r/LeanManufacturing

Hi everyone, I’m a third-year International Business student researching how businesses select manufacturing partners, particularly when sourcing or developing products using natural or more sustainable materials.

I’m particularly interested in people with experience in procurement, sourcing, product development or manufacturing.

What are the most important factors when choosing a manufacturing partner: price, quality, MOQ, lead time, reliability, customisation, prototyping, sustainability, EU production, or something else?

I’m also interested in whether you have experienced difficulties when trying to source more sustainable or natural-material alternatives.

Any experiences or perspectives would be really useful for my academic research.