China Sourcing & Importing: the most
'Frequently Asked Questions'
How can I be certain that quality
standards will met by your product sourcing
operations from China?
We firstly
only deal with companies who already make your
item, or one similar to it. So we know they
already the Chinese company will have the right
experience. We then deal with a specification from
you, which is what we work to, as well as a sample
if needed. These points in themselves, make
a huge difference, as many sourcing consultants
will always try to use their own factories,
regardless of it they make the product
already.
If the value seems right, we ask for a sample,
which the client needs to approve. This is the
agreed quality we will go ahead with. The client
and ourselves detail what points need particular
attention, and depending upon relevance, we get a
batch sample sent, and or independent
inspection.
Chinese companies know the value of the second
and third order, but most problems occur
where a specification is vague, if the price
the client wants allows the supplier little or no
margin to care, or if assumptions are made that a
standard does not need to be detailed as
apparently everyone knows. It is our job to help
you be realistic in specification to help us get
the right quality goods.
How much
time would the goods take to reach my
place?
We ensure that our China
sourcing services deliver your products as quickly
as possible, typically within 2 to 3 months
from order. This time could be sometimes less, but
rarely more. Production usually takes 20 30 days,
and shipping is typically 24 days on the boat, but
needs up to a week to get loaded and can
need 5 - 10 days for unloading and customs in
the clients country.
Are you an
import agent or import consultant who would also
sell to my competitors?
We believe
in complete customer loyalty. We are prepared to
sign a confidentially agreement with you, stating
we would not sell the same product to any
other client in the same country. We are in the
business of long term relationships, and know
there can be conflicts in China sourcing, so we
only deal with one client in one
sector.
How much do I need to buy
in order for the deal to
work?
Whilst everyone assumes that
you need to buy in FCL (full container loads) for
product importing or sourcing, many orders are
less. FCL represents the best value for shipping;
however, the volumes of products being sourced or
imported from China could be two cubic meters and
upwards. The only important aspect that needs to
be understood is the cost of shipping as a
proportion of the goods being imported from China
if the product bought and imported is small in
amount, the shipping cost as a total percentage of
the deal would be high, and the savings to small
to be practical. As a matter of fact, value is far
more relevant than volume. Typical deals in our
China sourcing and import services are $13,000 -
$19,000 (8,000 - 12,000), but we find
manufacturers are not interested if the amount is
less than $5,000 - $6,000 (3,000 -
4,000).
Isn't Sourcing from the Far
East risky. Isn't China full
of rogues?
This is not true
at all. From years of experience in China
product sourcing , I think the number of
Western crooks is higher than Chinese. You would
find that there are always those who are after an
easy fortune, the con men, but there are means to
find a sincere supplier in China. You would find
crooks in all countries, including India, China,
America, Germany and the UK. As reliable
importing agents, our job is to find sincere
suppliers for you.
Do you have offices in
China?
No. We have relationships with many people all
over the country. If a client is looking for
stone, then Xiamen is probably good, for
electronics it is Shenzhen, for promotional items
maybe Yiwu. We find the most suitable suppliers
where ever they are, and have the goods inspected
by independent people. There is no direct need for
an office. However many agents offices are more
often shared offices with message takers, there
more for perceived company size and importance
than for practical reasons. We don't charge you
for offices we don't need.
If I'm in the USA or Europe, can you
effectively deal with me?
A
completely fair question and logical concern as we
are situated in the UK as you probably noticed.
The service we operate is not location specific,
yes we prefer to meet clients, as much for the
clients benefit as for ours, yet there are clients
we have had for years in the UK that we have
still not yet met. All of Europe has the same duty
and regulations, so anywhere in the EU, is
the same as for the UK, and for the USA, we just
check up on the details. We find factories who
already supply to the USA often know far more than
the customer what regulations need to be met. In
practical terms, most business is conducted
by email or phone these days, and English is the
business language, we find location does not
effect how the job gets done. Clients don't come
to us because we are in the UK, they come to us
because they want a job doing well and cost
effectively, and we just happen to be in the UK.
Besides where else would you live for great humour
and decent football. You get used to the
rain.
What currency would I be dealing in
sourcing from China?
If the cost
is delivered, implicitly it is in your local
currency , $, . If you are worried about currency
fluctuations, it could be in RMB, the Chinese
currency if you wish.
Can we really
source quality items from
China?
This is the most revealing
state of affairs. The facts given by a BBC news
report in November 2002 were quite startling.
According to the news then, 30% of the worlds TVs,
50% of the worlds cameras, 10% of the worlds
computer monitors, 20% of the worlds fridges, and
37% of the worlds hard disk drives all come from
China. This was in 2002. Now, everyone knows
so much is made there, and quality is a key to
Western Markets.
But there are good quality factories there, and
poor quality ones, our sourcing role, is to find
the good quality and reasonable value factories
for you.
What is practical to
get Sourced from China?
It used to
be that items with high labour elements were the
best value, now, so much is made
using international quality machine tools,
that the range is limitless. What now become the
deciding factors are -
1) is the quantity
enough to get the right volume discounts
2) is
the bulk of the item making shipping too large a
factor
3) is the core component the same
price worldwide, and the core component the
majority of the product price so savings become
illogical (IE Oil and steel ingots)
4) is the
lead time crucial, and any delay likely to incur
putative costs, and contingency stocking is not
possible.
Most things can be sourced
in China, but not everything is automatically
cheaper.
What if, despite all the promises and
assurances, the products sourced from China are
not up to mark?
The agreement we
make with our clients before beginning with
sourcing and importing, is with the sample and
specification. As dependable import agents and
import consultants, we always take care to find
right quality of the imported products from China.
If in the most unlikely event the product is
different from what specified, we work to resolve
the problem with the factory. Whether it is
replacement of the sourced goods, product
correction, reduction in the price, our China
sourcing services take care of all your
concerns. We deal in the most practical solution
for both parties. We understand that business is a
relationship game, and almost all our clients come
back to us with repeat orders; therefore we always
seek to find a practical solution going forward.
We never ever walk away from our responsibility.
This is the primary benefit with product sourcing
services, integrity as well as experience.
What could go wrong during the China
sourcing operation?
Three factors
- Assumptions, oversights and timings. Assumptions
can cover a wide variety of aspects. If the
agreement did not mention for the goods to be
packed in 50s, there are chances they may come in
outers of 20s or 100s. We work hard on the
quantification of little details. Assumptions
though, remain one of the major risks, as details
may be left off the specification in the belief
every factory knows this is how things are made in
the clients country. This may not be
true. Perhaps temperature becomes important
if they make the item when it is 40% in
the factory in July, perhaps American sizes
are assumed to be worldwide standards,
perhaps knowledge of how things need
doing to get the best results are missed out of
the specification, perhaps we are not asked to
inspect a unrealised pivitol feature, so it goes
unchecked. All these are aspects of client
assumptions or oversights. The other point is the
small risk of delay in shipping, or of damage in
transit which though we insure everything,
replacement parts can take a while.
You can
see that if things do go wrong, it is generally,
by oversight, assumption, or circumstance. Most
things are fine, and that is the value of
using Product Sourcing Services, we ensure
the quality of all products, by specification,
agreement and inspection. We use the best of our
experience and procedures to check all goes right,
but as mentioned above, it is the small oversights
that may catch us out if anything will, for
instance the appearance of rust from salt air on
painted goods, where no anti-rust paint was
specified, or plastic covering wanted. It is
obvious, but only after it happens the first
time.
We work to resolve any issues which do occur,
and bring our experience of 'first times' but we
would be wrong and naive in saying there is never
any risk. There is, but we reduce it though our
years of experience, and processes.
If you think you cannot specify well, cannot
say what aspects need inspection, expect the
sample to always be perfect each time, cannot
afford any delay by even a day, then perhaps
Sourcing from China is not for you, even with us
to help
you. |
