Here are three reasons your business needs a procurement agent.
- Procurement agents help find reliable suppliers and help get you the best price
Looking for a good manufacturer in Asia, such as Vietnam, China, India, Malaysia and etc is like looking for a needle in a haystack. This is because those countries, especially China is so huge that it should be considered in several regions instead of one. A good procurement agent will know exactly which province specializes in the product you are looking for.While it is possible to do the preliminary search on the internet – via B2B platforms, it is often difficult to ascertain whether the suppliers you have found on these sites are actual manufacturers, who will offer the most competitive prices, or just middlemen or even frauds pretending to be suppliers so that they can relieve you of some of your money.To verify whether the supplier is genuine and legitimate, a factory visit is recommended. Alternatively, a good procurement agent will already have a list of reliable suppliers you can approach. Even if they do not know a factory that can manufacture the product you want to make, it won’t take them much time to find someone reliable and suitable because they are present on the ground and have networks they can tap.They will also be able to negotiate to get you the best price than when you negotiate for it yourself. - Procurement agents help bridge the communication and culture gap:
A lot has already been written about the language and cultural differences between Asia and the West. To put it simple, there is often a misalignment between what the buyer says and what the supplier understands. This is never deliberate –differences in language and cultural factors are responsible for this.It is therefore very important for the buyer to be very clear while communicating with the supplier. You must write everything down and leave no room for assumptions so that your supplier knows exactly what you want and there is no mismatch in expectations. For instance, you must ensure that measurements and other specifications are written in units that are recognized in China. Even then, it is necessary for you or your representatives to monitor the production process to ensure nothing as been lost in translation.A procurement agent is an expert in product sourcing, so they do this for you. Procurement agents are your boots on the ground. They are your eyes on the production line, looking out for your interests always, while you take care of your business. They are usually proficient in the language and help you navigate cultural differences between the West and China. They basically ensure that you or members of your team will not have to make long and costly trips to Asia, or your company will not have to spend time and money setting up an office in Asia from scratch. - Procurement agents reduce your overall risk
While China remains more competitive than Western countries, most businesses will choose to outsource the manufacturing of their products. After all, competitiveness means profits. And profits is what pays salaries and helps businesses grow.This is all the more reason business owners will want their decision to outsource to be successful. Besides reducing your costs, successes in outsourcing help motivate the team and may convince the few naysayers in the company to agree that the decision to outsource was the right one.Hiring a procurement agent will ensure that your decision to outsource meets with success.In fact, if you have a procurement agent, you won’t even know if you are dealing with a factory in China because the agent handles everything.They save you a headache and expense of hiring and training new staff in the overseas market. They ensure that you do not have to make regular time consuming and expensive trips to the factory to monitor production. They help reduce the time taken to identify a supplier, ensure you submit the right design documents to enable production, help with communicating your needs to the supplier, monitor quality control and ensure that your product reaches you within the desired lead time.They are aware of the legalities of importing and exporting and ensure that your documentation, licenses and other paperwork are in place. They anticipate mistakes that can lead to delays. For instance, something as basic as printing an incorrect HS code on your goods can slow down or delay your consignment at customs, delaying delivery. An experienced procurement agent will ensure that will not happen, reducing risk at every step of the way.“source: www.entrepreneurshipinbox.com”
- While importing can provide you with more options for your business, it can be a complex process filled with challenges. Our supplier base extends from China to Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Myanmar (where no tariff to most of the countries). Each country has their own edges in terms of product types, lead time, factory scale, professionalism in human resources. Countrywise, some packaging products are more competitive in particular country. Even in China, different regions have their own specialties in production of product types. Let alone how each single manufacturer differentiates to one and others. We have comprehensive packaging product knowledge and experience to manage all these and select literally the best possible suited suppliers for your products.
- More importantly, the best suited suppliers for your product range might be diversified in different regions of a country. To make the utmost benefit, we can organize logistic for co-load. You can then earn the biggest saving from our board supplier base.
- China still plays the lead role in manufacturing. Speaking the same language, we create the most cost and time efficient ways to get products from China to meet your import needs.
We specialise in packaging but not limited to it. Our procurement process applies to absolutely any product categories and the blue print for finding the best fit supplier is applicable to any type of industries. We use our extensive and collective experience in global procurement to create a genuine cost- effective alternative to you.
High taxes, wage minimums, and material costs in certain countries make it more cost-effective to import products from a country where production costs are generally lower than local manufacturing. Certain products can cost upwards of 30% less to manufacture abroad. Cost of importing is lower than the cost of manufacturing! For example, some of our clients would shift small bags and printed bags production, which allow longer lead time, from local manufacture, to import. They could therefore extend their profit margin by economizing their production capacity and raising production efficiency. In addition, through import, local manufactures’ products to sell won’t be limited to the production capability they own. They could meet all their clients’ packaging needs by using our procurement service.