These days it’s easy to find article after article stating that manufacturing in China is on the way out. And that’s true, at least partly. Vietnam, Thailand, Mexico, and Portugal have many good potential suppliers.
However, China is still the best place to produce relatively complex products, especially when time-to-market is critical and when assembly requires a lot of labor. Consumer electronics is a case in point. As Dr. Zhang, research director of IDC Worldwide Robotics, states:
“[Chinese factories] are able to produce very complex products. They are able to skill up handsomely and maintain good quality. Smartphones, semi-conductors, robots, advanced manufacturing equipment… they’re even moving into airplanes.”
If you have a new manufacturing project for a relatively complex product that needs to be launched and are looking for a contract manufacturer, who are some of the leading options in South China, the world’s leading electronics manufacturing hub?
In no particular order, here are the contract manufacturers that you might like to consider:
Dongguan Wiseally Industrial co.,Ltd ( 东莞威雅利实业有限公司 )
Wiseally concentrates on PCBAs, multifunctional modules and finished electronic products.
- Number of employees: 1800
- Mechanical products assembly: yes
- Electronic products assembly: yes
- Main market: Electronic components – usually B2B
Location: Chang’an district, Dongguan city
Shenzhen HyteraEMS co.,Ltd ( 深圳市海能达通信有限公司 )
Hytera is an EMS (Electronic Manufacturing Service) supplier who produces complex consumer electronics like robots, marine electronics, AI products, drones, and cleaning robots.
- Number of employees: 3000
- Mechanical products assembly: yes
- Electronic products assembly: yes
- Main market: Consumer electronics
Location: Longgang district, Shenzhen city, PRC
Seveco Global Limited ( 鴻業環球有限公司 )
Seveco provides thermostats, headsets, RFID readers, and RF devices amongst other devices, and also make other electronics.
- Number of employees: 680
- Mechanical products assembly: yes
- Electronic products assembly: yes
- Main market: Electronics
Location: Tuen Mun, Hong Kong (exact factory location unknown)
Agilian Technology (东莞市安集利安科技有限公司)
Agilian is Western-owned, provides full transparency on component suppliers, and helps bring a new product to market fast. It makes all sorts of electrical and mechanical products, such as massage devices, e-transportation devices, sports accessories, and other IoT connected products.
(Full disclosure: This is us!)
- Number of employees: 200+
- Mechanical products assembly: yes
- Electronic products assembly: yes
- Main market: electronic and mechanical products
Location: Chan’an district, Dongguan city, PRC
Dongguan Onlitex Electronic Co.,Ltd ( 东莞市维众电子有限公司 )
Onlitex produces PCBAs and manufactures electronic products of diverse types such as consumer, auto, energy, robotics, and more.
- Number of employees: 125
- Mechanical products assembly: yes
- Electronic products assembly: yes
- Main market: Electronics
Location: Qingxi district, Dongguan city, PRC
Shenzhen Epower Hardware Industrial Co.,Ltd ( 东莞意普五金实业有限公司)
Epower produces consumer electronics and consumer goods and have a wide variety of machining options in-house, such as CNC machines, plastic injection molding, and stamping machines.
- Number of employees: 260
- Mechanical products assembly: yes
- Electronic products assembly: yes
- Main market: Varied consumer electronics and other goods
Location: Fenggang district, Dongguan city, PRC
Dongguan Tutamen Metal Work Co., Ltd ( 东莞彩美金属制品有限公司 )
Tutamen provide metal fabrication, CNC machining, injection molding and produce products and components from metal and plastic for many industries.
- Number of employees: 200
- Mechanical products assembly: yes
- Electronic products assembly: yes
- Main market: Varied – metal machined and plastic mainly
Location: Tangxia district, Dongguan City, PRC
UNI Precision Industrial Ltd ( 渝利電子制品有限公司 )
UNI precision Industrial provides a full turnkey PCBA to complete box build, metal stamping, CNC Turret press punching, and plastic molding & injection in house.
- Number of employees: 300+
- Mechanical products assembly: yes
- Electronic products assembly: yes
- Main market: Electronics
Location: Hengli district, Dongguan city, PRC
RSP Technology Co., Ltd ( 深圳市瑞思博科技有限公司 )
RSP technology is a Shenzhen-based factory specialising in electronics and their ancillary products. They provide turn-key manufacturing, plastic injection products, silicone keypad, membrane switches including outdoor products, F&B, electronics, and many more.
- Number of employees: 85
- Mechanical products assembly: yes
- Electronic products assembly: yes
- Main market: Electronics
Location: Longgang district, Shenzhen city, PRC
Shenzhen Zowee Co., Ltd ( 深圳市卓翼智造有限公司 )
RSP technology is a Shenzhen-based factory specialising in IoT, mobile technology, and telecoms products.
- Number of employees: 8500
- Mechanical products assembly: yes
- Electronic products assembly: yes
- Main market: Electronics, telecoms
Location: Nanshan district, Shenzhen city, PRC
SUGA Technology Hong Kong ( 信佳技术香港有限公司 )
Sugatek is a Dongguan factory which offers multiple product types, such as telecommunication, pet training, professional audio, home appliances, IoT, industrial products, etc.
- Number of employees: 2000
- Mechanical products assembly: yes
- Electronic products assembly: yes
- Main market: Various
Location: Qingxi district, Dongguan city, PRC
Shenzhen Kenvox Technology Co. Ltd (深圳市铠沃科技有限公司)
Kenvox has helped clients to develop many electronic products, such as 3D printers, roasting machines with a display, etc, and some accessories for camera cases.
- Number of employees: 600
- Mechanical products assembly: yes
- Electronic products assembly: yes
- Main market: Electronics
Location: Chang’an district, Dongguan city, PRC
MediConcepts Ltd ( 醫科創建有限公司 )
MediConcepts produces medical devices and equipment, including metered-dose inhalers and disposable colonoscopes.
- Number of employees: 60
- Mechanical products assembly: yes
- Electronic products assembly: yes
- Main market: Medical products
Location: Central, Hong Kong (factory in Longgang district, Shenzhen city, PRC)
Advantages of dealing with a contract manufacturer directly
By working with contract manufacturers, you can expect the following benefits:
- The buyer generally owns the design and tools.
- The buyer can often give visibility over the supply chain.
- Better control of the situation as a whole – cost, quality, and timing.
- Change from one CM to another is a relatively standard process.
- The CM generally accepts a certain amount of manufacturing-related liability (i.e. not related to design defects).
Related 👉 We wrote about this in-depth in OEM, ODM, Contract Manufacturers: Choose your China Supplier Wisely.)
How about designing your new product?
If it’s early in your new product development process and you’re either not ready or only just starting to work with a contract manufacturer, read these posts:
- 9 New Product Development Milestones For Hardware Startups
- Why spending time in planning, before starting prototype work, can save a lot of time
Editor’s note: This blog post was originally published here on QualityInspection.org and has been recreated here for Agilian’s readers
Is it time to consider switching to a new Chinese supplier?
Are you buying products from Chinese manufacturers and have been disappointed by inconsistent results or have even been taken advantage of? If so, it may be time to consider switching to a new supplier.
But before you take the plunge, take our quick assessment to get some useful feedback about your current supplier and situation which could help you to make the decision on whether to switch or not: