Utilizing Cloud Manufacturing for Your Crowdfunding Project

In the past years, one had to look for banks or venture entrepreneurs to finance the development of a product. This is not the case nowadays. Starting with only a concept, you can watch your product develop until it reaches the market. All this is made possible by crowdfunding companies like Kickstarter and Indiegogo which enable innovative people to present their ideas to people all over the globe who then support your projects. Thousands of projects have been started this way. The main benefit is that potential investors/product creators do not need to have a lot of money to back their projects.

Large manufacturers sometimes don’t like working with Kickstarter products since tens of thousands of units are required to start the process of developing the products. This is because these companies require thousands of orders made to make it possible to prototype. Cloud manufacturing provides the solution for product creators who face this problem. This technology enables the product designers to reduce the resources they need to develop their product. The advantage of cloud manufacturing is that ensures no errors or delays. The huge costs which were usually incurred before are also eliminated.

Cloud Manufacturing

Cloud manufacturing involves online software where a designer can upload the details of the design and manage their projects. When a product creator comes up with an idea the goal is usually to mass produce the product and sell it to a large number of people. This approach enables you to order the exact number of units required. The risk of making excessive orders is thus eliminated. One of the important processes of developing a Kickstarter product is the creation of a working prototype. Prototyping and manufacturing with cloud manufacturing reduces the cost and makes easy prototyping and iterating.

Before cloud manufacturing, there were so many delays. In fact, these delays were in every stage of the project. A product creator had to wait to be told how much the project would cost, which alone took a lot of time. You would be sent the quote/price and you would send back the feedback until you agreed on a certain price. After that the manufacturer would then consider working with you and would take more time shipping some parts to be used in the manufacture of your product.

Nowadays cloud manufacturing eliminates these problems by offering quotes quickly. Entrepreneurs all over the world, with the inclusion of creators on Kickstarter and Indiegogo always want to see the progress of their project from start to finish. They want to see how the product is being developed and make the necessary changes to ensure that the final product is one which they had in mind. With this kind of manufacturing you get updates on the progress of your project. It also helps a lot for those who want to fulfill orders already placed by customers. When customers visit your website or crowdfunding project page they might place an order and expect it to be shipped to them in the shortest time possible. Cloud manufacturing companies will handle the orders for you and satisfy your customer.

Prototype Creation and Product Assembly

There are a number of things you have to consider before choosing a prototyping partner. One is the ability to provide quotes as soon as they get a prototype. These should take seconds.  It is important for your prototyping partner to allow you keep track of your project. This will present the best opportunity for you to place orders and get quotes. One company who specialises in cloud manufacturing for Kickstarter projects is MacroFab. What makes them stand out is the smart prototyping they do where they combine low-volume orders into large orders, reducing non-recurring expenses.

When choosing your manufacturer, look for one that will make the prototype in the USA. This serves to increase the speed and eliminate delays. Prototyping is an important aspect of manufacturing but it’s certainly not the last process. You need to choose the company which provides large manufacturing runs and assembles the final product. Some of them usually assemble and ship them to customers upon placement of orders. Cloud manufacturing is the way forward for modern engineers and entrepreneurs who want to see their ideas materialize into useful products.