MFG.com is a global e-commerce manufacturing marketplace that connects buyers of custom manufactured parts with manufacturers that provide contract manufacturing services. Buyers are typically engineers and purchasers from major corporations,

industrial design Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical Product (business), products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in adva ...

ers, and other sourcing professionals who post requests for quotes (RFQs) to the marketplace. RFQs then receive quotes from qualified contract manufacturers located around the world. MFG.com is headquartered in Marietta, Georgia, USA, and maintains an office in Paris, France.

History

MFG.com was founded by Mitch Free in 1999. The first site transaction between a custom parts buyer and custom parts manufacturer took place on February 14, 2000. Coined the 'Valentine Parts Order,' Free bootstrapped & grew the company to a profitable business over 4 years. In 2005, MFG.com accepted an investment from

Jeff Bezos Jeffrey Preston Bezos ( ;; and Robinson (2010), p. 7. ; born January 12, 1964) is an American businessman best known as the founder, executive chairman, and former president and CEO of Amazon, the world's largest e-commerce and clou ...

Bezos Expeditions Bezos Expeditions is an American investment firm based in Mercer Island, Washington. It serves as a family office for Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos by managing his personal investments. The firm invests both in early and late stage ventures of ...

. In June 2006, MFG.com acquired Geneva based SourcingParts.com, a

SaaS Software as a service (SaaS ) is a cloud computing service model where the provider offers use of application software to a client and manages all needed physical and software resources. SaaS is usually accessed via a web application. Unlike oth ...

company focused on building advanced supplier relationship solutions for the made-to-order parts community. In October 2006, the MFG.com Global Manufacturing Marketplace opened its second largest office in Shanghai, which closed in 2015 for business realignment. In 2007, Samwer Brothers invested in the company, followed by Fidelity Ventures' $26M investment in 2008. Members of Bezos Expeditions and Fidelity Ventures currently sit on the MFG.com board of directors. In September 2012, General

Wesley Clark Wesley Kanne Clark (born Wesley J. Kanne, 23 December 1944) is a retired United States Army officer. He graduated as valedictorian of the class of 1966 at United States Military Academy, West Point and was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to the U ...

joined the board as an advisory board member. In 2013 founder Mitch Free left MFG.com to pursue other entrepreneurial interests. MFG.com was named by Business 2.0 in 2006 as one of the 15 companies that will change the world. In 2017, MFG.com was named t
SupplyChainBrain's Top 100 Great Supply Chain Partner List
In 2022, MFG.com was acquired by Shapeways.

Business Model

Buyers of Custom Manufactured Parts Engineers and sourcing professionals use MFG.com to source custom manufactured parts, as well as find and connect with contract manufacturers and manufacturing job shops around the world. Buyers upload their requests for quotation (RFQs) online and connect with suppliers that meet their specific manufacturing specifications. Buyers have the ability to connect with job shops and contract manufacturers based on geographic location, certifications, and manufacturing capabilities. Buyers can also request job shops and contract manufacturers sign electronic

non-disclosure agreement A non-disclosure agreement (NDA), also known as a confidentiality agreement (CA), confidential disclosure agreement (CDA), proprietary information agreement (PIA), or secrecy agreement (SA), is a legal contract or part of a contract between at le ...

(NDA) forms so that they can control how, when, where, and by whom their drawings and documents are viewed. Engineers and sourcing professionals can source custom parts in categories such as: * Assembly *

Casting Casting is a manufacturing process in which a liquid material is usually poured into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to solidify. The solidified part is also known as a casting, which is ejected or ...

Extrusion Extrusion is a process used to create objects of a fixed cross section (geometry), cross-sectional profile by pushing material through a Die (manufacturing), die of the desired cross-section. Its two main advantages over other manufacturing pro ...

Fabrication Fabrication may refer to: * Manufacturing, specifically the crafting of individual parts as a solo product or as part of a larger combined product. Processes in arts, crafts and manufacturing *Semiconductor device fabrication, the process used t ...

Forging Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compression (physics), compressive forces. The blows are delivered with a hammer (often a power hammer) or a die (manufacturing), die. Forging is often classif ...

Gears A gear or gearwheel is a rotating machine element, machine part typically used to transmit rotation, rotational motion and/or torque by means of a series of teeth that engage with compatible teeth of another gear or other part. The teeth can ...

Machining Machining is a manufacturing process where a desired shape or part is created using the controlled removal of material, most often metal, from a larger piece of raw material by cutting. Machining is a form of subtractive manufacturing, which util ...

* Molding *

Rapid Prototyping Rapid prototyping is a group of techniques used to quickly fabricate a scale model of a physical part or assembly using three-dimensional computer aided design ( CAD) data. Construction of the part or assembly is usually done using 3D printing ...

* Spring & Wire Forming * Stamping * Tube Modification * Tool, Die, & Mold Making Providers of Contract Manufacturing Services Contract manufacturers, job shops, and suppliers of custom manufactured parts have full access to the RFQs being sourced by members of the MFG.com buyer community. Those providers of manufacturing services can search for RFQs based on factors like geography, category, material quantity, part size, or a combination of the four. A profile is created for the manufacturing services provider where they can be found by sourcing professionals on search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. There is an annual subscription for job shops, suppliers, and contract manufacturers to use MFG.com.

Notable MFG.com Members

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* Enfield Technologies *

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* L3 Communications *

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* Husqvarna *

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* FAA

History

Business Model

Notable MFG.com Members

References

Further reading