10th Mar '20

The Essentials For Successful Manufacturing In China

Sub-contract manufacturing in China is now commonplace amongst UK OEMs looking to improve profit margins. There are lots of ways you can do this, from going direct, to choosing a supply chain partner with a fully-managed supply chain service.

To help you decide what works best for your business, here are our top three essential considerations to help you minimise supply risk…

1. Be objective about your objectives

The pressure to outsource production is often financially driven. After all, offshoring components or product manufacture to an unknown supplier on the other side of the world can feel risky. So, in return, we all expect a financially great deal. However with the China’s GDP alone accounting for 11.72% of the world economy, capabilities are evolving, offering new benefits.

Low cost manufacturing in China is a key reason for its growth into the workshop of the world. However, today, there are many other strong business reasons for manufacturing overseas. You need to be prepared to balance pricing expectations in order to unlock other competitive advantages of offshoring.

Choose the right partnerships and you enjoy advanced production capabilities, quality engineering services from drawing to delivery, testing and regulatory compliance, supply assurance and responsive supply chain support.

If you simply focus on unit price, you may miss the bigger picture. Be objective about your objectives to improve business results from manufacturing in China.

2. Be confident and in control

It is not necessarily a given that the product you need is the product you will get. Once the excitement of hitting your price point has passed, you may be disappointed to find your unbelievable sourcing deal is in fact just that! This is why production control is at the top of our essentials list. Whether you choose to work with a supply chain partner, or direct, or anything in between, we encourage you to keep it at the top of your list too.

Sourcing supply via an agent, or managing sub-contract manufacturing directly with Chinese factories can be extremely frustrating. Not to mention time-consuming. From resolving initial design queries, to fit for purpose manufacture, and on time delivery, we recommend our controlled supply chain management approach. It delivers proven results without the drama.

We only place work in audited factories that have the capability to deliver what you need. For example, you won’t be faced with haggling over tolerances or pressurised into retrofitting your design to suit the capabilities of the factory. We source reliably as well. All our sheet metal materials are direct from mills, sourced for specific contracts. We do not buy from generalist markets. Similarly, with plastics, we only use good quality direct sources. This makes sure your products are compliant with regulations, fit for purpose and fit for your brand.

Verifying, checking and controlling is built into our process control model. Our engineers are on hand to support you in the UK and to make sure you get what you need from our engineering team in China.

We take the stress away, but not the control. So, you can be confident of manufacturing in China with quality management and proven process control.

3. Be assured of local supply

Our third essential – be assured of local supply – may seem at odds with the fact that we manufacture circa 6,000 miles away from our HQ and logistics centre in Telford, Shropshire. However, being able to get hold of the stocks you need quickly is important, isn’t it?

Logistics management, shipping and stock holding are vital considerations when putting together your offshoring approach. This is often overlooked, or costed elsewhere.

We provide a complete logistics management service – committed to making outsourcing as seamless as possible. Everything is consolidated within our factories in Ningbo and Shenzhen. We carefully prepare and package your products for safe shipment. We handle all the shipping arrangements to meet your approved production schedule. Plus, we take control of any advanced stock ordering requirements to minimise the risk to supply of Chinese New Year (CNY). Even if we are combining stock from different customers into one container, it is our people that are carefully handling your products.

There are many financial and time saving benefits of leaving shipping and customs hurdles to your supply chain partner. It is something we are dealing with every day, managing delivery, either direct to your UK site, or into our UK warehouse.

Of course, if you want to manage shipping directly, consider load sizes and whether you want your pallets to be in mixed containers with other businesses’ goods. This will introduce handling risks and potential delays in delivery, as well as higher costs per unit shipped. Or you could delay shipment until you have sufficient stock for your container.

So, if you want to enjoy the advantages of manufacturing in China, with the benefits of supply much closer to home for next day delivery, then get the essentials with us.