Up until now, I have explained how to find a good supplier and what terms to negotiate from the get-go. But this is not enough. Buyers who are new to China often make a mistake: they trust their suppliers too much. How to keep leverage … [Read more...]
Sourcing from China 101, Part 5: Negotiating With Chinese Suppliers: The Terms you Need to Discuss
Chinese suppliers are good at detecting which purchaser is inexperienced. If that's the case, and if you are dealing with dishonest suppliers, they could think that they will be able to take advantage of you. Therefore, it is … [Read more...]
How To Cooperate With Your Chinese Supplier, Part 4: Training Sessions on Supplier Development (In Guangzhou & Shenzhen)
This week and next week I am holding a training session on this topic: Half-Day Training: How To Set Up a Supplier Improvement Program Practical Tools for Quality and Procurement Professionals Dates and places: 30 Nov. in … [Read more...]
Sourcing from China 101, Part 4: Second Choices vs. “Never Again”
This is the 4th post in our "sourcing from China 101" series. By now I’ll assume that you have verified a few manufacturers. One of them will be your first choice, and, hopefully, you will have a couple of “backups”. But, what is the … [Read more...]
How To Cooperate With Your Chinese Supplier, Part 5: How Likely Are Your China Suppliers To Be Shut Down?
The number of Chinese factories that are shut down by the government because of their environmental impact keeps growing. More and more supply chains get disrupted. Some companies that relied mostly/solely on one source are dying. So the … [Read more...]
How To Cooperate With Your Chinese Supplier, Part 6: China Suppliers Lack Transparency… What Implications for Buyers?
This email was forwarded to me without identifiers about the supplier or the customer. I thought it was interesting for our readers. I was told it was written by a project manager in a Western-owned trading company. The buyer was pushing … [Read more...]
How To Cooperate With Your Chinese Supplier, Part 7: Dangers of Subcontracting and Losing your Core Competencies
In the rush of the 2000's to outsource production to Chinese suppliers, many American and European companies have lost some of their core competencies... And they can no longer in-source those activities. I came across this passage in a … [Read more...]
How To Cooperate With Your Chinese Supplier, Part 8: After You Order, Your Chinese Factory Announces a 2 Months Delay?
By Fabien Gaussorgues Last week, an American buyer shared his frustration about their contract manufacturer in Shenzhen with me. The manufacturer has to delay production for 2 months because the raw material factory will be closed for … [Read more...]
How To Cooperate With Your Chinese Supplier, Part 9: Managing China’s Unique Production Challenges
As China's economy matures and their infrastructures get better, some severe production challenges are not going away. They are actually getting more acute! This article is not about the challenges of dealing with Chinese suppliers & … [Read more...]
How To Cooperate With Your Chinese Supplier, Part 11: China Suppliers: from Problem Reporting to Solution
By Fabien Gaussorgues I must have read or heard “this information should be provided by the customer” hundreds of times. It comes from manufacturers, traders, sourcing agents -- all living in China, whether they are Chinese or … [Read more...]
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