Sofeast Knowledgebase Blog

Importers who outsource manufacturing in Asia need to ship their goods around the world to where they’re being sold. Understanding the difference between HS vs HTS codes could be the difference between paying higher or lower import duties, fees, and … Continue reading →

When sourcing a new contract manufacturer in China, what are the main questions buyers need to answer before agreeing to work together? Renaud and Adrian cover 11 questions for buyers in this episode, especially those making electronic products (although much … Continue reading →

Here’s the monthly update from Sofeast’s sourcing team who has been tracking the costs of commonly used raw materials from China since January 2021 to help you understand where the market is right now. If you or your supplier are … Continue reading →

One of Sofeast’s senior engineers, Paul Adams, guides you through 7 key tests that he’s done time after time over the years on the materials or components of new hard goods (typically metal and/or plastic products) in order to check … Continue reading →

Our head of New Product Development and resident product reliability expert, Andrew Amirnovin, joins Adrian in this bonus episode to introduce and talk about UL compliance. Andrew shares his experience to answer these questions: What is the UL certification? Who … Continue reading →

Getting product tooling for molded plastic parts and enclosures designed and fabricated is a large investment for most companies, often running into the tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. Once you are coming to the close of the … Continue reading →

Renaud and Adrian explore how Apple built a successful Chinese supply chain, how they control bringing new products to market, and whether its ‘reliance’ on China might be a double-edged sword. Their ‘best practices’ could benefit SMEs who are also … Continue reading →

Question: We received a marketing email from our Chinese supplier showing one of our products and claiming it is theirs. What can we do? This used to be more common about 15 years ago when suppliers would show their customer’s … Continue reading →

CES is one of the world’s largest and most influential consumer electronics trade shows and our CEO Renaud attended this year at the start of January in Las Vegas. Many of Sofeast’s clients develop innovative new electronic products, so if … Continue reading →

A fairly recent Journal of Commerce article titled: “Cheaper than China: India–US trade surges as sourcing slowly shifts away from China,” gives us even more confirmation that exports from the Subcontinent to North America are booming to China’s cost.