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8 Reasons Why Online Manufacturing Companies are a Smart Choice

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8 Reasons Why Online Manufacturing Companies are a Smart Choice

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Developments in e-commerce technology have revolutionized the way we interact with businesses. Most of the attention around industry changes brought by the evolving internet seems to go to the B2C side, but the same advancements have also helped B2B organizations make leaps and bounds in their relationships with clients.

Just like any other consumer, business owners have become accustomed to the seamless shopping experiences of their personal lives. This has increased their appetite for digital ordering tools that replicate the B2C experience. In fact, a 2018 Forrester survey found that 70% of B2B buyers prefer a website over a traditional sales representative.

But this isn’t limited to acquiring equipment and supplies. The internet is also an ideal place to build relationships with companies like Dyson, that can meet your manufacturing needs. In doing so, your business can reap a range of benefits. To drive the point home, let’s take a look at eight reasons why online manufacturing companies are a smart choice.

Cost Savings

The cost savings benefits of working with an online manufacturer start before your products even hit the assembly line. All of your communications with the company will be conducted over digital channels, which means you won’t have to spend any money on transport traveling to and from the facility where your products will be made.

Companies in this sector are also famous for being at the cutting-edge of manufacturing technologies, utilizing the latest methods and approaches to deliver more efficient and cost-effective services. This includes CNC machining, prototype molding, rapid tooling and 3D printing solutions.

Parts can be manufactured on-demand in low quantities thanks to the use of computer-aided graphic design programs. This effectively eliminates the need for expensive molds and tooling. Upfront costs are thus vastly reduced.

Another potential avenue for cost-savings stems from the lack of geographical restrictions that come with running a manufacturing company online. This allows them to outsource production to other parts of the world where they can benefit from lower labor costs such as CNC services China, further reducing the figure on your quote.

Efficiency

It’s mutually beneficial for both parties when the buying process is made to be as efficient as possible. With a good online manufacturing company, this begins as soon as you start filling out the quotation.

All you need to do is upload your design files and select the type of processing you want. The online quotation tool will then reference the current database of parts to automatically generate an accurate and cost-competitive result. Since there’s no need for human input on the manufacturer’s side, you won’t have to deal with endless back-and-forth emails.

The company’s online platform will then provide a page where you can review all of your designs and quotations in one place. From here, it only takes a handful of steps to complete your order. When you’re ready to go, you can use the platform to track each stage of the manufacturing process so that you always know what’s going on.

Granted, not all online manufacturers can offer the same caliber of service delivery, but this is the type of experience you can expect from an established name in the industry.

Convenience

The efficiency-related benefits don’t end here, though. Online manufacturing companies are usually able to deliver your finished parts straight to your business. What’s more, some are capable of doing so in as soon as three days after initiating the order. You’ll not only save time but potentially thousands of dollars on shipping arrangements.

This is another benefit that comes with the utilization of cutting-edge manufacturing processes.

Online Payments

Being an exclusively online relationship, it should come as no surprise that your payments will also be made online. This in itself provides a range of benefits. Let’s take a look at a popular online CNC services manufacturer known as RapidDirect. Today, they offer online payment options including wire transfer, net 30, monthly payment, and PayPal.

The last payment option is particularly noteworthy, as you may already know that PayPal is designed to be as fast as possible when it comes to facilitating the transfer of funds between businesses. It’s particularly advantageous for manufacturing, as instant transfers can offset the time lost to waiting for money to arrive before initiating production.

This is another way that online manufacturing solves the inefficiency problems of traditional alternatives, often saving you literal days of waiting before anything reaches the assembly line.

Guaranteed Quality

Unlike manufacturing companies of the past, those that are based online make it clear as to whether their service is worth putting your trust into. A good company will display the certifications relevant to their industry, such as the common ISO 9001. Whether they have this or not will go a long way in helping you determine what you’ll get.

Online companies also tend to have a presence on review websites and social media platforms. You can use these resources to learn more about the way they do business and what kind of experience you can expect when working with them. A bunch of negative reviews can save you from having to deal with more shady entities.

Latest Technologies

As we touched on earlier, online manufacturing companies lead the way when it comes to using new technologies to produce your parts. This allows you to benefit from higher quality products that take less time and money to create. A greater level of strength and accuracy is to be expected, as well as less time spent on initial prototype manufacturing.

Digital supply chains can offer a range of different methods including rapid machining, sheet metal fabrication, CNC prototyping, and injection molding services. This ensures that no matter what kind of part or how many of them you need producing, the same company will likely be able to do the job without any hiccups.

Traceability

Thanks to the tools available to online manufacturing companies, tracking and monitoring each step of the production process is much easier. This allows them to provide the customer with a comprehensive overview of each step involved in the production of their parts, ensuring that you know exactly what’s going on at all times.

Access to Knowledge

Perhaps you want to learn more about exactly what happens during the production of your parts. As a business owner, this kind of knowledge is invaluable as it can help you find more cost-effective solutions moving forward. This is where we can touch on a small, but nonetheless noteworthy benefit of online manufacturing companies - their blog.

On any good company’s website will be a blog where detailed information is available on everything related to what they do. This can serve as a great resource for you to gain a better understanding of the processes involved in manufacturing your parts.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are more than enough compelling reasons to choose a digital supply chain to meet your manufacturing needs. Be sure to select an online manufacturing company that is capable of suiting your individual requirements for production.

Rest assured, you can reap the benefits of a company that offers more efficient, cost-effective, transparent and higher-quality manufacturing services. It also doesn’t hurt to know that you’ll learn a few valuable things along the way. So, now is as good of a time as any to start looking for an online manufacturing company for your business.

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