This article is very good read. Thank you.
I also wanted to share my experiences working with Chinese companies and hope to be of use to other readers.
I have traded many kinds of products with China, such as electronics, pet food/toy, ceramics figurines, office/school stationery, etc. During these years, I learned that not all Chinese organizations work the same way, some do a proper costing of products, some are willing to finance shipments, some are good at design, and of course, some don’t do anything more then they are suppose to.
Ultimately, Chinese companies, like most western businesses, are as good and reliable as the owner of the business. Therefore, regardless of factories, traders, or whatever they are, I always try to meet with the owner and try to judge whether he/she is a decent/trustworthy business men/women. Recent years, I have started to see many sons and daughters of the owner working in the company, which is great. Because most of the second generations are educated in US/UK, so they speak perfect English and understand our cultures (which is very important in building an efficient business relationship).
Unlike the common belief, I do not suggest everyone must find the “real” factory. I often work with factory & trading hybrids companies for the following reasons:
-They are able to offer a greater range and design of products and categories.
-They can work with several factories to make the same product, so to avoid delays during peak seasons.
-They conduct quality control in numerous factories and take on the risk of pre-payment.
-They usually have greater bargaining power with factories as they buying for several customers, and also because they must make a profit in this competitive environment.
-They are able, willing, and required to travel further and further inland to find new factories and even lower wages.
-They have expertise in many industries, types of products, and different regions in Asia (different parts of China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, Indonesia, etc.)
-As mentioned in the first article, they do usually own a large manufacturing site to do consolidation, packaging (so that all packaging are consistent), assembly, shipping, etc.
-They have greater exposure of international market, so they better understand our requirements and expectations.
There are many more reasons, but I apologize (to those who do not agree) for making such as long list already.
Finally, how do you know who is who, who is doing what? I usually start by using websites such as
www.alibaba.com,
www.tdctrade.com, etc, to get a general idea, then to narrow down, I search for more information on company websites, for comments on alibaba forum, some databases, sourcing review (I think this is a new one, so here is the url
www.sourcingreview.com), and whatever else shows up in google. When I have enough information, then I make visits either to meet them in tradeshows or their offices/factories. It is a long process, but when I find a good company, I know it is all worth it.
Linear Mode
November 2008
