- Not sure where to begin with your product sourcing in China?
- What products should I source from China to start my business?
- Which business manufacturers in China should I contact for sourcing?
- Which business manufacturers in China is trust worthy?
- What lingo should I be aware of before even making a visit down to China to source for your goods or products?
- How do I setup the logistics, inspection and quality control of my goods sourced from China?
- Should I look for product suppliers on Alibaba or Taobao to help me source?
Qualification of new suppliers
- Conduct a background check on your potential supplier. Make sure they really are the factory, and not just an intermediary entity.
- Audit your factory/manufacturer suppliers for your product soucing
- Make sure the factory is the right fit for you, particularly in terms of size.
- Make sure your own company follows its buying procedures.
- Define very clearly what you want from your Chinese factory and make sure that the factory understands what you want.
- Pay a flat fee for each job: identifying and screening suppliers; following each new product development; managing each order’s production & shipment.
- Regularly perform quality control inspections, as appropriate.
- To minimize the gulf and establish a productive relationship, you need to hold face-to-face meetings with members of the prospective suppliers' management teams. It is essential to interview key executives, tour their facilities, ask for and check references.
- Stay with the same supplier as long as the relationship is good, rather than abandoning them to save a few pennies somewhere else.
- Visit your factory on occasion to meet with their people face to face. Agreed. I am convinced that those factories that “know” their buyers and have real relationships with them are much less likely to provide them with bad product.
