Finding a manufacturer or supplier in China can be a great choice for businesses looking to reduce their overhead. Chinese suppliers are more affordable than establishing your own manufacturing operations in the country, but they still offer everything you would get if you did. With many goods being made in the country, you’re not the only one taking advantage of what a Chinese supplier or manufacturer can offer a company in the U.S. You don’t even need to be a large business to work with one of these overseas manufacturing plants, either—partnering with a Chinese manufacturer is a good option no matter how large or small your business is.
As with most things these days, many people will start by going online and doing a search for a Chinese manufacturing partner. The good news is that this will return thousands of results. The bad news, though, is that it returns thousands of results. You then have to comb through all of those results to find a partner who offers what you need at a price that works for your budget.
You can add additional search terms to help narrow down what you’re looking for. Include key terms related to your industry or what you’re looking for. Also, search for things such as “accredited supplier” or “verified manufacturer” to remove some scam companies. Be sure to watch for companies that are not actually manufacturers. Some are wholesalers or traders who have made themselves appear to be manufacturers. Do some research and read reviews before partnering with a company.
You can also go online and ask other business owners for references. Social media is a great place do to this. You can ask about suppliers and manufacturers and get an idea of which companies will be a good fit for your needs. There are some groups on sites such as LinkedIn that focus specifically on working with companies in China.
Another place to find options for outsourcing to China is trade shows. While it may mean you have to make a trip to China to attend the large Canton Fair trade show in Guangzhou, it might be worth it. You don’t necessarily have to do that, though. The Consumer Electronics Show held annually in Las Vegas, for example, often has many overseas manufacturing companies represented, many of which are located in China. While many of the representatives at international trade shows will speak English, be aware that that may not always be the case at Canton Fair and other shows in China.
There are professional China sourcing agents out there who can help you find a great Chinese manufacturer or supplier. The thing to remember, of course, is that these agents will add their own small percentage fee to what you’re paying. It might be worth the cost, however, because these agents do have verified partners in China and have many contacts there.
Overall, if you want to work with a Chinese supplier or manufacturer, they’re out there. You just have to do some work to find the one that fits best with your needs or pay an agent to do that work for you.
Looking for a partner to guide you through the outsource manufacturing process? Reach out to our expert BaySource Global team today!
When it comes to developing a new product, the choice of supplier is crucial. As companies seek to optimize profitability and accelerate production, many are turning to Chinese suppliers. China has become a preferred destination due to its abundant labor force, competitive costs, and ability to respond to high production volumes.
However, evaluating a Chinese supplier requires a strategic approach and in-depth analysis to ensure product quality, on-time delivery, and a reliable business relationship.
What should I evaluate if I want to develop a new product?
If you want to develop a new product in the best way with a Chinese manufacturer you have to evaluate its engineering capacity and this you can only do if, the manufacturer, evaluate and know the CAD compatibility, the design capacity, the structures, and the research capabilities and development in them, prototype construction capability and initial prototype testing capability.
What is CAD Compatibility?CAD Compatibility stands for Compatibility with the Assisted Design and is performed by the computer Software and is one of the important factors to consider when you are researching a new manufacturer, and it is important to avoid possible design errors during production due to the inability to access or read the file on the manufacturer's computer.
Why is it important to check design capacity?The manufacturer's internal design ability is not just a "design ability" but it is real engineering, and it is important to check it because thanks to it, you are sure that the design of your product will be excellent and of excellent quality.
Precisely, you have to check certain skills which are:
Mechanical Engineering which is the ability to design parts, such as plastic packaging, metal structural parts, and functional parts (such as drive shafts and support shafts). In addition to having these capabilities, the design team must also know how to calculate the bending moment and the torsional stress limit in order to know, control, and verify the resistance of the design.
Electrical Engineering which are the skills and knowledge necessary to design and are important for example for drives in which the system must calculate the torque of the electric motor and the speed required to drive the pulley at a certain speed suitable for lifting a certain engine weight.
Electronic Engineering means having the ability to design highly complex PCB circuits, which should include the use of IC processors, miniaturized BGA components, and other complex surface mount devices.
Software engineering is important, and you need to make sure that the software engineering team is capable of coding and delivering what you specify from the point of view of the output function.
Should research and development facilities and capacities also be checked?
Yes, it is also necessary to check the R&D facilities and capacities because in some cases, the supplier has to collaborate with you in the research and development (R&D) of the products you would like, and for this, it would be necessary to use the specific knowledge that the industry has. For example, you could collaborate on research to improve and make a cell phone case more resistant so that it can be hit by a car without damaging the phone.
You could take care of the design of the products but to test and, in case they do not go well, modify the quality of them, you need a controlled environment in which they help you to advance the project to the best and bring it closer to production and if the supplier has dedicated R&D facilities and in-house capabilities, this could bring huge benefits, especially if you don't have such facilities.
Evaluating a Chinese supplier for a standard productWhen it comes to sourcing a standard product, evaluating and selecting the right supplier is of utmost importance. In today's global marketplace, many businesses turn to Chinese suppliers due to their competitive pricing, manufacturing capabilities, and expansive supply networks. However, effectively evaluating a Chinese supplier for a standard product requires a systematic approach and careful consideration of various factors
What should I evaluate if I want to buy a standard product?If you want to buy a standard product, from a potential supplier that you have verified, one thing to do is to go to China and check for yourself if the factory is suitable for your company, and if it is well-managed and well-organized.
We will explain how to best evaluate these aspects.
How can I know if the supplier can suit the needs of my company?To evaluate whether the supplier is suitable for your company or not, you must take into consideration various factors which are:
-The importance of your orders to evaluate if it represents the percentage suitable for their abilities
-The main objective of the factory is to be able to understand if they work on large volume and low-quality orders or vice versa and therefore if they work on small volume and excellent quality orders
-The time of year when they work the most to understand if they will be busy or not during the time you want to place your order
-Their organization to understand if in case there will be no production manager or chief engineer, there will be a mature organization already organized or will put everything aside in their absence, and you need to know this to be sure that the production of your product goes and continues in the best way without interruptions.
-How much and how the person you are in contact with works, you need to understand if he/she is capable of managing his/her job and if he/she is already very busy or not
-How much your intellectual property is respected, and this is needed to understand how much the seller wants to sell your products.
How can I know if the factory is well managed?To avoid problems due to bad factory management, we list the aspects you need to pay attention to and avoid in order to avoid problems.
The small signs that you need to pay attention to and with which you will understand that you have to choose another supplier are:
-The boss is not interested in the production plan and spends most of his time in his office drinking tea and chatting with his friends
-Managers don't know processes and therefore don't know how to give you answers to specific questions
-Lack of staff training and problems are not solved because production supervisors are busy sending emails from their offices
-The presence of many people or small departments or individual offices. These aspects make communication difficult and corruption is easier
-The lack of metrics shown on the walls, equipment, TV screens, etc. which are usually used for the management of operations and if they are not there it means that there is a lack of visual effort of management, and it can also be understood that most of the people who work, do not know what they are doing exactly
-The payment of the production operators is based on the pieces created and not on the hours worked, this is not an excellent method of payment for having quality products because the operators will be interested more in the quantity than in the quality of the products.
How do I evaluate if the factory is well organized or not?To assess and know if the factory is well organized or not, during your visit to the factory you must observe whether:
-The production floor is clean to ensure that your products are great
-The workers' toilets are clean and therefore have good hygiene
-They have new equipment that they have recently invested in
-The equipment with which the production takes place is new and expensive or old and shabby.
-Workers have the right equipment to protect themselves when they do dangerous operations
-The behavior of operators changes when you analyze their work and therefore if they are afraid and/or nervous or if they are calm in carrying out their task. If their behavior changes, something is wrong
-The age of the workers is suitable for the job they are doing
-Production is organized in isolated islands and if there is a lot of work going on in the workshop. Both things might not be suitable for the creation of a great product because if everyone works separately and there is a lot of work, it means that your product will be created by several different people who do not have a direct comparison between them and therefore do not they have a common and precise idea of how the result should be
-They perform other actions besides packaging
They serve other customers in the countries you sell to and to check you have to see the labels on the packaging line.