China Works blog: China manufacturing news, analysis and insights

In the final part of our series on common sourcing mistakes we look at one of the most common (but overlooked) China sourcing problems – forgetting to tell the factory how you want your product packaged.

It is often assumed that your order will be well packaged by the factory, preventing any issues that can happen as your order is hauled from one side of the world to the other. There is a lot that can go wrong in that process though as your product is hauled on and off lorries, planes and boats for nearly a month. Additionally your factory will often default to the cheapest packaging they can find on the basis that this wasn’t specified as part of the project.

We do not condone this behaviour by factories, but why leave damage in transit to chance? Specify your packaging requirements clearly at the start of each project, and ensure the factory has a chance to price this into their quote. Specify everything from outer cartons (e.g. do you need wooden boxes, or cardboard) to inner packaging (e.g. do you want your pieces bubble wrapped to prevent scratching, do you need them bagged in lots of 50 to forward straight onto your own customers?) and more (e.g. does uncoated metal need oil applied to prevent them rusting?)

In the next of our series on common sourcing mistakes  we look at customers who are only completing part of their production in China, but fail to tell their factory how the component they’re making fits into the wider project.

Many of our manufacturing customers are looking to bring down the cost of components for end products that they make locally. These projects are a great way to bring reduce prices, but in these circumstances it’s always difficult to check quality in isolation of the wider project. On more than one occasion we’ve had a component pass the factory’s QA checks, only to be told it doesn’t fit with a wider part when it arrives in the UK.

On these types of projects we now always ask for samples of the related part that our component is supposed to fit with so we can conduct wider tests in China.

If you’re only making part of your product in China send the factory clear instructions on how the piece should be inspected, and even better send them the part(s) they are supposed to match with to let them do their own testing. Most importantly do not just take the attitude that “if they follow our drawing it will be fine”, as much of the time it won’t be if the factory can only see half the picture.

In the next of our series on common sourcing mistakes we look at Western companies who choose to complete their product development in China.

For many inventors and manufacturers it can be tempting to ask factories to support their product development process through design suggestions, prototyping and engineering drawing support. This has the benefit of a) being cheap, and b) involving the factory in your new product from the start to help them shape the end outcome.

In short this should be avoided at all costs! Over the years we have seen many projects get stuck in ‘sampling limbo’, with some projects taking up to two years to move to production, owing to constant design tweaks and changes. Factories don’t make any money from the sampling process, so over time this will erode goodwill in your project and the factory will find other priorities.

Ensure you approach your factory with finished drawings, completed prototypes and are in situation where you’re ready to start full production. This will ensure the factory treats you seriously and gives your project precedence over the many other new product development projects they are approached with every day.

(A small plug for our business – China Works have a UK based design and prototyping team, which we set-up in response to the above issue. If we can help with your project please get in touch!)

We’re often asked by customers what the different shipping terms mean, so here is a quick guide to the main terms you might come across:

Bill of Lading: Bill of lading are contracts between the owner of goods and the carrier. The customer needs an original or a copy as proof of ownership to take possession of the goods

Cost and freight: Cost & Freight to a named overseas port of import. Under this term, the seller quotes a price for the goods that include the cost of transportation to the named point of debarkation. The cost of insurance is left to the buyers account.

Cost, insurance and freight: Cost, Insurance and freight to a named overseas port of import.. Under this term the seller quotes a price ofor the goods (including insurance)

Ex-works: A term of sale in which for the quoted price, the seller mearly makes the goods available to the buyer at the sellers “named place”of business. This places the greatest responsibility on the buyer abd minimum obligations on the seller. The Ex Works term is often used when making an initial quotation for the sale of goods without any costs included

Free on Board (FOB): Common price term used in international trade. The seller is responsible for the cost of goods is to the point of loading it onto the ship or aircraft. The risk of loss of or damage to the goods is transferred from the seller to the buyer when the goods have been so delivered

Freight forwarder: An independent business which handles export shipments for compensation. At the request of the shipper, the forwarder makes the actual arrangements and provides the necessary services for expediting the shipment to its overseas destination.

The forwarder takes care of all documentation needed to move the shipment from origin to destination, making up and assembling the necessary documentation for submission to the bank in the exporter’s name. The forwarder arranges for cargo insurance, makes the necessary overseas communications, and advises the shipper on overseas requirements of marking and labelling

Packing list: A shipping document issued by shipper to carrier, Customs and consignee serving the purposes of identifying detail information of package count, products count, measurement of each package, weight of each package, etc

The big question for many manufacturers and inventors is whether to make your new product home or abroad. The UK offers shorter lead times, smaller stockholding requirements and greater control, while China offers obvious benefits around lower tooling costs and unit prices.

In the short term you’ll need to choose between countries to get your project going, but in the long term the answer is to establish relationships with factories in both countries.

Our most experienced customers maintain a global sourcing strategy, where they move production back to the UK when conditions allow (e.g. a weak pound, and capacity in UK manufacturing sector), and back to the Far East when conditions in this country become unfavourable (such as when factories start offering lengthy lead times, or prices jump 25% overnight)

We are currently seeing a trend back to China which is being driven by many UK manufacturers have full order books due to their export led growth. In the last fortnight we’ve had a number of new customers contact us to complain how manufacturing in the UK has suddenly become a challenge for their business.  Last year however the opposite was true with many customers looking to source locally due to the collapse of the pound.

The picture is also blurred further as over 70% of our customers are manufacturers themselves – looking to bring down the cost of components to make themselves more attractive abroad. These factories rely on Chinese prices for tooling and resource intensive parts to bring down their own production costs.

In summary we don’t condone customers moving their production to China at the expense of UK industry. We believe customers should develop a balanced approach to sourcing, with different manufacturing options to support different economic conditions. If a customer moves their production to the China we expect at some stage they will move their production back to UK, and at some stage it will also come back to China.