Archive of Category: Sourcing Tips
March 1, 2012
Investment casting, which is also known as “lost-wax casting” is one of the oldest manufacturing processes still in use today. Originally, beeswax was used to create the form around which a ceramic mold would be created, but today the technique has advanced far beyond as now “high-technology waxes, refractory materials,...
February 9, 2012
There was an article we came across not too long ago on the popular China Law Blog called “Buying a Chinese Company? Why China Deals DON’T Get Done.” This was a great write up on, as the title suggests, why generally as a foreign company you DO NOT want to...
February 3, 2012
Qualifying your supplier and maintaining steady and regular audits of factories that you cooperate with is essential for China sourcing. Often buyers will assume that once a relationship with a factory has been firmly established, the hard part of the China buying process is over. However, most will find that...
January 27, 2012
One of the most important factors with international purchasing is how to reduce costs, specifically shipping costs. When an order is less than a full container, an effective and relatively easy way to accomplish this is through LCL consolidation, which is the consolidation of orders that are “Less-than Container Load”....
January 6, 2012
Understanding the rules and regulations of the importing country can be an incredibly important aspect of sourcing, particularly from China. There are many opportunities for incongruities and miscommunications to arise as you are dealing with the relationships between yourself, your supplier, competing regulatory agencies and any intermediary agents or QC...
December 19, 2011
The ‘Made in China’ mentality is something that the Western world has become very accustomed to since China “opened for business” in the 1970’s. Unfortunately there have been numerous instances throughout the years since that have shaped this view, and many do not shed a positive light on foreigners' impressions...
December 5, 2011
Yes, Christmas is upon us soon. And I am expecting my grown children and their friends to spend time at home with us in the USA at the end of December. So guess what I did to entertain myself this weekend? I assembled a knocked-down foosball table I just bought....
October 24, 2011
"The purpose of Alibaba's existence is not to defeat others, but to make the business worldwide more and more transparent and fair, we hope there is no corruption in commercial circles." "我们并不想战胜谁,打败谁,我们希望世界上的生意越来越透明公正,商界没有腐败." -Jack Ma-CEO of Alibaba Corporation Under the leadership of the ambitious CEO, Jack Ma, Alibaba created a miracle...