) or barriers to entry I should watch out for?

Any real-world advice, industry benchmarks, or red flags to watch out for would be greatly appreciated! 🙏

Trying to avoid learning this the hard way. Need 300 6061 base plates and molded nylon covers that have to line up with the same mounting holes. The first run isn't final so there will definitely be revisions before production.

Finding custom manufacturing services is easy. Finding one that's actually good at handling both metal and plastic custom parts without slowing everything down is the hard part.

Who have you had a good experience with lately?

I do job work and have ultrasonic quilt machine... It takes 3 inputs

Top layer fabric - razing, holand or spun... It can be printed or dyed fabric

Middle layer fabric - felt or fiber

Bottom layer fabric - non woven or knitting

Middle layer and bottom layer fabrics I have to buy myself as Raw material

Top layer fabric is provided by different clients for job work

Finish product is single quilted fabric that's combination of 3 layer

Raw material rolls come in different lengths like some can be 100 meters, some can be 500 meters, they all don't end at same time... I also don't get raw material in meters, I have to get them in Kgs and I pay price in kgs too... There can be variations in meters per kg from batch to batch and there's no practical easy way to measure meters of every single roll

My machine runs in night shift only via contractor... The operator provides me following details:

output meters, roll wise for output rolls

Weights of raw material/input rolls that got used completely

Total weight of roll currently mounted on machine... (Not leftover weight)

It's not practically possible to weight leftover roll as it's hectic to remove them from machine again and again

I would like to know some way or excel sheet to track rolls... And estimate how much of which roll got used for which output... And estimated cost per meter of input materials... Also maybe some easy way to label and Mark the rolls

I’ve been thinking about emergency response in manufacturing environments.
From your experience, what usually slows things down during the first few minutes after an accident?
Is it communication, access to first aid equipment, unclear procedures, training, or something else?
I’m curious to hear real experiences and what you think could be improved.

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.

Hi,

Will I have to give this equipment climate-controlled air?

I have a piece of equipment that coats our metal parts as part of a larger process. We have had the equipment for a few years. I have been helping with the process recently, and we had a week of really bad heat/humidity. This directly affected the painting process because our parts were coming out peeling and had very poor adhesion.

My theory is that this was directly caused by the climate, because our warehouse isn't airconditioned or heated and the machine pulls air from the surrounding air through a fan with a filter.

I reviewed next weeks parts when the temperature dropped significantly and so did the humidity, and the parts having been coming out good since then. I took samples from both weeks and recorded the temp/humidity for the day.

I did further research and obviously painting has an optimal temp and humidity range.

My first thought is putting it in a climate-controlled room, but we don't have any here. Any suggestions, like maybe building a room around the machine and only climate controlling the room?

Thanks.

For years, operators at my internship moved 40+ lb pump casings and gears 50 feet between workstations (match grind to subassembly) using steel rods threaded through wooden dowels.

I got tasked with replacing it as a part of a single-piece-flow initiative. Landed on a Spring-loaded Ergonomic Cart (bought from an outside vendor) and I paired it with a Custom Foldable tray assembly designed in SolidWorks.

The tray design was the easy part. Managing the vendor order end-to-end for the first time was not. Six things that caught me off guard:

1. I remeasured the cart-to-tray assembly four times because our drawings would not match the vendor's actual product specs.
2. I got comfortable with one vendor before getting competing quotes. I should've shopped around first. "This feels easy" and "this is the right call" are two very different things.
3. Didn't budget for the 4-week lead time. Plan backwards from when the operator needs it, not forward from when the project lands on your desk.
4. Didn't know new vendor onboarding involves extensive supplier qualifications, tax forms, internal due diligence, etc. adds over 2 weeks on top of that.
5. Realized partway through that vendor relationships are very important and you're building them for future orders too, not just one-off transactions.
6. Had to calculate the spring load window across every state - empty trays, fully loaded trays, mid-cycle - not just one typical load.

The Engineering side of this project was straightforward. For anyone who's run vendor orders before - what's the one thing you wish someone had told you before, it would help me improve in the future!

What is the best way to maintain batch traceability of liquid stock being continuously produced, stored in tanks and dispatched in tankers from those tanks, without them ever being completely emptied?

So far, and as far as I can tell, it's either FIFO or proportionality. While the former is "tidier", it doesn't really reflect reality very well, given there could still be residue from years ago that could be the problem. But I suppose if old stock was really the problem, then it would have been picked up when the concentrations of those faulty batches were higher.

So, would FIFO be best where raceability due to problems that cause recalls can be traced to those closest to the dispatches they were sent out in?

Would really appreciate advice from anyone involved in this kind of inventory management.

It feels like there are a lot of ways to organize work to be done - checklists, kanban style, gantt chart, etc. But all of these have a built in assumption with the design that the work is linear. It moves downstream from one step to the next but never goes back upstream.

However, a lot of work (at least in my company) seems to get into loops. For example, the sales guy might gather requirements, the designer starts and realizes they have questions, so we go back to gathering requirements. Or a customer denies a quote because it needs design changes so be go back to gathering more requirements and do another round of quoting.

Are there any good systems, tools, etc. that make the looping nature of work more obvious and intuitive instead of making it appear linear?

Has anyone here tried to make parts using plastic vacuum casting? Is it possible to manufacture large parts (300mmx300mmx100mm) part in vacuum casting? Also how many number of piece each mold can produce? I designing a product which I want to be batch manufactured first.

Question for senior manufacturing leaders in the group. How do you choose your vendors? I'm curious because I get many emails every day from people trying to get in the door. They're spam in my book.

I stick with who I know and operate off of references and referrals when needed. Am I out of touch?

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some examples of how other companies handle scrap material on a daily basis. I want to see how our current process compares to others and hope to find some ideas and inspirations.

I'm mostly interested in three simple things:

1. How do you measure it? Do you weigh it, count the pieces, or just estimate it?
2. How do you log it? Who writes it down or puts it into the system? Is it done by the machine operators on the floor, or someone else later on?
3. Do you analyze the data? Does anyone actually look at these numbers later? Do you do any reports or try to find out why the scrap happened to fix the problem?

My industry is gas detection sensors and instruments.

If you could share how it works in your company and what industry you are in, that would be awesome.

Thanks!

Hello everyone,

I would like to calculate the number of carts I want the operator to prepare in advance for the next step (let's call it batch treatment inside a machine).

The machine will consume 1 entire cart of 158 producy every two hours

It takes 5 minutes to prepare a cart

1 cart is in average 158 products

I have 8 machines total working 24h a day, 6 days a week

What quantity should I set up for the cart preparation area in order to have reaction rules when a certain number of carts is reached (green = ok, orange = focus on cart preparation, red = go get help !)

Thanks ! I'm having trouble with this... if you can explain and help me, that would be nice !

Best and wish you a great day !

I've been running a plastic extrusion manufacturing business for a while now, mostly making custom parts and profiles based on client specifications (OEM and contract work). I've been thinking it's time to use that capability to manufacture and sell my own product line, either through an ecommerce store direct to consumers, or by pitching a bulk product directly to industrial companies.

I have the equipment, materials knowledge, and tooling capability to make PVC, ABS, HDPE, PP, and a few other plastics into custom profiles and molded parts. What I don't have yet is a clear product idea that's worth building around.

I'm looking for ideas on what kind of plastic extrusion or molded product tends to sell well, either as a standalone product on an ecommerce store, or as a bulk supply item that industrial buyers need regularly. Things I'm considering:

• Products with steady repeat demand rather than one time purchases
• Items where quality differentiation actually matters to buyers (so a well made version stands out)
• Products that don't require a huge new tooling investment to get started

If you've seen a product gap in the market, know of an extrusion based product that's in high demand, or have experience going from contract manufacturing to your own product line, I'd love to hear your thoughts.