Elksourcing

When importers decide to source from China, they must invest in developing good relationships with potential and existing Chinese suppliers. Three aspects are essential to implement a good supplier management strategy in China: (1) Know your suppliers inside out.  Identifying and knowing your suppliers is important for building an enduring relationship. There are no shortcuts in this kind of relationship building. Visit suppliers and see their technical capabilities and capacity with your own eyes. This includes their machinery and equipment, their process technologies, the number and qualifications of their employees, and the like. A bid is no guarantee of a supplier’s willingness and ability to meet your volume and quality requirements or future competitiveness. (2) Develop strong relationships with fewer suppliers. Identify a few suppliers that are willing to commit to a long-term relationship and to jointly creating a competitive advantage. To avoid fragmentation of the supply base, stop bidding out each…

Sourcing From China is more and more popular for online sellers, however, it’s daunting many new importers. Below are 5 basic steps I have learned from my 20-year experience in sourcing industry: 1. Conducts an initial research This is the first stage where you decide what your primary activities are, what are the needs of your clients and who your competitors are. These steps help you to determine your business goals and your position in the market. You and your sourcing partner need to design a business plan to determine the performance measurement system and primary work strategy. 2. Evaluate supplier and market Your sourcing partner, which offers global sourcing service helps you to make a supplier selection benchmark. When you have the list of criteria, you can make further changes in the sourcing strategy and determine the final cost. Given the fact that you already have information regarding clients and prospective markets,…

Successfully sourcing your products from China implies being careful and diligent about each step of the manufacturing process. QC (Quality Control) is one important step that responsible importers implement at some stages of their production, usually before shipment because it is believed to be the most cost-efficient stage for quality control. Pre-shipment inspections are best sellers in the 3rd party QC industry; they are performed when production is finished (or almost finished). But without earlier preparation and follow-up with the factory, these inspections might present a few risks that you need to consider: 1. Costly Rework: Identifying defects late during the production cycle involves higher costs of rework and repair. Unpacking all the finished goods, sorting the defective products, reworking or changing them and repacking them again is costly. 2. Negative impact on Time-to-Market: If problems are found, repairing them often delays the shipment of your goods, which might affect your time…

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…

For China sourcing, it’s crucial to receive what you order, according to specification and on the time agreed upon. In order to get quality goods from Chinese suppliers, you will need to consider below 3 main areas: 1)   Select the right supplier; 2)   Manage quality control system; 3)   Put in place the right inspection plan. 1. Select the right supplier I like to summarize the importance of supplier selection in three sentences. You will NEVER get quality from a supplier that is not properly equipped to make it. Suppliers need to have the right equipment, skills and experience. You will OCCASIONALLY get quality from a supplier with the right equipment and skills but with poor processes in places. You will get INCREASING quality from a good supplier with equipment, skills and processes and which is also willing to cooperate with you for continuous improvements. 2. Manage quality control system  When an inspector rejects a…

For e-commerce sellers, it makes great sense to source directly from China. However, the whole process is complicated, there are many possibilities to cause quality issues. Following are the 5 main reasons I learned from my 20-year experience in sourcing business. 1. Miscommunication Miscommunication is the most important reason for most quality issues. Do not believe that your supplier understands your specifications and your expectations clearly after they’ve been told once. Usually, you are most likely communicating with someone who doesn’t speak English as their first language. Also, you’re most likely talking to the salesperson, who in turn has to communicate requirements to engineers and production staff. And it’s not uncommon for things to get lost in translation or for requirements to not be clearly communicated to the assembly line. 2. Unclear instructions from the buyer Many e-commerce sellers assume suppliers will know their requirements. They are not particular about their specifications….

Now Amazon is one of the world’s largest shopping online platform, so there will be more and more sellers join to Amazon. With the development of science and technology, people like to shop online. Sometimes it is difficult to understand how to import goods from China and sell on Amazon. Here is a step by step guide to help you: Step 1 – Find the best seller for the product It is very important to verify that you’re sourcing products from a known and reputed manufacturer, and a good way to find this out is by evaluating online supplier reviews. It is also important for you to find out before making any investment that the product you are importing from China is allowed into the country you are trying to import. Before initiating any step, you should find out if the product you are importing needs any special permit or is banned. Once,…

Manufacturing industries and business houses are increasingly relying on global destinations aided by sourcing companies for factor resources. The involvement of these companies is significant considering the global nature of commerce nowadays.  1.Conducts an initial research This is the first stage where you decide what your primary activities are, what are the needs of your clients and who your competitors are. These steps help you to determine your business goals and your position in the market. You and your sourcing partner need to design a business plan to determine the performance measurement system and primary work strategy. 2. Evaluate supplier and market  Your sourcing partner, which offers global sourcing service helps you to make a supplier selection benchmark. When you have the list of criteria, you can make further changes in the sourcing strategy and determine the final cost. Given the fact that you already have information regarding clients and prospective markets,…