Looking for resources to develop a custom spork (yes...SPORK)

I work at a company looking to do a promotion to launch a new soup product. Based on the "heartiness" benefit of the soup, we were thinking about developing a spork that would be given away at football games, etc. Additionally, we imagined it with a dual purpose to further add value to this simple promotional tool: on the opposite end from the spork would be a bottle opener. My task is to determine the feasibility of producing this spork/bottle opener that is black in color with branding on the handle. My search for custom spork manufacturers was leading nowhere so I am now posing the question here. Any ideas or suggestions as to how to make this happen would be greatly appreciated. The approximate scale of the project would be 100,000+ units.

A ballpark cost is the most important takeaway for me right now.

Thanks!

Phil


Ries's picture

I have a friend who, a while

I have a friend who, a while ago, got the idea to design his own line of flatware.

He found it is very very hard to get something like this manufactured- virtually every company that makes flatware does it soley for their own distribution.
That is to say, there are no "job shops" which make flatware to order- its almost all captive factories of major companies, and they have NO interest in making your designs.

He finally found a company in Japan that would do it- now, he was doing high end stuff, and all his pieces were available in stainless, and in actual silver. He spent many thousands on tooling- I seem to remember the figure of twenty grand per stamping mold being tossed around. And minimum orders and lead times were both daunting.

Nowadays, there should be a plant in China that will do what you want- but it would be imperative to either have a really good representative there, or go yourself.

None of this really answers your question- but thats because this is one of those industries that has virtually left the USA, and was never set up for short run subcontracting anyway.

Here are a few chinese companies you could try-
Wenzhou Chinalight Hardware Knife Co Ltd
Rm. 304-306, Haifa Building
221 Liming Zhong Road
Wenzhou
Zhejiang
China 325000
Tel: (86 577) 88357405 (86 577) 88378488 Ext : 8802

Shandong Machinery I/E Group Corp. Rigging Hardware Co.
1 Qutangxia Road,
Qingdao
Shandong
China 266002
Tel: (86 532) 8266 1678 (86 532) 8266 1680

Zhejiang Kingstone Cutlery Co.,Ltd.
506 Ruiwen Road,
Rui'an
Wenzhou
Zhejiang
China 325206
Tel: (86 577) 25675555 (86 577) 25675556
Fax: (86 577) 65521979 / (86 577) 65520955

There are probably at least another half dozen chinese companies that do this type of work-

try "stainless flatware" or just "flatware" at
http://www.globalsources.com
and at
http://www.made-in-china.com/
and at
http://www.manufacturers.com.tw/


bpfink's picture

bpfink

I tend to agree here with Reis and going abroad somewhere is the next goal step.  They have more open minds about production and doing small orders even though that is not a small order in my mind.

Next challenge is to find either a representative to guide it or to market it for you directly.   Can't be much help there but know it is a worthy pursuit if guarded with proper legalize and guarantees. bpfink


Gene Olson's picture

somebody that normally does

somebody that normally does "drop" forging like diamond tool and horseshoe, might be looking for a fill product to keep their machines busy.

You could ask.

as Reis said, tooling costs are a major chunk, but if the part could fit into one of their standard heat and blow, forging lines, you might find a supplier. (heat by resistance or inductance at one station, matched weight dies come in from both sides and meet on the part, Wham!
That is a forming die, (it might take several stages to get the shape you want) You then need a stripper die to cut the part from the flash.
then deburring and polishing stages and a black oxide stage.

die cast plastic?
die cast al and anodize?

Gene Olson
Sculptor
Elk River, MN


visitor's picture

I'd think about laser

I'd think about laser cuttinig the blank from 18-8 stainless steel about 3/32" thick and then tumbling or vibratory finishing for cleanup, followed by a single hit in a drop stamp to form the bowl of the spork and curve the shank. If yo go with the old-time bow style bottle opener, it can have a tab-lifter one the end, too for those who drink the cheap stuff in cans.

Doing it this way, you can have 90% of it done by CNC and eve autofeed the drop stamp. No need for stripper plates, trim cuts, etc. You could have your logo embossed into the handle in the same drop stamping operation that does the final forming.

If you did it in hard aircraft aluminum, they could be black anodized, or the stainless could be given a black nitride finish. Titanium would have some extra cachet and could be done in various oxide colors or anodized.

The cheapest way, probably, would be to use a quickie little stamped steel opener jaw molded into a plastic spork handle. That method should get you down inito the fifty cents a unit price range for quantities of 100k and up. Tooling extra of course, but the tooling for that should be under twenty grand.

There might even be a moldable plastic that is tough enough to open a bottle a few hundred times without degrading, and you could have the whole thing injection molded very reasonably. Hell, if it will open a bottle fifty times, that will be longer than most people will keep it around, anyway.


Rich Waugh's picture

That was my post above; I

That was my post above; I didn't realize my log-in had timed out.

An example of the steel insert in plastic concept that I'm talking about is those disposable lighters with the bottle opeer built into the end. Those retail for a buck so net wholesale should be a quarter of that or less. Ditto for your spork.

I guess the final decision comes down to how classy yo want the thing to be. Cheap promo item, or something that folks will keep for a while?


Gene Olson's picture

I like the plastic with

I like the plastic with metal insert version.

There are all sorts of durable moldable plastics and you could make the mold with an interchangeable Team or Company logo spot for promotions.

and Rich is right about making from flat stock, but stamping from coil stock with a progressive die would make more sense than a laser. Two much machine time and handling on 200,000 pieces and edge discoloration.

1 . Hole for bottle opener and logo stamp pass
2 . Shear shape and leave hanging in place
3 . Form shape and strip from coil

Gene Olson
Sculptor
Elk River, MN


PBrooks's picture

Thanks for the input

Thanks for the input everybody! I will definitely investigate the plastic with metal insert option. I really appreciate all the ideas and quick responses.

Phil


Rich Waugh's picture

Phil, You're quite welcome.

Phil,

You're quite welcome. Send the royalty checks to Rich Waugh, P.O. Box 2559, Frederiksted, VI 00841. (GRIN)