Importing from China – Preparing China Factory Visits – Part One

Recently updated on October 8th, 2017 at 06:53 pm

If you are a frequent importer from China or you are thinking about importing from China, there are many reasons accounting why you should visit Chinese factories and the following four are the most likely ones.

1. Evaluation

Visiting new factories gives you chance to gather information for detailed evaluation on factories you had contacted via Guangzhou trade fairs or some online platforms like alibaba, globalsource, etc.

Of course, it is vital to spend time in person evaluating whether the factory can comply with your manufacturing requirements.

2. Discussing about Orders

If you want to discuss the details about placing order and the manufacturing process, then you would most likely to visit the factory. A wise importer would place a small trial order before placing large order. They would never give large order to a factory they never evaluate before or have 3^rd party fully evaluated it. It is better to place a small trial order after evaluation to see whether things go on the right track.

3. Quality or Delivery Time Problem

If there is quality problem or problem concerning delivery time and you want to know what cause it, then paying a visit to the factory would help you know better about it. Going to the factory in person can help you know whether the problems can be solved before it costs a lot of profit or time.

Usually the explanations given by the sales representatives of the factory is not the full story, you might have to dig deeper into it and get these problems solved in a short time. Bringing an experienced Guangzhou interpreter with you is a great option as you might want to talk to the technicians in the factory. Usually they are with related background and might know the best way to solve the problems if everything is addressed clearly.

4. Negotiation for the New Large Order

If you are going to place new large orders, usually there is more room for bargaining as factories like large orders for the following reasons. First, they can enjoy bulk prices when buying raw materials and components. Second, it is much easier in production as a long production run means less changes in production line. Also, tooling costs can be spread over the larger quantities.

Usually, it is very hard to negotiate prices and terms for small order quantity because of increasing costs for raw materials and components. However, for large quantity order, it is a better opportunity going to the factory and negotiate better terms and pricing.