At this point, you’ve accomplished the fun and creative task of designing a stellar custom badge. Congratulations! You put time and energy into crafting the perfect design for your product. Now it’s time to produce it. The last thing you want is for an inferior manufacturer to introduce errors or reduce the quality of your thoughtful product. You’ve put your top resources into your design, so make sure you partner with a manufacturer of custom badges in the UK who can exceed your expectations and truly deliver on time, in budget and with a superior product! In this post, we suggest the top three questions you should ask when it comes to selecting your next badge manufacturer.
Do you offer design assistance?
While design assistance might seem like a baseline service that all badge manufacturers should offer at a minimum, don’t assume this is the case with all companies. No matter the level of help you anticipate needing, be sure to inquire about a manufacturer’s design capabilities before you commit to working with them.
Some manufacturers have no such service, while others will charge an additional fee for any sort of design assistance. In our 25-plus years of producing perfect products, we’ve learned how important design assistance can be at all stages of the process. With Rocket Badge, this design assistance is included with every order, at no charge, no matter the quantity you order. Even if you already have a design for your badge, it may need to be tweaked to fit badge manufacturing processes once you give the design to your chosen manufacturer. So make sure to ask up front if there will be any extra fees so you don’t get a surprise later into the process.
Perhaps you have just a loose idea for a badge design, or maybe you have a design ready to go, but need a little help converting your image to the proper badge specifications. Or, say you found an existing badge that you’d like to replicate – you can simply send us some sample images and we’ll redraw the artwork for you, then have you review and approve it.
We email you an artwork approval form and won’t begin printing until we get your signature. We work closely with you to fine tune every single product, from the materials used to colour matching, be it Pantone or four-colour CMYK. In other words, we like helping our clients get the best possible results, we’re really good at it, and advice is always free and always friendly!
How and where are your badges made?
Often, this isn’t the first question that comes to mind when selecting a badge manufacturer. If you get the right price and the right product, why does it matter how and where your items are made? Yet, this is perhaps one of the most important questions you can ask as it affects the livelihoods of those who work in the manufacturing or production industry.
Before you commit to a manufacturer, consider its stance on modern slavery and ethical manufacturing. This will ensure that your badges are being produced in humane conditions. Not only do you care about this, but your customers do as well. Your badges will resonate that much more when you can tell your customers that they were made by a manufacturer that respects worker and wage rights.
At Rocket Badge, we take this stuff very seriously. Rocket Badge is a socially responsible company and ethical trading is one of our core values. Our factories have to pass strict auditing processes, we provide a range of merchandise made from eco-friendly materials and we closely follow the Modern Slavery Act to avoid any use of forced labour in our production process.
Further, we’re a quality-certified ISO 9001 company, which means that we’re dedicated to high quality and follow an internationally recognised standard to keep processes efficient and effective. Being an ISO 9001 company certifies that our products and services consistently meet your requirements and that we’re always striving to optimise our processes to better serve you with every order you place.
What happens if my design is faulty or if I’m unhappy with the final product?
We hope this is never the case, but at the same time, no manufacturer can provide a 100 percent satisfaction guarantee, all the time. It’s smart to check in advance on a manufacturers’ policy around returns or refunds in the event something goes wrong with your order. The last thing you want to do is get stuck paying for a product you’re not happy with. If you select the wrong manufacturer, you could very well be setting yourself up for this costly scenario.
To best prevent this, look for a badge manufacturer with quality and delivery guarantees. Not to blow our own trumpet again, but, at Rocket Badge, we pride ourselves on delivering only the highest quality badges and keyrings. However, if your custom-made products aren’t up to the same standard as your approved sample, we’ll quickly and happily remake your badges or provide you with a full credit note if you return all of the badges within seven days of receiving your order.
Further, we know that your badges and products are only useful if you have them in time for your campaign. On the off chance that we don’t deliver your items within the agreed-upon time frame, we’ll provide you with a full refund, as long as you’ve signed off on the order confirmation and artwork and promptly paid your invoice.
Just one last note on quantity. Before you commit to a manufacturer, also ask if they have a minimum order quantity, especially if you have a limited budget or are planning a small campaign. Some manufacturers may not have a minimum order, but will charge exorbitant costs per unit if you want to order a smaller number of badges in order to cover their set up fee – something else to be aware of when you’re shopping around for a manufacturer.
We wish you good luck in selecting your next badge manufacturer. Asking these three questions will certainly put you on the right path to finding a reliable, reputable and high-quality company. We think we’re a pretty great choice, too, so please keep us in mind and call anytime to pose these or other questions on the badge manufacturing process.
