Questions to ask a manufacturing partner before you sign

Nine questions

• Who will actually do the engineering, and can I speak to them now?
• What happens to the design and the tooling if we stop working together?
• Which parts of this will you do in-house, and which will you subcontract?
• Show me a product like mine that you took all the way to volume.
• How do you test every unit, and what does that test actually catch?
• What is your process when a production run fails inspection?
• Who pays for a respin if the fault is a design error you made?
• What are your payment terms against which milestones?
• What will you not do, and where would you tell me to go elsewhere?

The last one is the most useful

A partner who cannot name a limit is either inexperienced or telling you what you want to hear. Every capable manufacturer has product classes they are wrong for, volumes below which they are not economic, and technologies they would subcontract. Saying so is a sign of competence, not weakness.

The same goes for the question about ending the relationship. A partner confident in the work has no reason to hold your tooling or documentation hostage, and will say so plainly. One who becomes vague is telling you something important.

What to watch for after the meeting

The most reliable signal is not in the pitch. It is what happens when you send a technical question by email on a Friday: whether the reply comes from an engineer or a salesperson, how long it takes, and whether it answers what you asked or what they wished you had asked.

That pattern will not improve once the contract is signed. It is the relationship you are buying.