We have written about the Chinese New Year (CNY), a.k.a. Spring Festival, every year for the last few years and how it can affect our China sourcing operation. As usual, a wave of closures and delays will hit importers everywhere. So, how do you prepare for this every year? Know...
China sourcing alone is a complex concept even before you get to logistics. Then you realize that there are so many moving parts to the logistics steps alone. According to an article we recently read in The Economist, giants like Amazon can now offer shipping products within an hour in...
As China opened up its economy in the late 1980s, many western consumer goods manufacturers set up plants or formed joint or cooperative ventures in China in an attempt to capture the opportunities of this emerging huge supply chain. While the production process could easily be built on the...
The e-commerce age is in full swing thanks to the development of the Internet, which provides numerous options to source products, for a broader range of buyers. Alibaba is a platform where buyers and sellers from all over the world (but still predominantly from China) meet. It is one the...
Food, family, football, are all part of the Thanksgiving tradition. But the holiday means so much more than that. Think about it: it is one day reserved for the specific purpose of reminiscing about the positive things in life. We may take it for granted, but we should be...
According to the Shippabo platform, 79% of companies with optimized supply chains outpace their competitors. Sounds like it is worth optimizing, right? But what exactly does “optimized” mean? This blog will show you what an optimized supply chain entails to put you on the right track. Supply chain management...
Amid the trade wars and the tariffs, the RMB is weakening against the USD. By the end of January 2018, the rate was 6.2. On July 11, 2018, the exchange rate was 6.68. As of October 15, 2018, it was 6.92, as pictured below. The question is – can...
We like to read good blogs, especially those relevant to management and the China supply chain. In doing so, we found there is a lot of material out there, but good China sourcing management information and advice is hard to come by. Hard, but not impossible. Below is a...