A bread and butter post, outlining some of the things to look for when scoping out a custom backpack manufacturer in China.
This is one of the big boys in the china bag factory making world. In fact they are one of the top backpack manufacturers in China. They are an urban factory for backpacks for some the USA's most recognisable brands. They are positioned on four floors. The bottom floor is where they keep their material. It's raised off the floor in a well ventilated dry room. It is all clearly labelled and wrapped up to protect it from the elements and they have enough of the stuff to wrap half of Ohio up in a carpet blanket. You remember, when you lay down on the rug and your mum or dad would roll you up like sausage roll? No? Ok. Just me then...Anyway. They have a lot of the stuff.
On the second and third floors are for the creative products developments and well the rest of it is just rows and rows of sewing machines.
Laid out in neat rows with each row clearly marked out as a relevant process. The backpack manufacturing process here is for want of a better word - truly professional. The top floor is reserved for backpack storage, warehousing and sampling.
Sounds great right? Well it is. But sadly unless you are putting in orders for 1000 or 2000 pieces chances are this place is not going to make it onto your backpack manufacturers list. In fact as a backpack producer they are so exclusive that it is hard to even get to visit unless the company you represent sponsors a sports team or has a logo that everyone can pronounce. So there in lies the question.
HOW DO WE MERE MORTALS FIND BACKPACK MANUFACTURING COMPANIES?
and what are the options for those of us running online stores, amazon shops, retail outlets and niche product lines who need a custom backpack manufacturer. The answer is many things, but it is definitely not alibaba.com
Whilst you will find many companies who are involved with backpack production, chances are few of them are tooled up with the knowledge and skillset to offer you exactly what you really need:
1) Clear, precise and mutually intelligible communication
2) Solutions to your problems. Problems are not ping pong balls that bounce back and forward in an email string.
3)A commitment to quality. Everyone makes a dogs dinner of it every now and again, its called being human. It's ownership of the problem and addressing it that make things easier.
Alibaba.com offers you a window into what seems like an endless list of bag manufacturers in China. And some of them are superb. But once again the issue of MINIMUM ORDER QUANTITIES will probably put you off.
WHY ARE THEY ASKING FOR A MILLION PIECES I HEAR YOU ASK!
Well the answer to the problem is quite straight forward. For a company to be registered & visible on Alibaba.com they have to have paid some membership fee which allows them to appear as a backpack producer when you search. This is not cheap. So by the time a backpack factory appears on Alibaba chances are they are already established and doing some steady business. You can imagine with the backpack manufacturing process, as you grow (as in take on more and more orders) you need more and more people. More and more machines. More and more space. More and more access to backpack material suppliers. The success of backpack manufacturing companies is driven by the space they occupy. So that means that they can no longer afford to make smaller quantity backpack orders. It simply isn't financially viable for them. Damn I hear you say!
WHAT IS THE SOLUTION?
Well away from the hiking backpack manufacturers and the famous backpack brands is a whole world of manufacturing that you as the importer can tap into. I call it the underbelly of backpack production and it consists of a network of suppliers who in their tiny factories on the 5th and 6th floor of old industrial blocks work with their sewing machines turning out bags round the clock. This is where we belong. These are in my opinion the best backpack manufacturers. They have a craving to do business, they are hungry for it. They are malleable in that you can push them relatively hard to yield the results you want. Sure they will probably not get the sample quality you want the first time round. But with the possibility of another order, they are usually well driven to improve their game.
There are two ways to be involved with these companies. The first way is through a market town like Yiwu. Yiwu houses more backpack manufacturing booths than you will probably find on alibaba.com and it is just huge. Actually, scrap that its bigger than huge. You couldn't and wouldn't want to walk it in a day. It goes on for miles. And at the end of the day you can have an epic curry like the one below:
But for Zhejiang province this is where you find some of the top backpack manufacturers.
The best and most practical way to enter in this underbelly of bag manufacturers in china is through a backpack manufacturing agent like us. We are driven to service your quality needs through good manufacturing. Our profit margin and our business survival depends on your satisfaction, so if you are looking to get started in the world of backpack manufacturing drop us an email. We won't let you down.
ITS FREE TO TALK ANYWAY. SO GO ON DROP US AN EMAIL.
richard@banfa.co.uk
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