Ex works has to be used with a named place. Many sellers have several locations and factories, so you will have to ensure that they tell the exact shipping location. This makes a difference if you have budgeted x amount for the inland delivery to the port, only to find out that the actual location is further away from the port and it costs more than the x you budgeted for.
The shipper /seller still has to prepare documents correctly, package and mark the goods for international shipping, ensure that they have not used wooden skids or have fumigated wooden skids, and load the cargo into the first conveyance. Ex Works is a shipping incoterm, so whatever arrangement for payment is completely up to the parties involved. Your buyer may have opened a L/C or be on open terms, this would have to be negotiated in the initial agreement to purchase and doesn't impact the incoterm.
After loading at the shippers premises, all charges forward are for the account of the buyer, origin costs, freight, surcharges, terminal, destuffing, insurance, customs levies, etc. . The buyer is also the one who has the right to select the freight forwarder carrier.
It's not just a simple matter of picking up your goods. What if a shipper loads 30,000 pcs hand bombed into a 20ft container, then at destination, it will cost at lot of money for destuffing and container retention that you may not have budgeted for. What if the shipper does not have a fumigation certificate for their wooden skids, then....your goods could be seized or large fines imposed in North America, Australia and Europe.
I think the most important part of the term EXW is that how to handle the payment. Because there is no any obligation about the goods delivery on seller, the only thing left to consider is how to clear the payment.
If you need the buyer confirm the order before the manufacture,you could request about 30% deposit, and settle the remaining before they pick the goods up.
If the buyer are trustable, you could request less or even delete it.