Lighting Manufacturing

An introduction to manufacturing new lighting products.

You’ve gone through the concept development stage, designing and prototyping phase. Next up is the manufacturing of your new lighting product.
With our vast experience from successfully working on lighting products like event lighting, children’s night lights, emergency lights and portable battery powered lights, D2M can be trusted to help bring your lighting innovation from design to market! This article provides a wealth of information on lighting and the processes involved in manufacturing a new lighting product idea.

The first step in the manufacturing process is to choose a factory to produce your lighting product. You can either choose to manufacture your product in the UK, or abroad. If planning to produce your product in the UK then the British Lighting Association are a wealth of knowledge.

To get the most competitive price, you may consider manufacturing your product abroad. Although the production costs will be much lower, you must consider the duty rates and shipping costs – as well as any issues that could arise through difficulties in communicating. 

To help you choose a factory abroad, you could hire a sourcing agent – these agents will act as a middleman between you and the manufacturer. Often sourcing agents will have their own trusted manufacturing partners that you can choose from. 

If you decide to produce your product in the UK, it’s often easier to negotiate directly with the factory and you’ll be able to conduct more research into the factory’s reputation. However, manufacturing in the UK is often much more expensive. Again best to start by contacting the British Lighting Association.

If you’re making a lighting product, you should also be aware that some items simply cannot be manufactured in the UK. These include LEDs, transformers, battery cells and electronic components in general. 

No matter if you choose to manufacture in the UK or abroad, there are a few key things to remember when working with a manufacturer.

You should first always ask for samples of your product before committing to any orders, and always ask to see references for the factory. 

Manufacturing a new lighting product never goes smoothly, but there are a few tips that can help minimise problems:

  1. Get as much advice as you can from people you know in the industry or who have manufactured a similar product before.
  2. Have a backup plan – it’s better to prepared for potential scenarios and plan ahead before it’s too late.
  3. Dedicate as much time as you can to the process.
  4. Focus on the details – the smallest details of your contracts and manufacturing process are often crucial.
How to make a product quality control
sewing factory
Chinese Manufacturer
Prototyping

Before you place an order, your factory should always send you samples of your product. A sample will typically include a small batch of product that you can test and provide feedback on. This is the time when you can make sure your product meets specifications, and meets the quality that you intended.

These samples will need to pass EMC testing and this can be done in the country of manufacture or an independent test lab in the UK. Depending on the product there may be other safety testing required to legally sell the lamp.

If your product is plastic or metal-based you may find that producing samples costs a lot more. This is because your product may require a specialist tool to be built first. In some cases, tooling may already exist to produce your product but it’s an expense you may need to consider if your product is totally unique. 

Either way, when you get your sample through, you should be as critical as possible.

Stewart Golf Testimonial
physical product prototyping

At D2M, we’ve worked with plenty of clients to help bring their innovative lighting products to the market.

Find out more information about developing a lighting product.

If you’ve got an idea for a lighting product, but need support in making it a reality, contact us and we can schedule a call to discuss your project.

Let us help you bring your new product to market.

If you’re looking to develop a new product or re-design an existing range but lack the in-house capacity or expertise to make it a reality, get in touch with us today to discuss your requirements. 

product design team
From idea

to successful

product

All the resources you will need:

Bonus 40min extended case-study video!