Contract Manufacturing

About Contract Manufacturing and Rapid Prototyping Manufacturers Including: Aerospace Contract Manufacturing, Chemical Contract Manufacturing, Contract Assembly, Contract Machining, Contract Manufacturers, Contract Manufacturing Services, Electronic Contract Manufacturing, Medical Device Contract Manufacturing, Military Contract Manufacturing, Outsource Manufacturing, Pharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing & Subcontract Manufacturing.

Contract manufacturing involves the production of a product or component by one company for an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), which then sells the product under its own name. Charges for a contract manufacturing service are frequently based on a per-piece or per-lot system. Electronic contract manufacturing deals specifically with electronic products. The actual contract manufacturing process of using a contract manufacturer to produce another company's goods is called outsourcing, which can be very beneficial for both companies involved. It frees up the OEMs to concentrate on their own business concerns, such as marketing and new product development.

For many OEMs, using contract manufacturing to assemble or create a product results in reduced costs and valuable saving of time. Corporations that use contract manufacturing do not need to dish out costs for establishing certified quality systems or statistical process controls. These companies also save money that would otherwise be spent on assembly and manufacturing machinery. More often than not, the company purchasing from the contract manufacturing company, can leave the engineering and developing stages of a product up to the producer if they choose, also saving time and money by not having to do these things themselves.

Contract manufacturing and contract assembly offer different services. A contract manufacturing company typically produces and ships goods to the OEM that will sell them. From there, it is up to the purchasing company to promote and sell those products as their own. Contract assemblers, however, are hired to piece together loose materials that have been given to them. The completed product is then sold back to the OEM that provided the original components, or in some cases, to an entirely different company. Assemblers will sometimes offer alternate services to manufacturing, including welding, stamping, soldering, painting and laser cutting services.

Rapid prototyping manufacturers fabricate objects directly from CAD data sources, adding and bonding materials in layers. Does the job require fast production of a part with even fairly complex geometry? Then, rapid prototyping manufacturers have the advantage. Rapid prototyping manufacturers utilize such processes as additive fabrication, three dimensional printing, solid freeform fabrication (SFF) and layered manufacturing.

Different contract manufacturing companies in both assembly and manufacturing frequently require a minimum order size. This is to ensure profitability for the assembly/manufacturing business and also to reduce prices for the OEM that will later buy those products back. Many contract manufacturing companies will also test products for the OEM before selling them back to ensure that they are of the highest quality possible. Although the list is extensive, almost every industry can benefit from the services of contract manufacturing. Some specific examples include military, computer, industrial, instrumentation, medical, communications, food, pharmaceutical, hardware and appliance. Any business that needs a certain product and would rather invest time and money developing the new or improving the old should consider the services contract assemblers and contract manufacturing companies have to offer.

Types of Contract Manufacturing

• Contract assembly refers to a process that involves one company sending loose or modifiable components to a contract assembler. The business that receives the separate parts assembles or changes them and makes a profit once the final products are sold back to the business.
  
• Contract electronic assembly is the process performed by a contract manufacturer that involves assembling an electronic product. Another company, who sells the good under their name, then purchases the completed product.
  
• Contract manufacturers produce products for another company, whose name appears on the finished product when it is sold.
  
• Electronic contract manufacturing is the agreement by which one company manufactures electronic goods for a different company, which sells the product as their own.
  
• Encapsulation is a process for circuits, resulting in shock resistance, good thermal properties and increased protection from harsher environments.
  
• General machining is a service offered by many contract manufacturers, including such processes as milling, wire eroding, punch press and laser cutting.
  
• Manufacturing services involve any procedural/beneficial actions performed by a contract manufacturer to meet the needs of a buying company. These services include but are not limited to product design and validation, rapid prototyping, assembly, testing, and sustained engineering.
  
• Medical device contract manufacturing is the agreement by which one company manufactures medical devices for another company's line.
  
• Pharmaceutical contract manufacturing refers to the services provided by an outside company for a pharmaceutical company; this often includes packaging and labeling.
  
• Rapid prototyping is a process that avoids tooling time for producing prototypes. With rapid prototyping, prototypes can be produced within days or hours instead of weeks.