Hose Connectors

Have you tried submitting a request for quote through GlobalSpec yet? GlobalSpec has a Plastic Molding Services area with 49 companies that you can request a quote from. At least 33 of them indicate that they have injection molding capabilities.

Thx for your timely response.

I did check with Global Spec some months ago.

But thx anyway.

Cornelius

that cannot be done. Steel is steel and costs are similar, but labor in china is far less.

Any USA diemaker that traps you and meets the price with a made in USA product is actually doing it in China and bringing it in and doing some filan steps and makring it made in USA.

Most plastic hose items sold in stores for $5 are made in china for 25-30 cents or so. weigh the plastic and figure $1.50/pound and add a little.

So if you have a dream of selling your widget for $2.50 and they sell it for $5 and double their money = no sales. They want it for 35 cents to sell for $5.

Since the world is well populated with many types of devices that perform this function, what is it about yours that willk grab mind share and market share.?

Pardon my harshness, but the market is far harsher, and that is after you have spent $20,000 to make a mold and make 20,000 widgets

I have run into huge price differences from suppliers. I would not be surprised to find someone in the US who would be willing to absorb mold costs for something as small as a hose connector, if they believed the product would be successful. I can't imagine that the labor per piece would be so high that you couldn't compete with China (given the lower shipping costs) particularly if you could eliminate one step in the chain to retail, and dealt directly with a large retailer like Walmart with in-house distribution. For clothing, where most of the cost is labor, you can only sell ultra-premium products that are made in the USA -- but for a hose connector, I think you could be very competitive.

We still make many plastic products here: I'd suggest continuing to look for suppliers.

I once made a product for Kmart, on a whim. They sold it for twice what they paid me, and told me it was the most profitable item in the store. It was a simple product made in the USA, with hand labor.

Most plastic retail items are packed in a blister pack, with bar code, ready to hang on a peg. These costs are a lot higher in the USA, even though it is true that a machine that filled cubic yard sized bins with the raw, ungasketed parts would have the same cost in China as in the USA. Where you get into costs in the USA are the gasket adding, a fiddly hand job, and other hand tasks related to retail preparation.

Try Action Machine in Utah they make irrigation filters and make there own molds. Jeff Smith is your contact. 801-292-9299.

A business manager, huh? What if he (or she) told you, that even if you get the connector built, you would only be--perhaps--1/10 of the way to payday, if that far--unless you had the resources to acquire, say, Home Depot. It is an unfortunate sign of our times that the world beats a path to where it is told; the better mousetrap beats a path to oblivion--as all "improvements" in water hose connectors in recent years clearly demonstrates. Why does the better hose connector not survive in the marketplace? For one, because the producers of worser connectors control what gets displayed on shelves. For two, because retailers do not place products that unfavorably compete with "equivalent" products. For three, because customers are few who will recognize a superior product if others are cheaper. Of course, you might say that you will go full time--and then some--direct marketing your plastic hose connector. However, you would still need to sell at equal volume with established manufacturers; to do otherwise....you would not be able to order injection services in sufficient volumes to benefit from cost economies you seek.

Hint! Find applications for your connector idea other than garden hoses. Only then might your _________ connector find its own profitable niche. Or sell your idea to someone in Shanghai.