If you are evaluating product design or manufacturing consultancies, you will likely receive several proposals that look similar on the surface. Similar language, similar service lists, similar promises. The differences that actually matter are often buried: or not mentioned at all.
This checklist is designed to help you ask the right questions of any consultancy you are considering, including us. A good partner should be able to answer all of these clearly.
1. Can they support the full product journey, not just part of it?
Many proposals focus on design or early prototyping. They deliver files and step away. If you want a product that actually reaches manufacturing, you need a partner who can go the full distance.
Ask: Can this consultancy take my product from concept to mass manufacturing? Or will I need to find and manage a separate manufacturing partner at some point?
The risk of splitting design and manufacturing across two providers is real. When the designer and the manufacturer are not in regular communication, you end up paying for redesigns that could have been avoided if manufacturing constraints had been built in from the start.
2. Can they provide accurate manufacturing pricing?
Accurate unit pricing and tooling costs require real factory engagement. Consultancies that do not have their own manufacturing relationships will often provide vague estimates or guide prices that turn out to be significantly wrong.
Ask: Can they provide clear unit pricing and tooling costs for the product you are designing? Can they back those numbers up with factory quotes?
3. Do they have their own manufacturing capability?
There is a significant difference between a consultancy that has an established supply chain with long-term factory partners, and one that will introduce you to a factory and step back. The first gives you ongoing quality control and accountability. The second leaves you managing the factory relationship yourself.
Ask: Do they have their own team on the ground if manufacturing offshore? Or will you be managing the factory communication yourself?
4. Can they protect your IP when manufacturing overseas?
IP protection in offshore manufacturing is not automatically provided. Contracts written only in a foreign language are not recognised by Chinese courts. If your supplier agreement is not structured to be enforceable in the country of manufacture, it is worth significantly less than you think.
Ask: What does their supplier agreement look like? Is it structured to be enforceable in the country of manufacture? Who owns the tooling?
5. Do they consider compliance from the start?
Product compliance requirements vary by market. Getting them wrong means failed tests, forced redesigns, and delayed launches. Getting them right early: as part of the design process: means the cost of compliance is built into the product rather than retrofitted at extra expense.
Ask: Do they plan compliance requirements at the design stage? Which markets and standards are they experienced with?
6. Is their team multi-disciplinary?
Designers alone may not understand manufacturing constraints or engineering requirements. A team that includes experienced engineers and manufacturing specialists alongside designers will make significantly better decisions throughout your project.
Ask: Is their team made up of designers only, or does it include engineers and manufacturing specialists?
7. What does their project management look like?
Product development involves coordinating design decisions, engineering detail, factories, suppliers, logistics, and compliance requirements. Without structured project management, things fall through the gaps.
Ask: How do they manage projects? What does communication look like? How are decision points handled? Who is accountable for what?
8. Will they be there after the design is done?
Some consultancies deliver design files and end the engagement. A long-term product partner stays involved as the product moves into production and the market: supporting manufacturing, quality, and any changes required.
Ask: What happens after the design is complete? Can they continue to support manufacturing, quality, and product updates?
9. Are they an IRD-approved R&D provider (for NZ clients)?
If you are a New Zealand company, working with an IRD-approved R&D provider may allow you to claim a 15% tax credit on qualifying R&D expenditure under the R&D Tax Incentive. This is worth checking before you sign with anyone.
Ask: Are they an IRD-approved R&D provider?
10. Can they handle packaging and compliance labelling?
Packaging decisions made late in the development process routinely increase cost and delay launch. The same is true of compliance labelling. A consultancy that considers packaging alongside the product: not as an afterthought: will save you time and money.
Ask: Is packaging design included in their scope? Do they design compliance labelling into the product and packaging from the start?
A Note on Pro-Dev
We put this checklist together because we believe these are genuinely the right questions to ask: including of us. We are happy to answer all of them.
Pro-Dev offers end-to-end product design and manufacturing. We have our own supply chain with long-term factory partners in China and New Zealand. Our team is on the ground during production. We hold IRD-approved R&D provider status. And we sign an NDA before any project discussions begin.
If you are comparing proposals and want to talk through how we stack up, book a free consultation or send us a message.
