If you have supplier(s) in China, you have probably experienced these typical issues, especially if you don’t already have a procurement office in China:
- You seldom get updates about production status or quality control (or you get information too late to react).
- When a quality inspection is failed, in some cases the supplier doesn’t really rework the goods, there is no improvement, and it can incur weeks of delays.
- Some batches are accepted, but you find there are sometimes 5% or more of defectives.
Does your situation look anything like this?
What is the ‘Value-Added Procurement Office in China’ solution?
Sofeast becomes your procurement office in China, but we also add extra value to the role by speeding up your procurement process and helping to reduce the proportion of defectives that you receive from suppliers.
This solution includes the following services for importers to solve the above issues:
- Initial setup of appropriate conditions (legal agreements including reactions to common issues, negotiation of payment terms with suppliers, etc.)
- Day-to-day management of procurement & suppliers
- Daily reporting to you, our customer, about what happens in your supply chain. For example, we provide structured and fully illustrated inspection reports.
- Handling payments to suppliers (usually in RMB, with near-instant transfer to their bank accounts)
- Delivery of products by suppliers to Sofeast’s 100% owned facility (in Dongguan, South China) for inspection and re-packing, in EXW terms
- Sorting of bad pieces, for return to supplier (and corresponding rework or rebate). Note that, in many cases, suppliers send a team to our facility to do sorting & rework on site.
- On a regular basis: improvement plan with key suppliers, based on past KPIs.
Optional: A Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) system can be set up depending on your requirements.
Here’s how a typical value-added procurement office project provided to a client by Sofeast might work:
Why choose ‘Value-Added Procurement Office in China’?
Your team doesn’t have the time, resources or experience to handle and manage suppliers on a day-to-day basis.
You want to work with professionals who have the infrastructure in place to manage the supply chain and the flow of materials & money, and the expertise to do professional quality control on your products.
You don’t want a long-term contract and you want the freedom to move on, without being ‘hooked’ to any service provider.
Who needs this solution?
Importers with at least 1 supplier in China, and no local office to manage procurement. Especially if the quality standard is high.
Note that you don’t need to have a regular flow of goods. Our setup also works if your activity is seasonal.
What does it cost?
Based on the amount of work (project management, administrative follow up of deliveries and payments, quality control…), we prepare a quotation for you.
There is no minimum charge or monthly fees. In case we are not a good fit for your situation, we will let you know from the start.
Ready to get started with a value-Added Procurement Office project?
Learn more about procurement offices in China with these resources
Read these blog posts from our sister blog QualityInspection.org to learn more about procurement and how it affects importers from China or other Asian countries:
