In the fast-paced consumer appliance industry, quality issues rarely end with simple rework or compensation — they can also damage brand reputation and delay time-to-market. As an OEM/ODM cleaning appliances manufacturer with over 20 years of experience, we’ve learnt that quality cannot be “tested into” a product; it must be designed into it. For brand owners, the true cost of poor quality often stems from minor oversights in the design stage, including drawing tolerances, structural strength, material selection, and manufacturability analysis. These details determine whether a concept can transition smoothly into stable mass production.

This is why an increasing number of brands are choosing to build a Preventive Quality System with their ODM partners — addressing potential issues before prototype validation even begins.

Quality Begins with Design, Not Inspection

Traditional quality management tends to focus on incoming material checks and final inspections, rectifying problems only after they occur. However, in today’s efficiency-driven ODM collaboration model, such reactive measures rarely prevent real losses. Once a design is frozen and tooling has begun, even a minor interference issue can delay a project by weeks — or require an entirely new mould.

In a successful ODM new product project, brand owners involve their ODM manufacturer early in the quality planning stage, using DFM (Design for Manufacturability) and DFA (Design for Assembly) methods to identify potential failure points from a production perspective. For instance, in the design of a kitchen fruit and vegetable purifier washer, overly thin latch structures on a large plastic housing are prone to cracking during assembly. Fixing such an issue after the moulds are ready is extremely costly.

If the ODM engineer highlights the need for thicker ribs or additional reinforcement during the design review, the problem can be eliminated before prototype build, at virtually zero cost.

Creating a Cross-functional Preventive Loop

The core of a preventive quality system is not additional paperwork, but a strong risk feedback loop between the brand and the ODM manufacturer.

The most effective approach is to establish a cross-functional review mechanism with product managers, structural engineers, quality engineers and supply chain leads. Together, they assess potential risks step by step from design documentation through to prototype validation. For kitchen cleaning appliance projects, the review focuses on key areas such as plastic part tolerances, assembly stresses, sealing reliability and motor heat dissipation. This collaborative process helps uncover and resolve over 80% of potential risks before prototype validation. The real value lies in enabling design and manufacturing teams to communicate early — instead of debating whether an issue is a “design problem” or a “production problem” after the prototype is complete.

Integrating Quality Tools into the Project Process

Building a preventive quality system doesn’t make a project more complicated — it creates greater certainty through key-stage control.

Common practices include:

• Defining CTQs (Critical to Quality characteristics): At the project initiation stage, the brand and ODM jointly define which performance, structural or safety parameters are critical control points.

• Implementing Design FMEA and updating control plans dynamically: During prototype validation, design risks are analysed and control plans refined based on verification results.

• Validating production fixtures and inspection schemes: During pilot production, jigs and gauges are verified for precision and consistency to prevent batch deviations.

• Establishing critical material validation standards: Consistency standards are pre-defined for key components such as LEDs, motors and sensors.

For example, in the development of a customised UV steriliser, a professional ODM manufacturer can use UV optical field simulation tools to evaluate light efficiency and optimise the design. Once the initial concept is formed, the DOE (Design of Experiments) method can be applied to test different configurations, such as UV source placement, reflector cavity materials and heat dissipation paths. To precisely validate light attenuation and thermal performance.

This type of early-stage verification not only makes the design more reliable but also provides the brand with clear, quantitative decision support.

From Finding Problems to Preventing Them

A mature ODM partnership is not about the brand defining and the factory executing — it’s about sharing responsibility for product success. When the ODM manufacturer participates in quality planning from the outset, the brand gains greater stability in mass production and stronger end-user confidence. By resolving issues before prototyping and embedding quality planning into design, brands can build the very foundation for high-quality ODM collaborations.

Moving from “finding problems” to “preventing problems” not only enhances product reliability but also improves project efficiency and profitability. For brands, this shift represents more than an upgrade in quality management — it’s a transformation in development thinking.

At ATYOU Health Tech, we believe that high-quality products are born from open collaboration and a scientifically managed design process. With years of ODM/OEM experience in cleaning appliances, sterilisation devices and innovative small household appliances, our engineering and quality teams are dedicated to helping brands establish verifiable and mass-producible design foundations from the very beginning.

If your team is planning a new generation of cleaning or sterilisation products, we would be delighted to support you with our experience and systematic approach — helping you achieve higher reliability and market success from the earliest stages of development.