It's Not About the Money

Production problems, sourcing issues or timing delays are not always directly related to dollars and cents.

Supplier Love

(photo credit: GR Sipe)

I recently sat in a seminar where a guy, who runs a company in the Western world, which “specializes in China sourcing”, was telling the attendees not to make relationships with their suppliers.  I couldn’t believe my ears.

Communication Decreases Quality Issues

Your supplier may be helping you "in letter"
but dangerous when not "in spirit"

Working in China with a team that is daily handling factories, it is hard for me to fathom how companies, in different time zones, in a different language, do it from abroad.

JLmade is made up of mostly Chinese teammates. 

Bridge Building: Establishing Long-term Relationships with your Supplier

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There's Folks Working Hard on Your Behalf:
Allow Them to Become a Valuable Partner to your Business

Everybody is a supplier to somebody and everybody is a buyer to another.  Seldom does a supplier never purchase something (whether components, machinery, material) and most buyers buy because they then resell. 

Use your communication with your supplier to establish strong bonds. 

Inspiration and Motivation is the Key…More so in China?

This morning, Leeds (wife and head honcho at JLmade) took a boot that had a buckle to pop off, to the shoe-repair shop.  When she first took it inside and presented it to the “Master” 师傅, he told her they couldn’t fix it. 

With such a large labor force in China, you interact
with many more people on a daily basis .

 She then explained to him that it only requires a small such-and-such type tool and if he’ll just look at it, then perhaps he can see what the job takes.  The guy then looked at it, spent about 5 to 7 minutes repairing it, now it’s as good as new.  Not only did he fix it, but when she went to pay, she only had 100 bank notes, so he waived the fee and graciously said “next time”. 

Dealing with 1st-Time Factories

Remain professional: regardless of what
unforeseen obstacle arises.

Chinese factories are busy.  They have times that are slower than others, but for the most part, their production lines are full year-around.  Next to never are the production lines empty and the workers sitting around hoping to get an order to extinguish the boredom.

On the contrary it has gotten to where it takes substantial effort from the buyers’ side to get a factory to treat them serious.  Unless you have an established working relationship with the factory or unless you’re a very big name, the factory is going to first “feel you out”.   But, in this post-Economic Crisis day and age, even if you are a big name, the factory is still going to work in such a way to determine if you are going to be a valuable customer for them.

A System of Favor

China operates on a system of “favor”.  From the lowliest pauper (in this case, perhaps, street sweeper) to the highest noble (in this case, perhaps government worker), the entire country operates in this manner.