Three OEM projects, described the way the buyer briefed them
Client names are withheld under NDA. Everything else is as it happened: the brief we received, what we changed, what it cost in tooling and testing, and what it proves about the way we work. If a project is still open, we say so.
None of these are catalogue orders. All three started with a document like the ones on our custom development page.
CASE 01 · MATERIAL SUBSTITUTION · EUROPE / NORTH AMERICA
A 12-cup drip coffee maker with no plastic in the hot water path
The brief. Take an existing ODM 12-cup drip platform — chassis, electronics, carafe, warming circuit — and change only the hot water contact path: riser tube, brew showerhead, filter basket and carafe lid in 304 stainless. Initial order above 1,000 units, lifetime quantity above 50,000. The buyer offered to pay for every stamping die, every drawing and the full certification programme up front, and asked for a prototype gate before any production order.
What actually had to change. Four parts sounds like a material swap and is not. The riser tube needed new fittings at both ends because a stainless tube does not compress like the original plastic one; the showerhead had to keep its spray pattern or brew time moves and the coffee tastes different; the filter basket had to match the existing carrier or the whole platform is invalidated; and the carafe lid had to keep the glass rim geometry while the internal hinge mechanism stayed untouched. Polishing and passivation of the food-contact surfaces is a separate process step, not a detail.
Where the money goes. The stainless material is not the expensive part. The expensive part is the deep-draw set for the basket, the bending and welding fixtures for the tube, and the re-testing that follows any change in a food-contact material. This is why we quote tooling separately and do not bury it in the unit price.
What it proves. We can work on a platform we did not design, keep the parts that work, and take responsibility for the parts that change — with the buyer owning the tooling and the certificate.
CASE 02 · NEW PRODUCT · GERMANY
A 68 × 148 mm rechargeable grinder with five compartments
The brief. A product developer in Germany arrived with a two-page mechanism description: a round body around 68 mm diameter by 148 mm tall, a powered metal grinding mechanism with reverse, overload stop and a lid interlock, a separate catch chamber with a closable pouring outlet, a removable raw-material insert targeting 1.5–2 g, and compartments for loose papers and tips. No production-ready CAD. Motor, tooth geometry, control board and final dimensions left to engineering. First step: one working prototype, with any batch of 1,000 or 2,000 strictly conditional on written approval.
What we told them, honestly. The housing, battery, PCBA and assembly are inside our competence. A grinding mechanism is a separate discipline — tooth geometry, torque under load, stall behaviour and burr life. Quoting a prototype price without a proven platform would either be too high to be credible or too low to be safe. We proposed a paid feasibility review first, and an introduction to a grinder specialist if they preferred to keep it at no cost.
Why this case is here. Because saying no to the wrong part of a project is the service. A supplier who quotes everything is telling you they have not read your brief.
What it proves. We will name the boundary of our capability before you spend money on tooling.
CASE 03 · PLATFORM REUSE · MULTI-MARKET
One 500 W platform, three shelf positions, seven models
The brief. A distributor wanted to cover three price points — entry black, premium matte and white for colour programmes — without carrying three sets of spare parts or three sets of certificates.
What we did. One motor, one SUS 304 shaft and bell, one bayonet coupling, one carton footprint. The differentiation is housing finish, trim and controls: gloss black with chrome, textured matte with a two-button panel, ribbed white with a DC motor, plus a 10-in-1 variant that adds nine attachments to the same base. A buyer can then place one purchase order and get three shelf positions out of a single platform.
The commercial logic. Fewer article numbers, one spare-parts list, one test programme, faster shelf turnover. The trade-off is that every finish has to hold the same tolerances on the housing, because they share the same mould base — which is also why a colour change normally does not trigger re-certification.
What it proves. Platform thinking is cheaper than product thinking, and we build for it from the start.
The four things all three projects had in common
| Principle | What it looks like on paper |
|---|---|
| A written boundary | Which parts change, which parts stay, and who owns the tooling. Written down before any quote. |
| One prototype gate | Nothing goes to volume until a working unit is approved in writing. A batch order is a separate decision. |
| Buyer pays tooling and testing, and owns both | We quote tooling separately and hand over the drawings. The certificate is in the buyer’s name. |
| A named limit | Every project has something we say we cannot do. It appears in the first reply, not in month four. |
Frequently asked questions
Can I speak to the clients in these case studies?
Not directly, and that is a good sign. Two of the three are under NDA. We can describe the project in the detail above, and the client can choose to talk to a new buyer — that is their call, not ours.
Is the coffee maker project still open?
It is at brief stage: the material change is defined, tooling and testing are quoted separately, and the prototype gate comes before any batch order. We are not claiming a shipped container on that project.
Do you take on projects where you only make part of the device?
Yes — housing, battery pack, PCBA and assembly for a partner who owns the mechanism. The grinder project above is exactly that shape.
What is the smallest project you will quote?
A private-label programme on an existing platform starts at 1,000 units per model, 100 pcs on the portable range. A new housing or a new mechanism is a tooling project and is quoted individually.
Who owns the tooling?
The buyer, once the tooling invoice is settled. We hold it in our plant and maintain it, and it can be moved on request.
What happens if the prototype fails?
The revision scope is written into the prototype quote before work starts, so you know how many rounds are included. A failed round is a revision, not a restart.
Have a brief like these?
Send the document. You will get a scope note within two working days that says what we can build, what we would need to source, and which part of your brief is the expensive one.
Related: certificaciones · quality control · factory tour · hand blender range · portable collection
