You have no idea how many times I’m confronted with this question on a daily basis from China Importers; “If a service provider is not an agent or a trading company, but still help manage the China supply chain, what are they?” Sometimes it can get a little frustrating because...
In my last blog, Common Challenges of China Sourcing – Part One, I shared my thoughts and suggestions on the basic challenges importers face when managing their China sourcing programs. This blog goes a step further by covering the more complicated issues they face financially and legally. Chinese Law and...
It goes without saying, China sourcing is hard, especially for westerners who do not have a sourcing office in China. As China sourcing veterans, we meet with a lot of companies that are concerned about these sourcing challenges. The following is a brief summary of the main issues we encountered...
Most importers know that the Chinese New Year can wreak havoc on your China supply chain. Also, known as the Spring Festival, the Chinese New Year starts on the 2nd full moon after the winter solstice. This is a 15-day holiday celebrated by 1/6 of the world population or...
Do you know how much your purchasing department is spending on their China supply chain? Do you consider yourself a Purchasing Manager who’s “reactive” or “proactive”? The reactive approach tends to manage based on complaints. No complaints means purchasing is doing a pretty good job. The pro-active approach instead, negotiates...
CPG is most commonly known as an acronym for Consumer Packaged Goods. And when you think of CPG, as an importer, things like apparel and footwear come to mind – things that get used up and have to be replaced frequently. So naturally, if you already know you have to...
As a China supply chain management company, we get asked about efficiency issues all the time. There are vital steps in the China supply chain management process. For instance, there is a wide range of quality control issues from quality inspections to ensuring that, from sampling to shipment, your product...
I often hear the saying, “the greater the risk; the greater the reward.” Although the risk/reward concept makes sense in most cases, let us not exaggerate. Importing from China is a risky and complex process in and of itself, if you want to reap rewards from it, you must do...