For practitioners engaged in the toy market, if they want to engage in this industry, the first and most significant thing is to understand the process of toy production. Because understanding the toy manufacturing process is the most basic introductory knowledge. At the same time, it is not easy to understand the entire production process of toys. On the contrary, the process is extremely complex, and every step from the initial toy conception to the final implementation is a process that requires serious thought.
Because the process of toy manufacturing is very complicated, many people do not know how to understand or even where to go to learn professional knowledge related to this. Here is a good new, this article will tell you the basic information of toy manufacturing process. If you want to know more, please continue to read.
Make A Plan-Developing Concept Is the First Step
During the process of toy product development, many entrepreneurs find that it is hard to do that. First of all, you should have a basic idea prototype in your mind. Then pass rigorous tests to prove whether the concept works. Whenever you have a good idea, you should go through these steps to validate. If you have no clue about new product development ideas, it is recommended that you can browse the major social networking sites such as Tik-Tok and Instagram, etc. You can also go to the major toy sales sites to find the hottest products of the season for inspiration.
Is Your Toy Innovation A Good Marketing Plan
Before your toy idea is born, the most important thing you should do is do market research first. Because a toy is not a product that can cater to everyone’s preferences. Every year, the New York International Toy Fair presents thousands of new innovations. Many of these products are developed by experienced experts with extensive toy resources. And developing new toys is their only job. But even though those experts have developed so many toys, there are not many toys that can actually meet the needs of toy consumers in the end.
It can be seen that toys do not meet everyone’s needs. Therefore, it is not easy to enter the toy market smoothly and produce toys that are loved by most people. The manufacturing process of a toy product that can be successfully put on the shelves requires a lot of effort and research.
How To Make Sense Your Idea Is A Perfect One
First, you should do a lot of formal or informal market research, which can help you become familiar with the latest toy products more quickly. This can include online or offline survey research.
Among them, online research includes browsing magazines in the toy industry, especially toy magazines launched after various large toy exhibitions are held. This can help you quickly judge whether your creative idea is in line with current fashion trends. Popular toy magazines include the following: aNb media, Adventure Publishing Group, Edplay Magazine, etc. And there are also another online survey method. You can also go to major social media sites for inspiration, such as Instagram, Tik-Tok, etc.
After you have invested a lot of time and energy in online research, don’t forget that the most important thing is offline physical research. You can go to the local or other countries where toys are produced on the spot. Including from international chain stores, large supermarkets, local shopping malls and other places. At the same time, you should also pay attention to the time of your visit. Typically, the newest toys come out around the holidays. Of course, every season comes with the newest toys. While on-the-spot inspection of these toys, you should pay attention to their packaging, quality and marketing methods, which will greatly help your new toy manufacturing process.
Will It Sell Well
Once you’ve determined that your creative idea is unique and marketable, the next step is to consider whether it will capture the attention of consumers. Oftentimes, toy manufacturers and parent consumers tend to value certain factors more that determine whether your toy will sell well or not.
Is it safe? The safety of toys is the top concern of consumers. You have to make sure that your product is safe enough to not cause any harm to the human body.
How is its quality and can it last a long time? You have to make sure that your toys do not have any quality problems, otherwise you will face a severe after-sales crisis.
What is unique about this toy and what function does it have? If your toy is mediocre, consumers won’t pay for it. Your toy must have something unique or have the perfect function to attract consumers to buy it. For example, it can have bright colors, two or three unique features, etc.
It is easy to answer the above questions. But what you have to keep in mind is that toys are not just a simple manufacturing process, they have to be fun, unique and have a large perceived share of the market.
Is It Cost-effective
If you already have further ideas for the toy in mind, the next thing you should consider is whether the toy is cost-controllable. The easiest way is to contact the factory to make a toy model and see if its cost is manageable. Compared with other toys of the same category on the market, your toy price must have strong market competitiveness. If it’s priced attractively enough, it’s likely to sell well. You can estimate the cost price by contacting the toy manufacturer. It depends on the type of toy you want to make.
Is It Safe
Regarding the safety issues that need to be paid attention to in the toy manufacturing process, there are many safety regulations that you need to follow.
Among them, the more valuable reference is the toy safety standard. The Toy Safety Standard refers to ASTM F963-17, the Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Toy Safety, which incorporates the modifications shown in 16 CFR Part 1250 and is a comprehensive standard. It’s important to remember that the Toy Safety Standard requires third-party testing and certification, primarily for toys designed or used by children 12 and under. The security standards mentioned above are only a part of the security certification rules, and there are many rules that you need to keep in mind, which will not be described in detail here.
Is Your Toy Protected By Law
During the toy manufacturing , trademarks and patents are protected by law. If you don’t want the toys you’ve worked so hard to make to be plagiarized by others, you can apply for registered trademarks and patents. You can seek help from a lawyer to handle the business for you.
Target Your Customer Group
During the toy manufacturing, targeting your target customer group is very important. You need to know their age group and gender. For example, your target audience is girls under the age of 12, who are likely to love dolls and plush toys. Then you can make an effort on the color of the box. These toys need to be delicate, colorful, and good-looking enough to attract the attention of girls.
How To Begin Toy Manufacturing Process
After getting familiar with the preparatory work in the early stage of toy manufacturing, we will now formally introduce the toy manufacturing process. We break it down into 4 steps.
Create The Design
During the process of toy manufacturing, once you have the initial concept and audience in mind, you can start designing. After creating the initial prototype, what you need to do is to control the details and further improve the details to determine the final appearance. In this process, you need to spend a lot of energy, you need more than one person’s brainstorming.
Sketch The Toy And Create A 3D Depiction
In this step, you’d better find a professional designer team to complete your initial sketch. Of course, if you have a remarkable talent for drawing, you can also go through the process yourself. One of the advantages of doing this process yourself is that you have a comprehensive and thorough understanding of the first draft of the product, and you know every part and every link like the back of your hand. If you commission a design team to do the first draft, you must tell them all your appeals and details, including size, pattern, color, and other details.
After the sketch is complete, the next step is to make the 3D model. It is recommended to hire a professional to complete this step. This is very helpful for the next model making.
Create A Prototype
In the toy manufacturing process, it is critical to understand how the toy model is made. You can use the model to tell how much material you need to use, because the material used is very important. The molds made from four different materials are listed below.
The first is plastic toys. If plastic toys are to be mass-produced, more durable metal molds must be used in the toy manufacturing process. Aluminum, steel, copper and magnesium alloys can make durable metal molds. It can make hundreds of toys, but the disadvantage is that the cost is too high.
The second is plush toys, the priority should be the cost of sewing. Stitching costs can be amortized over the toy’s fabric and padding.
Thirdly, silicone molds are best for making resin, polystone and polyresin toys.
The cost of models with different materials varies, you can control the cost by taking this approach.
Find A Toy Manufacturer
For your toys, if you want mass production, you can find a way to contact the factory. You can find a satisfied factory at toy fairs and trade shows. such as China Toy Fair and Hong Kong Toy Fair.
Once you come across the right factory, you need to do a site visit to the factory so you can make sure they are trustworthy. Usually you need to ask the following questions: 1. If the toy has molded parts, can the factory produce it? 2. Whether there is enough assembly line space to meet the use of multiple molds. 3. Does the factory have strict quality control standards? 4. Are strict safety tests always performed on the toys that leave the factory?
Maintain Toy Manufacturing Supply Chain
Seeing this, you have a basic understanding of the toy manufacturing process. We should also mention the final supply chain issue, which includes the following aspects:
Toy Manufacturing Plan
Before a toy is mass-produced, the following should be done: 1. Creating a plan. 2. Creating a prototype. 3. Finding a toy manufacturing factory.
Procurement
Once you have a plan in place, the next step is to find the right raw materials, which requires you to actively build good relationships with your suppliers. You need to keep in mind that competitive bidding and ROI analysis can help obtain the tools, services and resources needed for manufacturing.
Manufacturing
The toy manufacturing process requires machines, materials, analytics, and other knowledge which include 4 more critical parts: demand forecasting, throughput accounting analysis, identify process bottlenecks and performance and productivity management.
Delivery
During this process, you need to think about how to deliver the product. Different delivery methods may achieve different effects, such as process optimization. You have to remember that dealers play a huge role in handling stock outflows and you need to have a good relationship with them.
Retailing
Retailers play a huge role in maintaining supply chains because they communicate directly with customers. In order to increase the product exposure of our toys, you also need to have a good relationship with them, such as profit sharing.
Feedback
It is said that setting the price, facilitating returns, product placement, and catering to consumer wants requires detailed analysis. You need to have a perfect after-sales service policy in order to improve the customer experience.
The End
The above is the whole introduction to the toy manufacturing process. If you have any questions while browsing this article, welcome to visit our website https://unionvisionchart.com/toy-manufacturing-blogs/.
Hopes you all well~
