Key facts

Industry	Injection molding & product development consultancy
Mainstay products/services	Injection molding with QDM, family molds for small quantity production, industry research, product ideation, design, engineering, prototyping, refining, final production and logistics services
Technology forte	Product development consultancy
Main customers	Early-stage entrepreneurs, startups
Headquarters	Incheon, South Korea
Overseas expansion	R&D center in Korea
Founding year	2015

Why it stands out

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Tierone, a startup partner turning ideas into reality

Tierone Corp. started its business as a small-quantity batch production master in 2015 but it is not shy about calling itself a product development consultant after expanding its business scope beyond easy and quick injection molding.

“Our company has been exploring various solutions to address many challenges that pre-entrepreneurs or early-stage startups face during the product development stages,” said Lee Min-hyung, chief executive officer of Tierone.

Tierone has been working closely with eligible entrepreneurs and startups to produce their products with plastic injection molding but also to help them make quick and affordable prototypes with its expertise in product design and engineering.

Its primary services include not only plastic injection molding for small-quantity batch production but also industry research, product design & engineering, prototyping and even logistics services via its third-party partners.

“It is important (for pre-startups) to work with a company that can offer one-stop product development services from product design and engineering to injection molding and mass-production,” which will save them time and money, said Lee.

Tierone's comprehensive services cover the entire cycle of product development consulting.

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT CONSULTING TO MASS-PRODUCTION

Tierone carries out industry research for its clients to evaluate the marketability and feasibility of their products and come up with business strategies.

It also works with its clients on ideation based on research and designs a product to turn the client’s idea into reality by taking into account the product’s functionality and technical performance that won’t hurt its design creativity and aesthetics.

Creating mockups or prototypes is Tierone’s other strength.

Prototyping and engineering are critical in making sure that product designs and concepts will make it through manufacturing and into the real world without errors.

It mainly uses quick delivery molding or family molding methods to make its clients’ mockups and final products as it focuses on small-quantity batch production.

It recommends its clients either QDM or family molds or both based on the accurate assessment of their production costs.

As Tierone is actively seeking ways to save production lead time and manufacturing costs, it plans to develop a semi-automatic small injection molding machine fit for small-quantity batch production for its clients.

“This machine will equip our customers with a small quantity batch production system, reducing their reliance on injection molding companies,” said Lee.   

Write to Sookyung Seo at skseo@hankyung.com
Jennifer Nicholson-Breen edited this article.