Write a one-page spec, split the product into processes, shortlist three to five plants per process, send them one identical RFQ package and compare the answers line by line. Then verify the best two in the company register, VIES and IAF CertSearch. The EU has about 2.2 million manufacturing enterprises, 84.5% of them with fewer than 10 people, so search by process, not by company name.
To find a manufacturer for your product in Europe, write a one-page spec, split the product into processes, shortlist three to five plants per process, send them all one identical request for quotation (RFQ) and compare the answers line by line. Then check the best two in the company register, VIES and the certificate database before you order samples. The search space is large and fragmented: the EU had 2,168,163 manufacturing enterprises in 2023, and 84.5% of them employed fewer than 10 people [1] [2]. GETMILK's free spec-to-shortlist tool runs the first three steps from a datasheet.
Key facts
- About 2.2 million manufacturing enterprises operated in the EU in 2023, employing over 30 million people [1].
- 99.2% of them have fewer than 250 people and 84.5% fewer than 10 (our calculation from Eurostat size-class data) [2].
- 19% of EU importing firms are diversifying the countries they buy from, and 23% of manufacturers, while only 7% are cutting imports (EIB Investment Survey 2025) [3].
- The Enterprise Europe Network has 569 member organisations in 56 countries and listed 6,103 partnering opportunities on 27 September 2026 [4] [5].
- IAF CertSearch lists about 3.7 million accredited certifications from more than 2,500 certification bodies [6].
Why are buyers looking in Europe in 2026?
Mostly to cut risk, not price. The European Investment Bank's 2025 survey of about 12,000 firms found 19% of EU importing firms diversifying the countries they buy from, against 7% cutting imports; among manufacturers the diversifying share was 23% [3].
The law pushes the same way. Since 13 December 2024 a product may not be placed on the EU market unless an economic operator established in the Union is responsible for it [8]. The new Product Liability Directive, for products placed on the market after 9 December 2026, makes the importer liable when the manufacturer is outside the EU [7].
Why is "a manufacturer" the wrong thing to look for?
Almost no product is made by one factory. A backpack needs cutting and sewing, webbing, moulded buckles and a zip. A small drone needs a frame, motors, an assembled circuit board and a battery pack. Each is a different process, done by a different kind of plant. The honest answer to "who can manufacture my product?" is usually several suppliers, with one of them, or you, doing final assembly.
So the unit of search is the process, not the product.
Step 1: What goes in a one-page spec?
Before you contact anyone, write one page that a stranger could quote from:
- What it is and what it does, in two sentences, with a photo or render.
- Parts list: every part made to your design, and every bought-in component with a manufacturer part number.
- Materials and finishes for each made part, or the properties you need if you have not chosen a material.
- Quantities: the first order and the yearly volume. Suppliers price 200 pieces and 20,000 pieces very differently.
- Target unit cost and target date for the first batch.
- Standards and markings the product must meet in its market, such as CE marking.
If all you have is a datasheet, a sketch or a link to a similar product, the free spec-to-shortlist tool builds this page for you.
Step 2: How do you split a product into processes?
Go through the parts list and write the process next to each made part: CNC machining, sheet-metal cutting and bending, injection moulding, die casting, PCB assembly, cut-and-sew. Then group the parts by process. Three aluminium parts that are all machined are one search. A moulded housing and its moulded buttons are another.
Two checks save weeks later. Does the process suit your volume? Injection moulding needs a mould before the first part, so for a few hundred pieces machining or 3D printing may be cheaper. And which parts are catalogue items you can buy from distributors?
Step 3: How do you shortlist three to five plants per process?
Aim for three to five per process group: with fewer you have nothing to compare, with more none of them gets a proper conversation. Where to look:
- Sector associations and clusters. They know their members by process and who takes small runs. Our map of manufacturers in Portugal by sector and region shows how this works for one country.
- Capability-based matching. Search by process, material and part size, not by company name. That is what the GETMILK atlas and spec tool do: they return plants per process with the evidence behind each match.
- EU networks and directories. The Enterprise Europe Network runs a partnering database that includes outsourcing and supplier agreements [5]. Directories give you names, but listings are mostly self-declared, so treat them as leads.
- Trade fairs. Costly in time, but the quickest way to see real parts and meet the engineer.
Step 4: What goes in the RFQ package?
Send every candidate in a process group the same package, on the same day, with the same deadline:
- Drawings: a 3D model (STEP) and 2D drawings with tolerances. For dimensions without a marked tolerance, name the general-tolerance standard you accept, such as ISO 2768-1 [9].
- Material and finish, with grade, treatment and colour.
- Quantities: ask for prices at two or three volumes, plus the yearly volume.
- Dates for samples and for the first batch.
- Inspection and documents: first-article inspection, measurement reports, material certificates, and any certification you require.
- Delivery terms: name one of the 11 Incoterms 2020 rules, so every price means the same thing [10].
- Commercial frame: payment terms, who owns any tooling, and an NDA if needed.
- One deadline for questions, with every answer sent in writing to all bidders.
On r/engineering, a buyer-side engineer asked why suppliers still raised, months later, questions the package already answered; replies recommended a summary up front, one question deadline and one written addendum to all bidders [11].
Step 5: How do you compare the quotes?
Put every answer in one sheet with the same rows: unit price at each quantity, tooling or set-up, exclusions, lead times, minimum order quantity, payment terms, Incoterm, and the questions each supplier asked. A supplier who asks sharp questions about your tolerances has read the drawing.
Compare the cost of the first year (tooling, parts and freight), not the unit price alone. Between countries, hourly labour cost is only one input, as our note on manufacturing labour cost in Portugal, Poland, Czechia and Spain shows.
How do you check that a European manufacturer is real?
Run these checks on the best two per process before paying for samples.
| Check | Where | What it proves | What it does not prove |
|---|---|---|---|
| The company exists | National business register, or the EU "Find a company" search across registers in the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway [12] | Legal entity, registration number, filed documents where the register gives them free | That it owns a factory or the equipment |
| The VAT number is valid | VIES, the Commission's VAT search [13] | That the number is valid for EU trade | Who is behind it; the Commission does not guarantee the data's accuracy [13] |
| The certificate is real | IAF CertSearch, by company or certificate number [6] | An accredited certificate, its scope and its sites | That your part will be made well |
| The capability is real | Sample parts, measurement reports, a video tour or a visit | Equipment and quality practice | Capacity for your volume next year |
| The delivery record | Two customers with similar parts | How problems were handled | Price for your part |
What goes wrong most often?
Buyer forums repeat three lessons. In a long r/Entrepreneur thread from May 2026, a founder seeking an OEM maker in Europe was told to judge each supplier by its RFQ answer, ask for references and check that it accepts small first runs [14]. On r/manufacturing, a start-up turned down by metal fabricators was told that sketches are not enough: dimensioned drawings with tolerances come first [15]. And a first-time hardware founder in France planning 300 to 500 units heard that quality depends more on project management than on the country, and that scaling in steps beats one big order [16].
What to do next
- Write the one-page spec this week and split it into process groups. If your product is one process with a known supplier type, say a single machined part, you can run steps 3 to 5 yourself with the table above and do not need a sourcing service.
- Send one identical RFQ package to three to five plants per process with a single question deadline, and compare the answers in one sheet.
- Use GETMILK where it saves you the most time. The free spec-to-shortlist tool turns a datasheet, BOM, product link or sketch into processes, materials, matched manufacturers per part and a 90-day plan. It searches GETMILK's atlas, which lists at least 2,134 active manufacturers in Portugal (September 2026, our count of active records). If you want us to run steps 2 to 5, managed sourcing delivers the shortlist with evidence, one RFQ package, normalised quotes and a decision pack, from €900 excluding VAT for up to three part families. The buyer pays; manufacturers are never charged.
References
- Eurostat. Businesses in the manufacturing sector (Statistics Explained) (Data extracted December 2025)
- Eurostat. Enterprise statistics by size class and NACE Rev. 2 activity (sbs_sc_ovw): manufacturing, number of enterprises, EU-27, 2023 (Dataset updated 15 September 2026, queried 27 September 2026)
- European Investment Bank. EIB Investment Survey 2025: European Union overview (2025)
- European Commission, Enterprise Europe Network. Enterprise Europe Network: the Network in numbers (Accessed 27 September 2026)
- European Commission, Enterprise Europe Network. Enterprise Europe Network: partnering opportunities (Accessed 27 September 2026)
- International Accreditation Forum. IAF CertSearch: global database of accredited certifications (Accessed 27 September 2026)
- EUR-Lex, European Parliament and Council. Directive (EU) 2024/2853 on liability for defective products (23 October 2024)
- EUR-Lex, European Parliament and Council. Regulation (EU) 2023/988 on general product safety (10 May 2023)
- ISO. ISO 2768-1:1989 General tolerances, Part 1: tolerances for linear and angular dimensions (Confirmed 2022)
- International Chamber of Commerce. Incoterms 2020 (Accessed 27 September 2026)
- Reddit, r/engineering. Why are manufacturers still asking basic RFQ questions? (thread) (September 2025)
- European e-Justice Portal, European Commission. Find a company: business registers in the EU (Last updated 22 June 2026)
- Your Europe, European Commission. Check a VAT number (VIES) (Last checked 18 June 2026)
- Reddit, r/Entrepreneur. How to find high-quality OEM manufacturers (thread) (May 2026)
- Reddit, r/manufacturing. Need help with finding an appropriate manufacturer (thread) (February 2026)
- Reddit, r/hwstartups. EU-based (France) first-time hardware founder: how to prototype and produce a small batch (thread) (July 2026)
Questions people ask
- How do I find a manufacturer for my product in Europe?
- Write a one-page spec, split the product into processes, shortlist three to five plants per process, send them all one identical RFQ package and compare the answers line by line. Verify the best two in the company register, VIES and IAF CertSearch before ordering samples.
- Who can manufacture my product?
- Usually several plants, not one: each process (machining, moulding, PCB assembly, sewing) is done by a different kind of factory. Start from the parts list, group parts by process and look for plants per process. GETMILK's free spec-to-shortlist tool returns matched European manufacturers per process from a datasheet.
- How do I choose a manufacturer for my product?
- Compare quotes that answer the same package: unit price at each quantity, tooling, exclusions, lead times, minimum order, payment terms and Incoterm. Then check references and how defects were handled, and see the plant by visit or video before ordering samples.
- What should be included in an RFQ?
- A 3D model and 2D drawings with tolerances, material and finish, quantities at two or three volumes, target dates, inspection and certificate requirements, an Incoterms rule, payment terms, tooling ownership, an NDA if needed and one deadline for questions.
- How do I verify that a European manufacturer is legitimate?
- Check the company in its national business register or the EU Find a company search, validate its VAT number in VIES, confirm any certificate in IAF CertSearch, and ask for sample parts, measurement reports and two customer references.