Your espresso prototype works. Now get it built to match.
Who it's for: founders with a working espresso or commercial coffee machine prototype, funding and a launch date, but no manufacturing team. What we do: find, audit and manage the factories for your boiler, pump, PCB and food-contact housing in China or Vietnam. Then we assemble, check, pack and ship the finished machine. Why it matters: your launch date holds and the first batch matches the sample you approved. One person is accountable from drawing review to delivery. Four parts, four factories, one contact.
Four supplier networks, one assembly line waiting on all of them
A coffee machine isn't one sourcing job. The boiler is fabricated metal under pressure. The pump is a bought-in precision part, also under pressure. The PCB is electronics. The housing is moulded or stamped, and it touches food. Chinese factories make all four well. The risk sits between them. Sourcing isn't the hard part. Coordination is.
- 01
The slip nobody hears about
The boiler supplier runs late and nobody tells the housing supplier. You find out when the assembly line has nothing to build.
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Nobody on the hook
Each supplier signed off on its own part. If the machine leaks at the fitting, none of them owns the problem.
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Your inbox becomes the factory
A dozen suppliers, a freight forwarder and an inspector in different time zones. That's time you should be spending on selling.
Five steps, and you can stop after any of them
The schedule is planned backwards from your launch date, with Chinese New Year and Golden Week built in.
Find out it won't work at step two, not at step five.
1. Drawing review. We check your drawings for manufacturability before any tooling is cut. A machine can look finished and still not be ready to build. Go/no-go: is the design ready for tooling?
2. Quote. We source and audit factories for each subsystem, then give you a per-unit cost and lead time you can show investors. Go/no-go: do the numbers work?
3. Samples. Boiler, pump, board and housing are assembled into samples for you to approve. Go/no-go: does it match your spec?
4. Production. The first batch is built against the approved sample and checked during assembly, not only at the end. Go/no-go: does the batch match the sample?
5. Delivery. Packaging checked and freight booked, so backers unbox working machines, not dented boxes. Go/no-go: ready to ship?
Every part tracked, so assembly never waits
A perfect machine in a cracked carton is still a refund.
- 01
Boiler
Fabricated and machined metal, pressure-critical. We audit the factory's process control before you order, so the batch is built the way the sample was.
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Pump
Pressure-critical and usually bought in. We confirm the supplier is the actual manufacturer, not a trading company, and that its certificates are current.
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PCB and controls
Electronics run on their own lead times. We track the board against boiler and housing dates, so it lands when assembly needs it.
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Food-contact housing
Drawings reviewed before tooling, so you pay for the moulds once.
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Assembly
Jig-based assembly with in-process QC. A bad fitting is caught on the line, not by your customer.
- 06
Packaging and transit
Heavy, with glass and precision parts. The packaging is designed with the product, so the machine arrives the way it left the line.
Builds as tangled as yours, delivered on time
148 components, 72 suppliers, 6 countries. A full assembly line built from scratch and delivered on time, with one point of contact.
Prototype to 5,000 units shipped: 200+ components from 18 suppliers, assembly line set up, QC and logistics managed.
A leaking boiler means refunds. Your boiler and pump get the same pressure and performance tests we run on cooling systems before shipping.
Want unit 5,000 to match your approved sample? Your frame gets what our Pilates reformers got: jig-based assembly, in-process QC, worldwide shipping.
Promised backers a ship date? Our Fast-Track programme is built to hit it.
Worth it for four supplier networks. Not for one part.
A partner only pays off when there are many suppliers to coordinate. A custom coffee machine has that problem. A logo on an existing machine doesn't. Supplier already working well for you? Keep them. We'll build around them.
- 01
Doing it yourself
You manage every supplier, the forwarder and the inspector. When something breaks between them, it lands on you.
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With Sourcing Allies
One contract, one contact. Bilingual delivery managers in Ningbo visit the factories in person. Several projects at the same factories give us more leverage than one order gives you.
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When you don't need us
An OEM already makes a machine close to yours and you only need your branding? Go direct. Buying one simple part on price? Same answer.
Answers before you send a single file
Yes. Sourcing Allies takes espresso machine prototypes to volume production in China or Vietnam. We review your drawings for manufacturability, source and audit factories for the boiler, pump, PCB and housing, assemble samples for your approval, then run production against the approved sample. Each stage ends with a go/no-go, so you can stop before committing more money.
It depends on how custom your machine is. If an existing OEM coffee machine is close to your design and you only need your branding, go to that OEM directly. If your machine has its own boiler, pump, electronics and housing from different suppliers, a coffee machine contract manufacturer can coordinate them and be accountable for the finished product.
Someone has to visit the site. Sourcing Allies' bilingual delivery managers in Ningbo visit factories in person. Audits cover staff size, machines, working conditions, worker safety, social responsibility, process control and management structure. We also check that certificates are current and belong to the factory actually making your part.
Sourcing Allies signs an NDA on every project before files are shared, and contracts through legal entities in Sweden, the US and China, so you have recourse in a jurisdiction you recognise. We also decide which files each supplier needs, so the housing supplier doesn't see your full electronics design.
Yes, if the plan starts from that date. Sourcing Allies has shipped Kickstarter and Indiegogo projects on time and runs a Fast-Track programme for crowdfunded and investor-backed launches. The schedule must allow for tooling, sample approval, production, freight, Chinese New Year and Golden Week. If the date isn't realistic, we tell you early.
Where the supply chain makes most sense for your machine. Sourcing Allies' network covers China, Vietnam and India, with offices in Ningbo, Bellevue WA and Djursholm, Sweden. Moving complex production can take around a year, and many alternative hubs still rely on Chinese-made parts, so we plan for tariff changes everywhere rather than treating one country as safe.
What goes into a coffee machine
Find out if your coffee machine is ready to build
Book a meeting and bring your bill of materials and your launch date. We'll tell you whether building with us makes sense.
If it does, the next step is a quote with per-unit costs and lead times. If it doesn't, we'll say so.
One meeting now can save a set of moulds later.
A drawing, a sketch or a paragraph is enough to start.