Range extension: existing factory or specialist?
Use your existing factory when it can prove the new processes and protect current production. Seek a specialist when the extension needs skills or controls the incumbent has yet to develop. Compare development work, delivered cost and coordination effort before deciding. Cambridge China Bridge can investigate both routes through its staff in China.
Separate product similarity from process similarity
A product that looks like your current range may require unfamiliar manufacturing. A different material, bonded joint, coating or powered feature can change the work substantially. Mark the extension's changes against the existing product: materials, processes, tooling, assembly, inspection and intended use. Give the incumbent and specialist candidates the same brief, using the product specification guide.
Classify each changed process as already proven, needing adaptation or new to the factory. Ask for evidence relevant to your material and design, rather than treating successful deliveries of the old range as proof. The factory capability guide explains how to check equipment and subcontracting; use those findings to identify what the extension still needs.
Compare the work each route leaves you
Ask each candidate to describe the unresolved development work, who will do it and what would trigger another sample or tooling change. A familiar factory may understand your finish and packaging but still need to learn the new process. A specialist may know the process but need to learn your appearance standard, assembly interfaces and reporting expectations.
Compare quotations against the same acceptance criteria and delivery scope. Include tooling, trials, rejected development parts, testing, transport, inspection and your team's coordination time. Separate development spending from repeat-order costs. Ask what happens to unfinished development work if you stop, and avoid committing the whole range before the difficult process has been demonstrated.
| Route | Evidence that supports it | Work to resolve before commitment |
|---|---|---|
| Existing factory | Relevant process experience and a workable plan for current orders | Unproven adaptations, shared equipment and development ownership |
| Specialist supplier | Relevant production experience with your material and acceptance criteria | Learning your range standards, onboarding and separate delivery coordination |
| Existing factory with specialist input | A named specialist and an agreed assembly and inspection arrangement | Transfers, interface approval, defect investigation and release ownership |
Protect the range that already sells
Ask the incumbent which machines, operators, tooling staff and inspection resources the extension would share with existing orders. Have it show where trials, changeovers and rework would fit into the current production plan. A promise to fit development into spare capacity is incomplete unless the factory explains which work moves when a trial overruns.
Agree which current orders take priority, who can authorise schedule changes and when extension trials must stop or move elsewhere. Keep experimental materials, samples and drawing revisions separate from released production. If the extension needs changes to shared tooling or settings, agree how the old product will be checked before normal production resumes.
Choose where responsibility will sit
A specialist can make the complete extension, supply a component to the incumbent or perform a process on the incumbent's parts. Choose the arrangement around technical control and practical handovers. If the incumbent remains your contact, ask who actually resolves specialist defects and whether you can review the specialist's production evidence.
Keep tightly interacting work together where splitting it would make faults hard to diagnose. Where specialist input is necessary, define who accepts incoming work, approves the assembled sample and releases finished goods. Use managing multiple factories for the detailed handover arrangements rather than assuming a single invoice removes coordination work.
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Make the decision after a production trial
Agree acceptance criteria before trials and use the intended production route. Record sample revisions, defects, rework, unresolved development and the effect on existing orders. Decide what evidence would justify continuing, changing the arrangement or stopping. The supplier qualification guide covers candidate approval; apply that discipline to the extension without treating it as a replacement for your current range.
Manufacturers and importers placing products on the UK market must demonstrate compliance with relevant safety requirements. For the extension, review whether existing reports and checks address its changed materials, construction and use; identify evidence gaps before release. Choose the route that meets the agreed technical criteria with manageable development and coordination work. Cambridge China Bridge's staff in China can check the proposed production arrangements and follow up trials.
Frequently asked questions
Should my current factory make my new product?
Use it when relevant process evidence and a production trial support the extension, and development can proceed without unacceptable disruption to existing orders. Familiarity alone is insufficient.
When should I use a specialist supplier?
Seek a specialist when the new material or process remains unproven at your current factory. Compare its technical evidence with the extra work of onboarding, coordinating deliveries and maintaining range consistency.
Can my current factory subcontract the new process?
Consider it if the specialist is identified and the arrangement is proven in a trial. Agree who controls the specification, accepts the work, investigates defects and approves finished goods.
How do I compare factory quotes for a range extension?
Use the same specification, acceptance criteria and delivery scope. Compare development spending separately from repeat-order costs, including trials, tooling, testing, transfers, rework and your coordination time.