Little man baits Posted November 15, 2013 Report Share Posted November 15, 2013 Hey guys I know I am small scale but have been approached by a major chain to have product in their store. My question is I know u need the molds to produce volume but in your opinion what is the best system to achieve this ? Any support would be greatly appreciated. Steve LMB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biggun Posted November 15, 2013 Report Share Posted November 15, 2013 Probably would help to know what kind of volume you are wanting to make per run, per day. 10 pkgs 100 pkgs 1,000 pkgs 10,000 pkgs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little man baits Posted November 15, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2013 So lets just say about 500 pkgs a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carolinamike Posted November 16, 2013 Report Share Posted November 16, 2013 (edited) Little man, how many pieces are you talking? 500 packs with 10 per pack of course is 5000 pieces, which is around a half days run for most baits. Almost all of your large injectors require a full days run. Also, let me advise you about large chain stores, some have a fining system, where they actually fine you for not delivering product on time, for not sending invoices on time, and other stipulations. Also, you will need a production mold, which could run you from $4000-$10,000 according to the size of the bait and whether or not you need solid colors, laminate, or two color(body one color, tail different color). These are all variables to take into consideration. So I would suggest that a valid contract is a must. Also, some companies require half the money up front to start production, and some ask for all the money up front to get started. This just shows them that you're willing to make the commitment and to build a trusting customer relationship. It's not that they don't trust you, it's just standard practice in this business. I know for sure, that you will have to pay half for the production mold up front, before they will start making your mold. If I can be of service, you're more than welcome to PM me. Mike Also, I'm sending you a PM about someone who does large volume production in Canada. Edited November 16, 2013 by carolinamike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big will's customs Posted November 17, 2013 Report Share Posted November 17, 2013 little man hope this turns out good for your company all the luck in the world.... but mike is right you need to check every detail out of how the store chain conducts there business.... ands every penny can turn into dollars very quickly if you under charge for your baits or in fines.. mike would be the man that could steer you in the right direction .... good luck and god bless Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNC Molds N Stuff Posted November 17, 2013 Report Share Posted November 17, 2013 Mike is probably right or close to right on every aspect, but with the right setup you can scale up on a medium basis without going full on production. For many of my simpler baits I cut the mold to shoot 20+ cavities at a time. With five of those I can shoot over 100 baits as fast as most people can shoot 10 or 20 baits. I set all of the same mold up on the bench bar clamp them together and shoot. It will not cycle as fast as a water cooled production mold with 100 cavities for a variety of reasons, but it does scale up and produce baits faster than 20 five cavity molds. Many things are a factor though to any degree of scaling up. 5 gallons of plastic costs less than 5 1 gallon jugs, and a 55 gallon barrel costs less per gallon than either, but then you have to be prepared to handle those 55 gallon barrels. Barrel stand, agitator, cart, pump, etc. There is also injection. When I made my first 20+ cavity mold I didn't have a single injector that would fill it. I had to make my own. Very shortly after that I noticed one of the mold and injector makers came out with a similar size injector. In order to fill 5 medium volume production molds like I described in a timely fashion I need five injectors. (This is where the Bears shooting star system might really pay with its heated no cleaning while running setup.) Then I just shoot all five molds and set the injectors aside after each one. When the molds are cooling I can stop and clean the injectors. After a couple runs I have plenty of time to clean them as the molds will take longer and longer to cool as they heat up. I need to be making productive use of my time while that is happening. This would be a good time to start cleaning up baits for packaging. Finally there is packaging. I hate packaging. Sure with some baits you can just dump them in a bag, but for most you have to make atleast some effort not to fold appendages and to lay the baits out in a manner that doesn't look like a blob in a bag. Even for a mid level scale up like I describe there is cost. A 20 cavity molds costs as much to make as 4 five cavity molds, so those 100 cavities I describe could run you quite a bit. In addtion they may cost you more than a mass produced run mold because they will probably be a custom setup even if the mold maker already makes it in smaller cavity count. AND... that's only if the mold maker is comfortable making larger molds. If you are sure of a long term relationship and the contract doesn't have to many onerous clauses in it then hiring one of the guys who specializes in "production molds", and then hiring somebody like Mike to produce your baits for you might pay. If not then there are alternatives, but the cost is still quite significant. Also, for a mid level scale up you can hire guys like Frank Rodriguez to produce baits for you, but again there are still scale up costs. You have to pay for the molds no matter what you do. AND time is money. Your time, but also the time it takes to get things done. I usually tell people who hire me that I want two months minimum (I usually get them done quicker, but sometimes not) to produce a first custom mold. Another mold maker I spoke with told me he is a minimum six months out on all custom work because his machine is running nonstop right now. (I do not do it as my day job. I run a contracting business.) Will the customer be willing to wait while you gear up? ... and... if your product doesn't sell the chain sure isn't going to order any more no matter what they say up front. If you ramp up small scale with lots of 5 cavity molds you can always sell them here and on Ebay to recover part of your money. If you have custom mid size molds made you can still sell them as they are fillable by hobby methods, but the market to sell a used full size production mold is a lot smaller. There is a lot to consider and there is more than one way to attack the problem. No matter what you do I wish you the best of luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little man baits Posted November 17, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2013 Hey guys. U really just want to say a big thank u to everyone who has chimed in on my topic. It's been very informative. As of right now the talks have passed through management and now have to go to corporate. And this whole ordeal is to display new and upcoming products in their store. And to see what kind of consumer reaction they will get with my product. So more or less a trial for now. I will not reveal the chain store at this time just because. Again thank u all again you all make very very good points regarding production and costs etc..... All to take into consideration. LMB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
