China Manufacturing - What's in it for You?

It's getting harder and harder to find a consumer product not made in Asia. Some people embrace it and some curse it. But one thing that can't be denied is the impact on the global economy on a large scale and our daily life on a small scale. For the past year we have heard so much buzz about lead in toys, lead in paint, and seemingly, lead everywhere (stay tuned, we will discuss our experience with evaluating lead content in China-made products in another post). What this leads to is the mass populous’ perception that China made products are no good. We have also heard about the potential impact on the exchange rate changing with the US dollar weakening and the increasing cost of materials and labor in China. So what is the fuss all about, and how does that affect me you ask? From our end, we see the ever expanding markets for our services. We are the bridge between east and west, equipped with engineering expertise, business experiences from both sides, and the understanding of the culture differences, not only in the business environment, but also in the social and personal arena. We take pride in the products we manage and source for our customers. We repeatedly turn horror stories of business’ failed attempts to make products in China to triumphant success stories; turning crooked glass bottles into works of art (see our story below) and turning equipment that doesn’t even resemble the prototype or design drawings to fully functional machines . Like everything else, if you have the right resources and the right attitude nothing is impossible! We are your right resource for your sourcing needs!

Another Rewarding China Sourcing Project

This last trip to China was two-fold: attend the Canton Fair, the largest manufacturing trade show in China, and to qualify factories to manufacture various products for our customers. One of our more interesting projects during this trip was qualifying a factory in China to manufacture glass bottles for a large luxury beverage company in North America. The requirement was for a high end, high clarity, high quality bottle with a difficult slender shape, decorative, graduated frosting and high resolution labeling. The requirement was to manufacture a bottle that artistically looks like a work of art for displaying a luxury product while maintaining the repeatability and high tolerances required for the company’s automated bottle fill equipment. The company’s bare bottles were being made in Europe then shipped to North America where frosting and labeling were applied at one company, and finished product shipping boxes were supplied by yet another company - truly a supply management nightmare. Our task was to supply a finished, decorated bottle, delivered in finished product shipping boxes reducing their supply management chain from 3 suppliers to 1 factory at a greater than 30% cost savings. Our customer tried to get the bottles manufactured in China on their own only to be disappointed with poor quality, crooked bottles that were unacceptable and spending money on molds and samples that were unusable. This is not surprising to us. Our customer was nervous because of this experience and we helped them through the unknowns with our detailed inspection process for factory selection and project management. Although, from our North American offices, we identified a number of China manufacturing factories that assured us they could manufacture these bottles, we never make a commitment until we visit the factory and perform an engineering evaluation to confirm the factories manufacturing capabilities, their customer service, how they treat their workers, and their desire to develop a long term relationship. During our visit to China, we saw a variety of inferior manufacturers that would never be capable of producing the bottles and in fact only indentified 2 factories (not the ones originally identified) with the process capability to produce the bottles and these 2 were only discovered by personally traveling to China. Our engineering experience allowed us to work with the factory to develop processes, create molds and samples, and arrive at the proper specifications and tolerances our customer required. As always, we did all this with no upfront cost to our customer and the samples turned out, in our customer’s words, better than the ones they were sourcing from Europe. All this with over a 30% savings and a simplified supply chain reduced to 1 supplier.

An Interesting Factory Visit

After Canton Show, we started to haul our luggage from one city to another. We visited a lot of factories to find out their capabilities, meet with the general managers. Usually after the factory tour, we would go out to have lunch or dinner to build relationship(关系). We would drink beer, and find out how they treat their employees and customers. Kevin would pick a person (preferably a girl;) to practise Chinese. So we would enjoy a good match between Mandarin and English!

The most interesting experience is when we arrived at a small town in the middle of nowhere at 5am in the morning. Outside was pitch dark, dead cold, but there was nobody there to pick us up as arranged! Apparently, the communication got broke down somewhere. All right, not a problem! Let's find a hotel and clean up. So we thought. We finally found a three wheelers, and he took us to the only two hotels in town. They were all fully booked,in the middle of nowhere! Well, we ended up staying in the hotel lobby, and grabbing a blanket from a hotel staff to warm us up. By the time, the factory came to pick us up, we looked like two homeless people;). Quite an experience!

Canton Show Clips

Time flies when you are having fun! A month long trip is already over. We took buses, trains, boats, cars, and planes across China. We attended trade shows, visited factories and toured around different places. It was a memorable trip both professionally and personally.

I realized how much I enjoy travelling and being able to travel anywhere anytime I want! Most importantly, I witnessed my vision in action, a vision to connect east and west, and help to build a bridge to utilize each other's strength.

We attended the 102nd Canton Trade Show. Carrying around a long shopping list from our clients, we visited booth after booth, talked to many factory associates, and happily passed around samples and got the information we needed for our clients! It was an eye opener on the increasing number of the exhibitors and visitors from all over the world! We were also impressed about the customer service we received. After the trade show, we started to tour the factories that we had selected. More interesting stories to come.....

Comments from a taxi driver about China manufactured products

We were in Las Vegas for a trade show, and we were in just another cab so we thought. When we told our boisterous cab driver we help businesses in NA get products manufactured in factories in China so that they can be cost competitive like Wal-Mart, he said keep those products coming from China because he likes those Wal-Mart type low prices. He told of us a brand name folding bicycle that he purchased 7 years ago for $499.00. He said the quality was not good and had quite a few problems. He eventually sold it along with his RV. Well he missed the convenience of his old folding bicycle so he bought a new one made in China only cost $199.00. He said the new one is better than the one he had before. He is so happy with the quality of everything he buys that is made in China that when we were getting out of his taxi he said “keep those low priced goods coming from China…I love ‘em.”

Unmatched Service & Expertise

I recently met Kevin & Grace at a Landmark Advanced Course
in Phoenix, AZ. I had been tossing around a business idea for a personally empowering jewelry line for quite some time. After hearing from Kevin about the types of things he was up to and services offered, I became incredibly excited that a true resource landed right in front of me that could make my idea a reality!

Over the past few months, Kevin has worked very closely with me on getting my spec pieces just right so that when I am ready to go to market, the supply will be ready to go. Kevin's stringent attention to detail & desire for perfection (just like mine) are extremely appreciated. To date, I have not been charged a single cent and could not be happier (once the best solution is found, I will compensate them for their amazing work). Kevin & Grace's dedication to awesome service will truly ensure them a successful future and many more pleased clients!

China Direct Sourcing Trade Show

We decided to head to Las Vegas and check out the AMD trade show and hang out. At the show, we went out looking for stuff that our customers could use. We found a lot of good products and a lot of interesting information. Most of the suppliers there were wholesalers and distributors that get their products from importers/exporters and some from factory sources. There were some China manufacturers that had booths there. They said they would also be at the biggest national trade show in Guangzhou, China where we will go visit the manufacturers in China and get direct pricing. Interestingly, we noticed that there weren't many western clients checking them out - the fear of the unknown? That further solidifies our vision of bridging the two cultures to eliminate the fear of the unknown and connect the companies here direct to China manufacturing.

Of course,we were in Vegas! In between walking the show, we had fun enjoying the food, drinks, and gorgeous hotels. Most importantly, two best buds hung out and shared the venture together!