Almost everyone loves stuffed animals; their soft and cute qualities have been passed down through generations. However, have you ever been curious about how these cute toys are made? In 2024, many factories producing stuffed animals have already integrated traditional craftsmanship with modern technology.
Look at Chosun Toys, a plush toy design and manufacturing factory with a half-century history. It perfectly utilizes advanced equipment and craftsmanship to provide the highest-quality custom stuffed animal services for customers. So, how do factories like Chosun Toys produce stuffed animals? This article will take you to open the mysterious veil of the production process inside the stuffed animal factory, from design to production steps.
How are Custom Plushies Made in Factories?
Here is a general flowchart of a factory producing plush toys for your reference.
We also recommend watching a detailed video to gain a deeper understanding of stuffed animal production in factories! You can find it at this website: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLBWf0FuRBg.
Design Phase
2D Three-View Drawings
Designers need to brainstorm the image of the stuffed animals first and then detailedly draw 2D (Floor plan) three views of the stuffed animals separately, including a front view, back view, and side view. In this process, making sure that the measurement and proportions are accurate for each angle is necessary. And annotate key parts, such as the ears, eyes, belly, tail, etc., of toys utilizing different views to guarantee design consistency. Simultaneously, colors and patterns of stuffed animals should keep consistency across the three views as well.
3D Modeling
Create a 3D model using related software based on 2D three-view drawings and design requirements of stuffed animals. Software technology allows more precise modifications to enhance the details of the toy model, such as the color of the fabric, print patterns, and embroidery decoration.
Use the rendering function in the software to adjust the color and material application of stuffed animals, making them generate more realistic effects. This process requires continuous adjustment and optimization of the 3D model of the toy, which helps to promote the implementation of design intentions in actual production.
Pattern Making
Based on the constructed 3D model, decompose the various parts of the design into planar segments (the process of disassembling into floor plans). These fragments are drawn on the paper, and then the paper pattern is cut according to the disassembled plane to form the paper sample of the stuffed animal parts.
Sample Making
Based on the final paper pattern and design drawings, choose appropriate materials for sample production considering various characteristics of stuffed animals and sewing the final sample. There are some considerations of material selection, such as suitable fabric, long hair or short hair, and different colors. Regarding craft processes, they need to be determined based on different design drawings, such as embroidery technology for the eye area of toys and transfer printing technology for some stripe designs.
In addition, during the sample production process, it is important to make sure that the stuffed animal’s part details and accessories, such as the nose, mouth, necklace, tie, etc., are in place. Finally, filling materials should be used to complete the sample production. Then, factory employees should re-test the quality of the samples and adjust them to achieve more ideal results. After the sample production is completed, product testing certificates such as CE and UKCA should be obtained based on the sales target country.
Manufacture
After confirming that the sample meets the ideal effect, factories will conduct one-by-one steps for mass production of stuffed animals. First, the factory needs to prepare the materials and then use the necessary equipment to conduct different steps of production, such as cutting machines to cut pattern parts and embroidery machines to make eyes, etc.
From Chosun toys
Once each part is completed, the various parts of the fabric are manually assembled using a sewing machine. Some delicate parts require workers to carefully sew them with needle and thread. Finally, the factory uses filling machines to inject an appropriate amount of filling material into the interior of the stuffed animal, making the toy fluffy.
Quality Assurance
After mass production, strict quality assurance is carried out on each stuffed animal to guarantee its high quality and safety. The process of quality assurance should be conducted in different aspects, including checking the firmness of stitching, confirming that there is no looseness, checking the weight of plush toys, detecting metals, and so on.
From jcfairs
Packaging
Packaging stuffed animals that are about to be shipped to customers according to different design packaging schemes. Significantly, the factory needs to make sure that the packaging can effectively protect toys and attract consumers.
During the packaging process, plastic bags, plush bags, and carton boxes are generally used. Some factories also provide customized packaging services. It’s necessary to ensure that the information on the packaging is complete, including brand information, etc.
What Safety Standards Does the Factory Follow?
Factories should follow safety standards to produce high-level products for customers. Here are some major safety standards for your reference.
FAMA: The certification standards in the toy industry guarantee that production and supply chains comply with specific social responsibility and safety standards.
ICTI: The International Council of Toy Industries is a social responsibility certification standard for the global toy industry. This standard guarantees that factories should adhere to principles of safety, ethics, and environmental protection when producing stuffed animals.
ISO 9001: The quality management system standards developed by the International Standardization Organization aim to guarantee that stuffed animal products and services provided by factories can continuously meet customer requirements and improve satisfaction.
SCAN: A certification network for supply chain management, focusing on evaluating and improving social responsibility practices in the supply chain, such as managing working conditions for producing stuffed animals.
ASTM: Global toy production safety standards need to be implemented in every aspect of producing stuffed animals.
Minimum Order Quantity(MOQ) for Factory Customization
If you book stuffed animal production from the factory, the general MOQ requirement is 1000. It means you should book at least 1000 stuffed animals.
Needs for Selecting Factories to Customize Stuffed Animals
When should you choose a factory to customize stuffed animals? Here are some tips for your reference.
Mascot
Bringing mascots into reality in the form of stuffed animals is a perfect choice. A mascot is a character image representing a brand or organization to enhance brand awareness and establish emotional connections with customers. For example, Bing Dwen Dwen, the mascot of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, is exclusively produced by Chosun Toys. This factory produced Bing Dwen Dwen in the form of stuffed animals that gained the favor of many individuals all over the world.
Marketing Activity Giveaway
For corporations that need to create giveaways for marketing activities, customizing stuffed animals from factories is a highly attractive option. You can incorporate the company’s logo, color, and theme into the toys to make them a unique promotional tool.
Influencer Peripheral Product
If you’re an internet celebrity, you can design your personal image in the form of stuffed animals, produce them in factories, and sell or give them as gifts to fans to enhance interaction with them. Stuffed animals that match your personal style can serve as unique peripheral products, allowing fans to have an actual item that represents you, thereby deepening their love for you.
Operating Stuffed Animals E-commerce Store
With the development of Internet technology, more and more stuffed animal e-commerce stores have emerged, such as Plushthis, a popular e-commerce brand that has designed diverse stuffed animals, such as dragon and bunny plushies. So, for a stuffed animal e-commerce company, entrusting the production of a reliable factory is convenient and effective.
Corporate Culture Construction Gift
For the company’s corporate culture, customizing stuffed animals with the brand image in relevant factories as gifts for customers can deepen brand awareness. For instance, based on the design of the Moutai wine bottle, the Moutai doll was specially created by China Moutai Group. This adorable gift successfully promoted this unique design of similar product packaging and significantly increased brand awareness as well.
Summary
Overall, the factory’s production process brings the design draft patterns to life, instilling each plush “friend” with a distinctive charm and personality. In the entire process of producing stuffed animals, from design and material selection to final sewing and inspection, every step is crucial for completing high-quality production to suit customers’ needs. After understanding the general production process, when you embrace your favorite stuffed animal partner again, you will have a deeper appreciation for the creativity, effort, and care invested in making it.
If you have a demand for producing stuffed animals, feel free to reach out to Chosun Toys for full-service of custom stuffed animals.