What to Expect During Supplier Visits and How Mawson Global Can Help

When you’re contemplating visiting your suppliers, it’s helpful to remember some advice from “Sesame Street:” “Asking questions is a good way of finding things out.”

At Mawson Global, we have the expertise and the skills to make supplier visits successful -- and educational. Whether you need a guide on-site or someone to visit potential suppliers on your behalf, we can help.

If the supplier is new to your organization, one of your primary goals should be to validate claims that they make in sales presentations and proposals. If the supplier is one that you already use, it’s helpful to conduct an annual renewal evaluation or a periodic cost negotiation.

Here are some tips on how Mawson Global can help you get the most out of a supplier visit:

• Visit the receiving dock. On the dock, we can help you find the names of suppliers and the quantities of raw materials on hand. We will help you compare the information that you have received from cost-analysis negotiations to what we can observe on-site.  Here is a great place to see if the product you are buying is really made in the factory or just shipped in from the real producer!
  
  
• Visit the shipping dock. Here we can see the condition of finished goods, observe the quality inspection process and learn how shipments are handled.  Making sure the quality inspectors (preferably third party) understand what you are looking for is one of the most important issues to solve on a supplier visit.
  
  
• Talk to the sales staff. We ask how orders are received, entered, and queued for production or fulfillment, and whether electronic notifications to the customer are available at every step.
  
  
• Talk to line employees. We’ll check on company morale and organization, and ask specific employees specific questions. For example, it’s helpful to ask machine operators about their productivity per hour so you can verify any commitments the sales team has made to order delivery dates.
  
  
• Talk to management. We’ll ask about such things as communication structures, employee turnover, and how long management has been in place. If relevant, we’ll help you peruse the company’s financial statements and business plan.  Here you are trying to get a feel for how committed the whole company (not just the sales department) are to your project.

Mawson Global is able to minimise the risks associated with global sourcing specifically because we have employees based in the countries where the suppliers are located. Our sourcing directors know which questions to ask, and we understand the local languages and cultures.

We’ll find a supplier who understands your quality requirements, and with whom you can develop a long-term partnership. Most importantly, our service will slash your costs and increase your profits.

Get your free, no-obligation QuickLook Analysis by filling out our QuickLook enquiry form.

5 Benefits Global Sourcing Organisations Can’t Afford to Ignore

No matter your organisation’s size or the volume of your order, there is no question that global sourcing can dramatically increase your profits.

Many companies are still making procurement decisions based mainly on unit cost. But the global explosion of technology, well-educated workers, and capital has made it possible to literally have the entire world competing for the opportunity to sell to your business.

For most big corporations, global sourcing is not a matter of choice, but of necessity. The days of simply finding the best contract you can with suppliers with whom you frequently interact are gone. Now, you can partner with suppliers from across the globe.

Mawson Global understand the benefits of global sourcing – after all, we’ve been helping companies with it for more than a decade. However, we recognise that you might still need a little convincing. So, here are five advantages of global sourcing that you can’t afford to overlook.

• A reduction in costs, especially labour costs. Most Mawson Global clients save at least $100,000 on their first project, and their savings are typically 40 to 70 percent of domestic prices. In 2012, we saved our clients more than $19 million.
  
  
• Access to fresh research, design, and specialised intellectual capital.
  
  
• Availability of new technology and capacity. A number of companies source overseas because domestic suppliers lack the capacity and they’re not making the necessary investments to stay competitive.
  
  
• Superior quality. Many companies praise the quality of internationally sourced products compared to domestic products, mainly because of supplier investment in technology and capacity to attract global business.
  
  
• Companies can focus on their core processes and have more capital to invest in them.
  
  

Whatever product you’re seeking, Mawson Global can find you a reliable, more cost-effective overseas supplier. We have professional teams on the ground in Asia that help businesses around the world safely minimise any risks involved in global purchasing.

Mawson Global is confident that we can assess your potential cost-savings without disrupting your supply chain. We are not broker-agents; our services are fee-based, and we work without taking a commission. Our research and advice are completely independent and unbiased.

Utilising our services for your global sourcing needs is a simple process that provides you with all the information, feedback, and recommendations you need to successfully source your company’s products.

Want to know if Mawson Global sourcing is right for your company? Take our 10-product challenge. We’ll ask you to name five to 10 products that you now buy from an importer, and then we’ll work to find those items from a cheaper global supplier. The input is minimal – all it takes is a few minutes of you time – but the benefits will likely be substantial!

For more information about how Mawson Global can help you with all your global sourcing needs, please contact us online!

Importing: The Productivity Booster

Productivity. It’s essential to success. It can be elusive. And it’s the driving force behind businesses -- literally. Without it, the world would crumble and nothing would ever get done. Without it your company wouldn’t exist.

Productivity is vital to all businesses, but it’s especially important to those in global commerce. To be successful, manufacturers need to bring products to market quickly, ensure on-time delivery, provide outstanding customer service, and maintain their market share. A high level of productivity is required to accomplish all these initiatives.  

There are a lot of methods for increasing manufacturing productivity – from restructuring the workforce to reworking procedures. However, one of the best ways to up the output is by importing manufacturing machinery.

Importing machinery can make a plant more efficient at a fraction of the cost of local machine brokers. It can also be accomplished a lot faster than other methods and with minimal disruption, especially when importing fully complete sub-assemblies.

By looking to equipment suppliers in other areas of the world, manufacturers can often find a larger selection of machines, lower prices, and better customer services. However, locating qualified international suppliers can be a challenge, especially for those with limited resources to devote to the search. These limitations don’t have to prevent you from importing your equipment, though.

Mawson Global, a leader in global sourcing, has a proven method for helping manufacturers import machinery and components. Need a supplier of sanding equipment or corrugated cardboard box maker? Mawson Global can perform a comprehensive search and provide you with supplier recommendations that meet a company’s exact requirements.

With Mawson Global, the risks commonly associated with global sourcing are minimal because we have teams located around the globe. This “boots on the ground” approach means we’re familiar with the international standards, language, and culture of each of the countries we source from.

If your manufacturing company is searching for a way to boost its productivity without having to decrease it first, Mawson Global can help. Let us handle the search for your machinery supplier. With our assistance, your business can not only improve its output, but also slash costs and increase its profit.

Mawson Global Wraps Up Results for Logistics Company

Shrink-wrap. It can be used to bundle products, swaddle buildings, stabilize rooftops after a hurricane, or even cleaning up asbestos. However, for Kerry Logistics, one of the largest logistics companies in the world, shrink-wrap was a big factor in the company’s ability to win new business and increase its bottom line.

In April 2012, Kerry Logistics approached Mawson Global to help with the critical challenge of lowering its shrink-wrap costs. Doing so would allow the company to successfully compete for a large contract involving the unpacking of containers and wrapping them for delivery. However, the need for a solution was urgent, and a new supplier had to be located within a month in order for Kerry Logistics to bid on the contract.

As a leader in global market knowledge, Mawson Global was able to identify numerous suppliers in China’s Guangdong, Shandong, and Jiangsu Provinces that provide quality, low-cost machines and hand shrink-wrap. By implementing its highly effective ratings system to analyse more than 30 candidates, Mawson quickly confirmed several viable suppliers for Kerry Logistics, along with a handful of alternatives. Each of the potential suppliers demonstrated high levels of efficiency, reliability, and quality. They also all offered considerable savings on shrink-wrap.

The results of the supplier search were presented to Kerry Logistics in an informative and dynamic report just three short weeks after the company approached Mawson Global. The findings allowed Kerry Logistics to not only contract with a new, more cost-effective supplier, but also substantially boost its yearly profit to the tune of $96,642.

“Mawson Global sourced a new shrink-wrap supplier for us in Asia and, in the process, saved us a lot of time and money,” says Ian Trimboli, executive director (Australia) for Kerry Logistics. “Thanks to Mawson Global, our supply is now secure which helps ensure long-term business success.”

Kerry Logistics was so thrilled with the results achieved in the shrink-wrap sourcing that the company is expanding its relationship with Mawson Global. The company is now researching handling equipment, robotic warehousing systems, and mobile PCs for forklifts on Kerry Logistics’ behalf. 

What Does China's New Leadership Mean for Your Business?

With the successful transition to new leadership in November, mid-size global companies trading with China have been carefully assessing what the new leadership means for them. The simple answer is, in the short-term, there will be little impact because the new leaders want policy continuity and stability. In the long run, companies buying from and selling to China may need to find partners that focus on innovation, efficiency, and productivity improvement in the face of a changing macro environment.

The new state president of China, Xi Jinping, has lived through personal hardships and governed from the grassroots at every level of the Chinese government.  He is a down-to-earth, pro-business, and pro-market person who favors innovations and new ideas. He is known to connect well with Chinese society at large. He is also expected not to change policies radically, but to experiment with changes at the grassroots level first.

To maintain continuity and stability, the new Chinese government will follow a similar pro-growth strategy while tackling the problem of rising income inequality. In the past 12 years, labor costs in China have risen 10 to 20% a year. While exact productivity numbers are hard to determine, China has experienced a considerable productivity growth due to urbanization and an inflow of foreign investment and technology. Traditionally, Chinese workers have been flexible in adapting to the rapidly changing environment. With the new leadership’s emphasis on innovation and technology, productivity gains should continue to offset wage increases, just as in the past.

The implication for mid-size businesses is that they must partner with companies that focus on improving productivity. According to a recent Ernst & Young survey, to offset the slowdown in profitability due to slowing global growth and rising costs, companies need to pursue productivity as a strategic goal. This means that while understanding the national policy direction is important, finding a business partner that focuses on improving efficiency is even more crucial. 

China’s determination to fight corruption, reduce bureaucracy, and extravagance should benefit Western companies, especially those in countries which uphold stricter business standards. State President Xi had been a governor in three dynamic regions in China. This may point towards more government support for smaller businesses, allowing mid-size foreign companies to locate better partners in China.

As China seeks to re-balance growth away from investment to domestic consumption, some slowdown in growth is inevitable. Mid-size businesses trading with China are well advised to seek business partners who will focus on increasing productivity to offset the expected growth slowdown and rising operating costs.

Mawson Global has on the ground experience in supply partner selection which will allow you to concentrate on making productivity gains in your own business.