Key takeaways
- Break the product into processes first. A die-cast housing needs a die-caster, a machine shop and a finisher, not a "housing supplier".
- India manufactures in clusters. The right cluster gives you more capable factories, better sub-suppliers and sharper prices.
- Check every candidate's GSTIN, Import Export Code (IEC) and company records before you spend time on samples.
- Send one clear RFQ to 6 to 10 factories and compare like for like. Expect 3 to 5 useful quotes.
- Audit the best two or three on site, then approve a golden sample before you place volume.
On this page8 sections
- Step 1: turn your product into processes
- Step 2: go where the process is done at scale
- Step 3: build a longlist of named factories
- Step 4: screen on documents before you spend time
- Step 5: send one clear RFQ and compare like for like
- Step 6: audit, sample and start small
- Worked example: a stainless valve body
- Mistakes that cost buyers months
Step 1: turn your product into processes
Most buyers search for a product: “aluminium lamp housing”, “stainless valve body”, “canvas tote”. Indian factories are organised by process: pressure die casting, investment casting, CNC machining, knitting, block printing. The first job is to translate one into the other.
Write down the process chain in the order the part is made. A stainless valve body might be investment cast, heat treated, CNC machined, pickled and passivated, and pressure tested. Each step is either done in-house or by a sub-supplier. That matters, because the factory you contract is responsible for the whole chain, and you want to know which steps it controls.
The India Sourcing Atlas maps 25 process families to materials, products and clusters, and the India cluster finder does the translation for you from a product or process name.
Step 2: go where the process is done at scale
Indian manufacturing is strongly clustered. A cluster brings together factories, tool rooms, heat treaters, platers, material stockists and skilled people within a short drive. Sourcing inside a cluster gives you more capable candidates, faster sampling and more competitive quotes.
| Process or product | Clusters to start with |
|---|---|
| Investment castings | Rajkot, Coimbatore, Pune, Kolhapur, Belagavi |
| Aluminium and zinc die castings | Rajkot, Pune, Chennai, Faridabad, Hosur |
| Hand tools | Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Meerut |
| Knitwear and T-shirts | Tiruppur, Ludhiana |
| Brass and metal décor | Moradabad, Aligarh, Jamnagar |
| Home textiles | Karur, Panipat |
A cluster is where to look, not a guarantee. Every cluster has world-class exporters and small job shops side by side. Your job in the next steps is to tell them apart.
Step 3: build a longlist of named factories
Aim for 15 to 25 names. Good sources, roughly in order of signal quality:
- Export promotion councils. EEPC India (engineering), AEPC (apparel), EPCH (handicrafts), CLE (leather) and others publish member directories. Membership suggests a factory exports, though it proves nothing about quality.
- Industry associations for the process, such as foundry, forging or machine-tool associations, and the local industrial estate association in the cluster.
- Trade fairs. A fair lets you meet ten factories in a day and handle their parts. See the trade fair calendar.
- Customer references. Ask your existing suppliers, freight forwarders and inspectors who they rate.
- B2B directories. Useful for names, but many listings are traders. Treat every directory lead as unverified.
Record each name with its legal entity, city, main processes and the evidence you have. A simple spreadsheet is enough.
Step 4: screen on documents before you spend time
Before sending drawings, check that the company is real and that the entity you will contract, pay and receive invoices from is the same one.
| Check | What to ask for | How to verify |
|---|---|---|
| GST registration | GSTIN (15 characters) | Search on the GST portal: legal name, status, address, business type |
| Export eligibility | Import Export Code (IEC) | DGFT website |
| Company record | CIN, for private or public limited companies | Ministry of Corporate Affairs portal |
| MSME status | Udyam registration number, if claimed | Udyam portal |
| Bank account | Letter on letterhead plus a cancelled cheque | Name must match the GST legal name |
| Certifications | ISO 9001 or sector certificates | Check the certificate number with the issuing body |
A mismatch is not always a problem. Many groups run separate entities for manufacturing and export. But you need to know which entity is which, and your purchase order must name the one that makes and ships your goods. A quick scoring framework is built into the supplier health check.
Step 5: send one clear RFQ and compare like for like
Send the same request for quotation to your best 6 to 10 candidates. Include the drawing with revision, material grade, finish, tolerances, annual volume and batch size, packaging, Incoterms® rule and required certificates. The RFQ builder produces a structured request that factories can answer line by line.
Ask for a cost breakdown: material, process, tooling, packing, and the MOQ behind each price. Expect three to five useful answers. Silence, or a single price with no breakdown, tells you something too.
Compare quotes on the same basis. Tooling may be quoted separately or amortised, freight may be included or not, and one factory may quote a lower grade of material. The supplier quote comparison tool normalises these differences. If one price is far below the others, find out why before celebrating: it is usually a different material, a skipped process step or an MOQ assumption.
Step 6: audit, sample and start small
Visit or video-audit the two or three strongest candidates. Look at the machines that will make your part, the measuring equipment and calibration records, incoming material checks, and how nonconforming parts are handled. The factory audit checklist lists what to check and how to score it.
Then order samples made to your drawing on production tooling or a close equivalent. Measure every dimension, test function and finish, and sign off a golden sample that both sides keep. Place a pilot order before volume, with an in-line or pre-shipment inspection.
Worked example: a stainless valve body
A Dutch equipment maker needs a CF8M (cast 316 stainless) valve body, 1.2 kg, 4,000 pieces a year in batches of 1,000, machined to ±0.05 mm on the bore.
Process chain. Investment casting → solution annealing → CNC machining → pickling and passivation → pressure test → packing. The foundry casts; many machine the part in-house or through a nearby machine shop.
Clusters. The Atlas lists investment castings in Rajkot, Coimbatore, Pune, Kolhapur, Belagavi and Hyderabad, with samples in 5 to 7 weeks including wax tooling and production in 6 to 8 weeks.
Funnel.
| Stage | Factories | What cut the list |
|---|---|---|
| Longlist | 22 | Council directories, a foundry association list, one trade fair |
| Document screen | 14 | GST or IEC mismatch, trader not manufacturer, no stainless experience |
| RFQ sent | 9 | Capacity or equipment too small for the part weight |
| Useful quotes | 5 | No breakdown or no reply |
| Audited | 3 | Price, machining capability, test equipment |
| Samples | 2 | One lacked in-house pressure testing |
| Approved | 1, plus a backup | First-article report and pressure test passed |
Timeline. About 12 weeks from brief to an approved sample, most of it wax tooling, casting and machining the samples.
The backup matters as much as the winner. Keeping a second qualified foundry warm, even with a small share of volume, is the cheapest insurance you can buy. The second-source planner helps you decide how to split volume.
Mistakes that cost buyers months
- Searching by product name only. You find traders who resell from the real factory and add a margin.
- Choosing on the lowest quote. Price differences over 20% between capable factories usually mean different scope.
- Skipping the document check. Paying an entity that is not your manufacturer makes quality claims and returns harder.
- Approving a sample made in a toolroom. Samples must come from the process that will run production.
- Going straight to volume. A pilot lot finds the problems that samples hide.
Free tools for this guide
In the India Sourcing Atlas
India Sourcing AtlasInvestment castingsCasting and foundryRajkot clusterCoimbatore clusterStainless steel
Sources
- GST portal: search taxpayer by GSTINservices.gst.gov.in/services/searchtp
- DGFT: Import Export Code (IEC)www.dgft.gov.in
- Ministry of Corporate Affairs: company master datawww.mca.gov.in
- Udyam registration portal (MSME)udyamregistration.gov.in
Checked on 28 September 2026. Rules and rates change: confirm against the official text before you act. This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice.