I am an American Small Business Owner, Inventor, and Patent-holder.

I am seeking a manufacturing source in Asia to produce a private-label
line of eyewear. This manufacturer will be able to supply very good
quality materials such as titanium and aluminum as well as plastic and
stainless steel.

This manufacturer must be able to integrate miniature colored magnetic
elements into the eyeglass chassis or the lenses of the eyewear.

This manufacturer will be able to produce eyeglasses
in quantities of 500 to many thousands.  This manufacturer will be
able to produce prototypes made from metal based on information I
supply such as photographs, diagrams, and computer-designed
schematics.  

The manufacturer will be able to deliver samples of the
protoypes to me in America before mass-production begins.  Once a
design has made final approval, the manufacturer will be able to
mass-produce, package, and drop-ship from Asia directly to American
independent optical stores. 

This manufacturer must be willing to sign confidentiality agreements
stating he will not distribute my private designs to the public
market.

This manufacturer will be able to provide 90-120 day terms to pay for the order. 

Bilingual capability is preferred.  

As an added value, but not a necessity, this manufacturer will be able
to supply prescription lenses in addition to the eyewear if possible..
Thank you.

Hello wildernessresearch -

I contacted many manufacturers in Asia, and have been able to find one
that believes they can meet all of your requirements as stated: 
Taiwan-based Goang Ru Industry Co., Ltd.:

Goang Ru Industry Co., Ltd.
http://www.goangru.com.tw/

I spoke with representative Debby, who can be reached at
goangru.sales@msa.hinet.net (reverse goangru and sales in the address
before emailing).  Reference "Google Answers" when emailing.


I also spoke with China-based Bright Vision Optical, another manufacturer:

Bright Vision Optical
http://www.bvoptical.com

Representative Hanks Zhou can be reached at
firstnamelastname@bvoptical.com (replace firstnamelastname with his
real first and last name).  While this firm feels confident they can
meet most of your terms, there are two possible caveats: 1) They
expressed concerns regarding their having to have an FDA number to
ship to optical stores (If your FDA number is used, perhaps this could
work as a substitute?).  2) Extended payment terms will have to be
negotiated after an initial order (or few) is done with payment in
advance (so that a trusting business relationship may be established).

You can discuss these issues directly with them at the email addresses
above.  Please reference "Google Answers" as a starting point when
contacting these companies.


One thing you may consider is to work with an American company as a
liaison or "sourcing broker."  There are a few potential advantages in
working with such a firm.  They may be able to identify other
reputable and qualified factories, negotiate competitive pricing from
the factories on your behalf, and manage the entire sourcing process
for you. Two companies that work in this are:

US China Business Solutions
http://www.uschinabiz.com/
Phone: 202-204-3055
1-866-44 USCBS (Wendy)
Fax: 202-204-3056

SCI
http://www.s-c-i.com/services/sourcing.php4
SCI - Sino-Consulting, Inc
One Tower Bridge
100 Front St., Suite 1460
West Conshohocken, PA 19428
610-828-8060 - Timothy Weckesser
610-828-8061 - Shiqiang Gu


If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask before rating
this answer.  Thank you!

jbf777
Researcher
Google Answers


Additional link:
AsiaNet manufacturers
http://www.asiannet.com/china/china_manufacturers/china_products/china_OpticalFrame.htm

Search terms (in various combinations):
 eyewear custom manufacturing asia china

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Request for Answer Clarification by wildernessresearch-ga on 02 Sep 2006 22:19 PDT

Dear JBF777-ga,

I would like to follow up with you to update the status of this item. 
I am now a fully functioning and growing company doing business within
the US and China.  I have basic capability up and running however I
need to expand my capacity to meet the demands of the market. 
Regarding the reply, I followed up with Goang Ru of Taiwan. This
company does not produce OEM lines of eyewear, cannot provide
prescription eyewear, and is not interested in producing our requests.


I have visited China three times in the past 6 months. To make a long
story short, I contracted representative Hank Zhou of Bright Vision
for 500 Titanium Eyeglass Bridges.  Ar Mr. Zhou's request, I filed US
FDA Medical device Forms 2891 and 2892 with the US State Dept, as a
complimentary gesture. Representative Zhou then accepted my full
payment in advance and delayed for over one month.  After being given
an extremely resilient original bridge to duplicate 100% the same, Mr
Hanks Zhou then delivered sub-standard product that was very soft,
like a paperclip, which he claimed were titanium.  He now refuses to
deliver the products I have paid for.  This misadventure cost my
company over $1500 USD, in addition to time and travel expenses. So
much for a trusting business relationship! To be fair, I have met and
done business with another Chinese company I did not meet through
Google and I had similar results.  I've made a lot of errors, and I've
leared a lot about the manufacturing process.

I am not interested in using a broker because of their fee is much
higher than Google's.


For further clarification, I am seeking three separate things.




#1. Eyeglass "component" manufacturer(s), a company that produces, by
the tens-of thousands, miniature parts for eyeglasses such as
Eyewires, Screws, Hinges, and Nose-Pad arms.  This manufacturer
supplies Eyeglass Frame factories with a stock of minature components.
 Eyeglass Component manufacturer will fabricate and produce
custom-designed parts based on patent-pending designs.  The custom
miniature components go to:



#2. Eyeglass Frame factory(s) and integrated into OEM-Design eyewear -
steel, titantium, and plastic.  Eyeglasses Designs done in USA and
forwarded for production.  We then purchase and place this frame
inventory on hand in the Lens finishing laboratory (#3).





#3.  High-volume optical lens finishing laboratory(s), currently
producing over 1000+ Pairs of prescription eyewear per day for local
clients, including surfacing, finishing, polishing, edging and
mounting in the frames.  This laboratory is capable of producing and
processing Polycarbonate, Hi-Index, and Anti-Reflective lenses. 
Optical finishing laboratory must be big enough to add 100 orders to
the daily production, and ship them complete within 24 hours, to be
considered.


Ideally these laboratories would be based in Japan AND in Chinese
Cities such as Shenzhen, Whenzhou, Beijing, Hong Kong, and Shanghai.


The lens finishing laboratory(s) will receive the lens prescription
and frames data via the website and produce the made - to - order
eyeglasses.  These-made-to-order eyeglasses are put together using the
eyeglass frames that we have stored on-hand in the finishing
laboratory.  Individual shipping labels are produced by the website,
and applied by the finishing laboratory. We handle all duties and
importing fees.

If you are not able to identify these sources, perhaps a personal
assistant in China would be of help.  I travel to China every two or
three months, with a dedicated bilingual assistant, I may be able to
track down these facilities in person.



My website shows photographs of the quality level and designs
necessary to be produced by these three facilities.  Images are
located at http://Z-Clips.com/gallery.php

Thank you,

WR

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Clarification of Answer by jbf777-ga on 05 Sep 2006 09:26 PDT

Hello wildernessresearch -

I am very sorry to hear of your experience.  Unfortunately, there is
really no way to see how effectively a manufacturer will implement
your request unless you're able to acquire prototypes from them prior
to mass production.  At this time, I would not be able to furnish you
with any additional information for this specific question.  However,
feel free to post another question -- or an additional 2 or 3 -- to
Google Answers, so that any of our researchers will be able to do
additional research for you.

If you have any questions, please contact the Editors at
answers-editors@google.com.

Thank you,

jbf777