How important is the quality of a product? Every manufacturer’s answer to this question is that product quality is top on their priority list. However, the quality of parts is one of the most significant manufacturing challenges in the prototype machining industry. Quality issues can lead to problems with product returns, customer complaints, and effects on the company’s bottom line.
Why Sourcing Parts for Overseas?
There are several reasons for you to source your high-quality parts from overseas, especially in the APAC region. The APAC region is filled with several top-notch resources for prototype machining and on demand manufacturing. These resource-rich, low-cost countries minimize the capital investments you need for your business. At the same time, they maximize profits, with every other cost being equal.
The following are advantages of sourcing prototype machining parts from overseas:
Supply Chain Advantages
Numerous business organizations in this region successfully lower their key production cost. They are able to do this due to their intelligent global sourcing strategies. Sourcing from these areas requires you to pay less for raw materials, infrastructure, overheads, and many more. There is also a wide range of options for competent suppliers and first-class investors. With this, they can meet your voluminous part sourcing demands.
Lower Labor Price
APAC region offers low-cost marketplaces for which is a great way to reduce core production expenses. Skilled and unskilled labor resources are abundant. The relatively low wage rates in China make this possible. When you look at the Asian markets, wage rates are just a fraction of the first-world countries. If you’re looking to save considerably for your business, low labor costs are a significant factor.
Maturing Technology
Many times, domestic suppliers lack the investments to remain in the competitive market. The APAC region is marked by increasing technological improvements. With the rising technologies in this region, you can be sure of getting products of the highest quality.
Coupled with that is the higher production capacity that comes with the maturing technology. Companies in China and other APAC countries have the infrastructure and capacity to produce parts to the best of their capabilities.
Challenges of Sourcing Parts from Overseas and Tips for Overcoming Them
Outsourcing prototype machining parts overseas may seem daunting, but you need to remain competitive in this global economy.
Here, we will discuss the challenges of sourcing parts from overseas and tips to overcome these challenges.
Processing Time
The processing time is one of the biggest challenges that could hinder sourcing parts from overseas. This could include shipping time and the time it takes to get to you. In some cases, you may find overseas orders taking up to four or five months before it gets to you. Production time for the parts may be short, but faster shipping may incur more costs.
You must understand lead times for critical components, raw materials, and finished products. This way, you can easily anticipate costly delays and avoid them. Pre-buying packages that incorporate raw materials with long lead times can help you prevent shortages.
Shipping Considerations
There is every possibility of things going wrong between the time your shipment leaves the factory and the time it arrives at its destination. This makes shipping considerations an excellent challenge for overseas sourcing.
In this case, you have to ensure that your supplier has another plan to take care of delays, losses, or damages. Everybody involved in the process must understand the terms that govern their responsibilities. It would help if you worked with good logistics partners to offer helpful services for improved shipping.
Customs and Taxes Considerations
Moving parts across countries and continents will involve getting through different custom services and boundaries. Most, if not all, of these, may require you to pay certain amounts for shipping clearance.
It is crucial to be cautious of the different standard fees that may not be in the shipping quote. For example, there may be demurrage fees, tariffs, value-added taxes (VAT), or Cargo Ready Date (CDR) charges. So, you need to include these charges in your budget.
IP Protection
Intellectual Property Protection is another primary concern when it comes to sourcing from overseas. CNC service and other machining techniques involve your ideas and concepts. These concepts need to be protected jealously. However, this is often an issue when sourcing parts overseas. Policies such as RapidDirect’s Intellectual Property Protection policy will protect your genuine business assets. This is vital to your service and product and the overall success of your business. With IP protection, your competitiveness in import and export markets grows even more.
Quality Control
Ensuring quality can be a significant concern for companies that wish to source parts from overseas. This often depends on the partner you work with. Quality control and when it may take place can involve several different barriers and unknowns.
The good indicators for the companies you should choose are clean and well-organized spaces. You must also access top management down to the technical staff. This will ensure that you place your priorities right and take a proactive approach to quality control.
Communication and Customer Support
Working with a supplier overseas on a new project can prove to be a pretty daunting task. It is challenging to communicate with your supplier in different languages over different time zones. Some suppliers may find it difficult to ask for clarification multiple times.
One way to tackle this is by professionally translating every essential document. You can then send suppliers the original and translated copy. Following up conversations with written confirmations of agreements will also help prevent misunderstandings.
Final Thoughts
Outsourcing parts overseas is the right choice. There are several benefits when it comes to availability and cost. However, some challenges come with sourcing parts abroad. It is vital to prepare for such situations to ensure that your business takes advantage of the available resources.
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