Successful sourcing from China is the result of a systematic approach and hard work. Shortcuts may seem smart, but most often, they result in delays or failure. I am always surprised by how often, even large organization, will be tempted by these shortcuts. Per our experience, below 7-step approach is required to succeed in sourcing products from China.
1. Initial preparation
Many China sourcing initiatives run into trouble because of decisions made or not made at the outset. Unclear targets, unrealistic expectations, lack of resources and many similar aspects, if overlook, will cause project delays and waste of energy.
Successful companies have thoroughly prepared their project. For example, they dedicate initial time in order to:
Define specific ranges of products for sourcing, based on an analysis of volume, labor content, technical complexity and other technical, logistics and commercial aspects.
Spell out clear objectives in terms of cost target, volume ramp-up, sourcing project budget and supplier ideal profile.
Gather updated internal information such as product specification and standards for the product to be sourced.
Get a company executive to actively sponsor the project and set up a multi-function project team or involve different functions of the company.
2. Identification
To get a short-list of suppliers matching the right criteria, a buyer needs to investigate a large number of potential companies. Only a small portion of them will be good enough to be seriously considered for further steps.
There are no reliable “Golden Pages” in China. Online directories are useful but not sufficient. Information provided by many poor suppliers is not a good representation of their actual capabilities.
The right way to build an initial short list will require you to:
Identify a long list of potential suppliers as long as possible.
Contact each of them by phone to collect information directly from their sales representative and evaluate the credibility of this information.
Screen out the ones that fall outside selection criteria or whose credibility is not strong enough.
3. Qualification
This is probably the most important step of the whole process. Out of all the suppliers that offer products similar to what you are looking for, you need to find the right match: technical capabilities, required volume and production capacity, management capabilities, potential for growth and development.
Finding the right supplier requires the most systematic and thorough approach:
Perform on-site qualification visits for each short-listed supplier.
Thoroughly evaluate all aspects of the supplier’s business.
Collect samples or visit reference sites.
Pre-qualify more than one supplier.
4. Price quotation
Although it may seem easy, getting reliable pricing information from Chinese manufacturers require special attention. For example, many Chinese suppliers are flooded with benchmark pricing request. They will screen which request they need to quote for. In addition, requirements and expectation must be more explicit when communicating with traditional suppliers.
To get the best out of price requests, it is strongly advised to:
Prepare a simple but complete pricing request or RFQ, including all necessary technical elements and standards,
Actively manage the quotation process with frequent clarification and follow-up phone calls. This is the only way to ensure complete quotations on time.
Before spending time analyzing data in details, quickly screen noncompetitive quotations and review the assumptions made by suppliers.
5. Preparation for first PO
Once the supplier is selected and the main terms and conditions are agreed, the next critical step is the first purchase order. This is when all technical and operational misunderstanding need to be cleared.
Such technical and operational discussions are best held face to face. It is important to avoid misunderstanding and to build a personal business relationship with suppliers.
The preparation for the first purchase order is an ideal moment to organize a high efficiency China trip during which you can:
Have face-to-face meetings with the 2 to 3 pre-qualified suppliers.
Take the opportunity for a last technical and operation clarification.
Negotiate pricing and other terms.
Agree on the first order: estimated size, timing, payment mechanism, documentation.
6. Inspection
The only truly safe way to source products from China is to take control of quality control. It does not necessary means having extensive inspections for every order. But it means devising a well-structured quality control system, managed by the buyer or its representatives:
Prepare and execute a thorough Quality management plan.
Make regular visits to suppliers to validate planning and progress.
Verify supplier quality documentation and run sample inspections.
Link payment of the goods to pre-shipment certificate issued by trusted party.
Dispatch engineer on site if there is any doubt of quality or operational problem.
7. Development
When arriving at this step, buyers have one or several suppliers they comfortably work with. It takes time and resources to get to this point.
This is the time to consider whether this supplier cannot provide more bang for the buck:
Get more products in the same family of products.
Benefit from larger savings by increasing the scope of work of your supplier.
Get access to cheap technical resources by asking suppliers to work on product variants.
Enter in a supplier development program in order to further improve the deliveries.
