How to Vet a Contract Manufacturer

Published by Coughlan Products · Sourcing

Choosing a contract manufacturer is one of the biggest decisions a brand makes. These are the questions to ask before you commit.

1. Facility access and transparency

A manufacturer confident in its operation will let you see it — in person or via documentation. Ask what quality and compliance records they’ll share before you sign anything, not after.

2. Who owns the formula

Get IP ownership in writing before formulation work starts. A manufacturer that ships every batch under your name, not theirs, and treats your formula and client relationship as confidential, is protecting your brand rather than building a case study out of it.

3. MOQs and scale-up path

A minimum order quantity that fits your first production run is table stakes; the harder question is whether the same partner can scale with you from a pilot batch to full commercial volume without a re-qualification process or a change in point of contact. Coughlan quotes projects from under 1,000 units to more than 50,000 units on the same line.

4. Communication structure

Ask how many people you’ll actually talk to across concept, formulation, and production. Every handoff between departments is a place a launch date can slip — a single point of contact from brief to shelf is a meaningfully different experience than a new project manager at every stage.

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