“Made In China” goods are all around the world ranging from jeans to television sets. Historically, importers interested in China direct buying sourced mainly petroleum, textiles, and clothing. But nowadays, the export portfolio has increased to leather, travel goods, toys and games, electronics, machinery, footwear, and anything you can imagine....
“Oh my gosh! These are not what I ordered! This is terrible!” Such things are often heard when some importers who buy direct from China receive their goods in their warehouses. How do such things happen? It is likely because they did not have clear quality specifications in place. A...
If you’re sourcing from China, you understand the importance of management and you are probably already evaluating your systems and processes on a regular basis to ensure that they are running optimally and according to your plans and your vision. (If you’re not, you really should.) SWOT stands for “Strengths,...
China has been heavy in the media lately, mostly because of the US-China Trade War. However, a recent article from the Economist’s Schumpeter blog caught our eye. In the midst of all the news on tariffs, this article, Chinese Firms are not all serial intellectual-property thieves, actually highlights some of...
It goes without saying – when you buy direct from China, you must have an excellent support system. Many companies secure this support by hiring a China sourcing agent or a China sourcing company. But for some companies, opening their own sourcing office makes the most sense. This requires an...
One common dilemma importers often face is the decision of whether to hire a China sourcing agent or a China sourcing agency. You hire people to get results. But hiring is a big investment of time and resources. To get a good return on that investment, you need to find...
Previously, we wrote about how sourcing from China got its reputation for poor quality. This week’s blog discusses how a series of consumer product recalls actually led to improving the standards of supply chain management in China. As our last blog in this series indicated, the notion that goods made...
In August 2010, the Wall Street Journal reported on a “$30 million Glass Pavilion [built as] a symbol of America’s ‘Glass City’” in 2006 in Toledo, Ohio. However, this monument, meant to celebrate the city’s great manufacturing past of quality glass, actually was built using glass sourced from China. The...