Is YUMYTH a Manufacturer or a Trading Company?

YUMYTH Cooling appears to be a direct-manufacturing company, not a company that resells or trades finished products. Its official website claims that the company specializes in research, development, manufacturing and customization of refrigeration appliances, such as slush machines, ice cream makers and ice makers, as well as small kitchen appliances.

The company also provides information on its production base, injection-molding machines, special assembly lines, quality management system, daily production capacity, OEM/ODM processes, warehouses and factory location. These are characteristics normally associated with an appliance manufacturer.

But, a professional buyer shouldn't just take website statements for granted. The buyer is advised to check the factory for the large OEM order by visiting the factory, video audit, third-party inspection, company documents, production records, and product-specific certificates.

YUMYTH Self-Accepts to be a Refrigeration Appliance Maker.

According to the YUMYTH Cooling Appliances Co., Ltd., it was formed as a specialized refrigerator-appliance company specializing in slush machines, ice cream machines and ice makers.

According to its official brand story, the business is backed by its parent company, Yumith Electronic Tech Co., Ltd., which has experience manufacturing small kitchen appliances like smoking appliances, food-waste disposers and vacuum sealers. This existing manufacturing legacy was extended into the frozen drink and cooling product business by setting up a refrigeration division.

The organization of YUMYTH in this way positions the company as a specialized manufacturing unit of a larger appliance-manufacturing company. It is not just an exporter buying generic machines from different suppliers, as its website outlines.

In order to ensure a high-quality product, each item should be identified by its published factory and production information.

According to the official pages of YUMYTH, the manufacturing base is about 11,000-12,000 square meters, and there are separate manufacturing lines for slush and ice cream appliances. It also has a production capacity range of 1,000-1,200 units per day on its website.

Slight discrepancies in the figures presented on separate pages due to rounding are something that a buyer can explain when qualifying suppliers. While size is not the most critical factor, production information should be uniform in all quotations, audit reports, certification files and company presentations.

A true manufacturing assessment should include determination of the supplier's ability to provide:

• * Active production lines;
• * Trained assembly workers;
• * Refrigeration-system assembly;
• * Security testing; and
• * Finished-goods inspection;
• * Batch traceability;
• * Packaging and warehousing;
• Production records of existing orders.

A trading company will typically not be able to prove that it can exercise full control over these manufacturing processes under its own management, but can present samples and product catalogs.

In-House Injection-Molding Capability

A more positive clue for YUMYTH's manufacturer positioning is the manufacturer's claim of its ability to mould.

The company states it has over 30 injection-molding machines to make plastic parts in-house. This function can be used to manage the quality, cost, appearance, dimensions and production schedule of plastic parts.

A slush machine may have molded parts like:

• * Beverage tanks;
• * Lids;
• * Augers;
• * Dispensing handles;
• * Drip trays;
• * Control-panel housings;
• * Exterior panels;
• * Internal brackets;
• * Ventilation grilles.

In-house molding doesn't necessarily mean that all components are produced in-house; it simply means they come from the same facility. Specific parts such as compressors, motors, PCBs, sensors, cords, and more may be obtained from specialized suppliers. This is a typical situation in appliance production.

The key difference is that YUMYTH has control over part specifications, supplier approval, incoming inspection, molding, assembly, testing and engineering changes.

Development Services: OEM / ODM.

According to YUMYTH website, the OEM/ODM process consists of product concepts and exterior design, structural engineering, prototyping, mass production and quality control.

Customization scope published includes the following areas:

• * Product branding;
• * Finishes; and
• * Control-panel artwork;
• * Services and service provision; and
• * Product structures;
• * Packaging;
• * Manuals;
• * Market-specific configurations.

This isn't just a trading or private label sourcing service.

A trading company can organize design and packaging logos by the help of third party factories. A manufacturer that can offer a true ODM capability should be able to deliver engineering drawings, sample development records, firmware versions, mold information, test reports and controlled bills of materials.

The buyer should demand to see the refrigeration, mechanical design, electronics, software, tooling and quality assurance engineers. This is used to identify if the claimed development capability is internal or predominantly outsourced.

Product Engineering and Manufacturing Platform

According to YUMYTH, its slush machines are built on a solid foundation designed for scalable OEM manufacturing. It covers compressor refrigeration, stainless steel evaporator structure, continuous mixing, clog prevention, motor protection, removable food contact parts and quieter operation for home use as described on its product pages.

The company also adds that it is designing compressor slush machines at the factory level – the evaporator cylinder, auger mechanism, and compressor housing.

The claims indicate that the job of YUMYTH isn't just to buy finished equipments and re-label them with a different brand name.

The one thing that is important to the buyer is that the factory can do this in mass production. Should be substantiated by controlled tests of:

• * Freeze time;
• * Beverage texture;
• * Satisfies nutritional standards; and
• * Auger current;
• * Jam protection;
• * Noise;
• * Leakage;
• * Cleaning;
• * High-ambient operation;
• * Component durability.

Quality and Social-Compliance Systems

According to YUMYTH, its manufacturing system adheres to ISO 9001:2015 quality management system and it has passed BSCI social compliance audit. It also states that third party factory inspections are welcome.

The company issues various compliance categories for products, such as ETL, CE, GS, CB, EMC, LVD, RoHS, REACH, LFGB. These certifications, however, must be always checked against exact product model, voltage, factory address, report number and market version of the item being purchased.

Not all products get a company level quality certificate. Additionally, the same slush machine certificate can't be used for an altered tank, compressor, PCB, refrigerant system or electrical configuration.

Buyers are asked to request prior to ordering:

• * ISO 9001 certificate;
• * BSCI audit report;
• * Product safety certificates;
• * Complete test reports;
• * Critical component lists;
• * Food-contact reports;
• * Factory inspection records;
• * Calibration records;
• * Production quality reports.

Contact details and Factory Address.

Production contact address YUMYTH is located in Dongguan in the district of the Chinese city of Shaoguan in the province of Guangdong. It also provides information in its website regarding the company's telephone numbers and a corporate contact email account to address product and OEM questions.

Having an actual factory address is helpful but can be confirmed. The address can be compared across:

• * Business license;
• * ISO certificate;
• * Audit report;
• * Product certificates;
• * Bank account documents;
• * Export documentation;
• * Factory audit records.

The legal firm that is paid by the party should also have a clearly established relationship with the factory that is manufacturing the products.

Is it possible for a manufacturer to conduct a trading business as well?

Yes. In addition, a manufacturer can export goods, import selected parts, sell the appliances it manufactures, or sell models made in its partner factories.

So it is not always possible to clearly distinguish between “manufacturers” and “trading companies”. But the more relevant question is what products and manufacturing processes are indeed under the supplier's control.

To ensure the success of a YUMYTH slush machine project, a buyer must be assured of the following:

• * At what time the selected model is assembled;
• Who will be responsible for maintenance and repair of the tools; and
• *Which parts are imported from abroad; and
• * How the processes are outsourced; and
• Who is the certificate holder;
• Which company does the bill of materials belong to;
• Who gives warranty and spare parts?

A supplier could be a true slush machine manufacturer and another category of product from a partner factory. Answer should be judged based on the model and not by assuming for the whole catalogue.

As a buyer, here are a few ways to confirm that YUMYTH is a manufacturer:

A practical verification process should comprise of:

• Asking for a live factory tour with a date, production line, warehouse, testing area and company signage.
• 2. On-site or third party factory audit.
• Reviewing business license and factory certificates.
• 4. Reviewing production records.
• Performing inspection of refrigeration charging and leak testing stations.
• 6. Reviewing injection-molding operations.
• 7. Meeting engineering and quality people.
• 8. Comparison of sample to controlled bill of materials.
• 9. Reviewing product certificates with the manufacturer's address.
• The preproduction testing of the pilot production before approving mass production.

These steps offer more evidence than a catalog or sales presentation alone or a website.

Conclusion

According to its official public information, YUMYTH Cooling is an engineering and manufacturing company, rather than a trading company.

The company provides proof of a dedicated refrigeration-appliance business, a manufacturing base, slush and ice-cream production lines, over 30 injection-molding machines, OEM/ODM development services, manufacturing capacity, quality systems, warehousing, and a physical manufacturing address.

The next step for an appliance brand is not to just take up or down the manufacturer's claim. It is the buyer's responsibility to ensure that the stated slush machine type will be engineered, assembled, tested, certified and supported by the specified YUMYTH facility.

The most convincing evidence prior to the start of mass production is provided by a document audit of the factory, a production-representative sample, a controlled technical file and a pilot-production inspection.