How to Evaluate a China Sourcing Company?

Imagine your shipment is delayed from China, your product has defects which reduce customer satisfaction or in the worst case require product recall. In order to avoid such risks, more and more importers realize the importance of partnering with a reliable sourcing company. This will ensure that you are able to well control production lead time, enhance your quality standards, reduce manufacturing cost, and improve your profit margin.

Finding the China sourcing company that you partner with in long term is one of the most important decisions for an importer, but it is an uneasy task. You may evaluate a sourcing company based on below factors:

1) Referrals

The best way to tell how a sourcing company will treat you is to determine how they have treated other companies. If others have had a good experience with them, you likely will as well. You depend greatly on your sourcing partner to supply quality products, so you don’t want to depend on trial and error before finding the right one. Receiving referrals from other companies will provide assurance that you have found the right sourcing company.

2) Communication 

The right global sourcing company will provide highly effective means of communicating important production information on a timely basis. All stakeholders should have access production updates and critical documents, including the customer, the global sourcing company, and the factory. This allows the customer to make informed decisions regarding their manufacturing project, and allows all parties to mitigate risks of lost time and money through improved project management.  

3) Product Quality

When partnering with a sourcing company, you need to be assured that they will provide quality products for your business. While it may be tempting to partner with the company that quotes the lowest price, that company may provide products that are of lesser quality, potentially hurting your production and your company’s reputation. The best option is to find a global sourcing company that offers sustainable value pricing coupled with a solid quality assurance process.

4) Types of Services

While some sourcing companies only do the bare minimum, others offer services that will provide great assistance to your business. The best option is to find a sourcing company that offers scalable services, so that you select and pay only for the services you need. For a global sourcing company these services may include sourcing & manufacturing management, onsite quality inspections, shipping and logistics management, warehousing, and engineering services.