With the Canton Fair underway, many suppliers are contacting their agents and supply chain managers to ensure that the new contacts acquired at the fair are legitimate, qualified suppliers. Likewise, many of our clients often want us to verify that specific suppliers conform to their requirements. These requirements vary...
China supply chain management is all about vision and having that vision executed properly by the China team. We find that many of our clients have a structure to address the vision they have for their business. They typically do this in 2 ways: (1) Their global vision encompasses all...
When it comes to managing the China supply chain, a fundamental rule is to regularly execute inspections. They are not expensive—often starting as low as $100 depending on the size of your order—and allow you to identify any issues before the order leaves the factory and the country. An inspection...
Good communication is the cornerstone of ANY relationship. Business AND personal. You could also argue that good communication creates wealth and adds value to what you are doing. Sounds familiar? When it comes to China sourcing, good communication is both more important and more difficult to achieve. More important because...
In the past, we have had plenty of experience with companies that are just getting their start with sourcing from China. Either they are moving part of their supply chain there, or they are creating a new supply chain from scratch. One thing that most new China importers have...
The importance of the PSI All inspections are important, but if there is only one inspection that can or must be made on a shipment, it is this one: the Pre-shipment Inspection or the “PSI”. The objective of the PSI is to verify that the goods you have ordered have...
For a lot of importers, quality control is another step in the endless process of “How to Source from China.” But which step is it? Is it step 1? Step 3? Step 5? And how does the order affect your sourcing? Our opinion on the matter has always been this:...
We recently wrote a two-part blog about sourcing from China using supplier platforms like Alibaba, Sourcing From China: The difference between Alibaba and doing it yourself. In this two part series, we discussed sourcing through Alibaba and how this differs from traditional importing. Most veteran importers have attended the Canton...