Situation
China Outsourcing needed to set up a supply chain for the customer covering 26 complex components, using multiple processes, within the customer’s budget.
Objective – Difficulties
In this very competitive market sector, manufacturing high-quality products whilst keeping supply costs down is essential for our customers. China Outsourcing was approached when our customer had been let down on two new projects. On one project the Indian supplier simply could not meet the quality required or maintain his original quoted prices. On the other project, the chosen Chinese supplier no longer wanted to supply.
Scoping
Low-cost component supply already underpinned our customer’s pricing model so in order to solve their problem China Outsourcing needed to set up a supply chain for them whilst maintaining previously quoted costs. Processes required for the production of these components included metal forming, rubberization, pressure die casting, stamping, forging, and machining, and therefore multiple suppliers were needed to fulfill the requirement. By developing a very close working relationship between the engineers at China Outsourcing, the customer engineering and quality team, and the suppliers we were able to resolve all technical issues and get all parts through sample approval and into production with first production batches being delivered within 6 months of initial engagement
Solution
Fixed prices were agreed with the suppliers at the outset and China Outsourcing alleviated the financial risk for our customer by providing 30 days EOM payment terms and putting in place currency risk mitigation procedures to ensure that our prices to our customer would not be affected by exchange rate fluctuations.
Outcome
China Outsourcing delivered 26 parts on time, to the required quality, and within the budget to ensure both of the customer’s new projects were a success. We continue to supply our customers on both of these projects and have assisted them in bringing new products to market. The relationship between ourselves and the customer is extremely strong, particularly between the technical teams.