Placing orders with Chinese suppliers

Based on real events: “DIY Mini-Desktop”

After the publication of my previous article, I received many questions about how best to approach the Asian manufacturer, in order to realize a production sample or order a consignment of goods in Asia for real money. In fact, depending on your needs, the implementation of your project is possible in Vietnam, Taiwan, Myanmar (yes, and there too), Cambodia, Malaysia, India and (possibly) in Thailand. Each of these countries has its pros and cons depending on the product range ordered.

It seems to me that this article will be of interest to developers who want to order single product samples, and those who would like to start mass production of their goods. Also, on the site, which will be discussed later, you can order the finished products of Asian suppliers without intermediaries.

The most important. Or without what further actions will be complete nonsense.

1. You need to understand that Asian manufacturers are primarily a technical tool for the implementation of your project. I would not recommend trusting them with the refinement of your project, or the resolution of some controversial issues. That is: “We have not yet thought through (have not finalized) our drawings, taking into account the K-factor in the coordinate bending of the sheet metal. Please modify our drawings to get the specified final dimensions of the product. ” This task in most cases will not work. More precisely, the order, of course, will be accepted and made, but the final product will most likely disappoint you. In Asia, there is a clear division into services and production processes. If you are not sure that you are sending into production, you need to make the necessary improvements (pull up tails) here in your homeland, turning to people who know the question. I do not want to say that at every step they will try to deceive you. On the contrary. In every way they can, they will help you and guide your project in the right direction. But they will not finish your work for you.
2. Knowledge of language. To search, communication (which will be VERY MUCH) with the performer you need to know English well. To conclude a contract, for example, with a Chinese supplier, you need to hire an interpreter, because according to their legislation, international contracts are made in two languages, but only the contract in Chinese is legal. You understand that in the case of a contract for mass production, it is necessary to clearly describe all the subtleties ranging from tolerances and allowances during production and quality control, and ending with the terms and conditions of delivery of the batch to the aggregator, which will ship the goods to their homeland.

Since I ordered samples of the case for the Mini-Computer and the power supply for it, then it will be a question of metalworking and electronic equipment.
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By the way, before starting placing an order I studied the subject in detail.
1. The program of modeling parts and their assembly, as well as visualization - Solidworks
2. Simulation of air flow - in Solidworks
3. Heat conductivity of materials.
4. Nomenclature and principles of operation of milling machines with CNC (all types), laser cutting machines for metal, engraving equipment.
5. Technology of stamping and casting under pressure, as well as features of the production of casting molds.
6. Finishing parts. Grinding, sand blasting, color anodizing.
7. Principles of high-frequency power supplies. Circuitry. Software. Leads, inductance, grounding, element base.
All this made it possible to optimize the task, to provide the correct model ready for further production. And even all this knowledge was not enough for the successful implementation of the project. Studied along the way. By the way, knowing the subject matter, it is quite simple to point out to the supplier the flaws in his work. And they will.

Having searched the Internet for information about the best platform for working with Asian suppliers, I found the site www.alibaba.com . This platform is designed for the work of the customer and supplier directly without intermediaries. Here you can find everything. Starting from finished goods and services, ending with services for the production of samples of a new product. You can determine the region of location of the contractor you are interested in, you can contact directly the supplier you liked, or you can announce a tender for the production of your product.

We register on the site as a customer

Theoretically, it does not matter how you sign up - as a company representative, or as an individual. Another thing is that if you declare a tender with an order amount of 15.000.000r, and your registration data says that you are Ivanov I.I. without any form of ownership and even without representation on the Internet, then the attitude of the participants towards you tender will be appropriate. And vice versa, if you are just Ivanov I.I. and want to get a sample of the production cost around 15.000 rubles, then this is quite a normal practice, which will not cause any suspicion. Such requests create and successfully pay a huge number of people from all over the world. This is normal. The main thing is not to try to fool anyone. Honesty from the very beginning is the key to success in any business.
After registration, you can start exploring the range of products presented and, based on already existing products, form the cost of production of your product (if you do not know it). In our case, we are talking about aluminum metalworking, as well as the development of circuit design and production of a sample power supply.

From a personal account we place a tender for production (Post Buying Request)

Metalworking is simple here. A huge number of manufacturers who are ready to provide their services. After placing a tender for the production of the hull, in the first week I received about 100 bids. At this stage, it is enough to send several images of your product visualization with the description of the main parameters in the .PDF format. After reading all these letters, I immediately dismissed 2/3 of the offers as spam with completely unjustified prices and often not reflecting the essence of the subject. In the remaining sentences you need to understand. To study the sites of companies, their equipment, the range of goods produced. At this stage, pay attention to the price range is not worth it. As the practice of fixed prices in Asia showed, there wasn’t and wasn’t. If you know your subject well and competently conducted an analytics, then the price can be dropped at times. Asia…

Your first response letter should contain a request for the availability of one or another equipment at work, general technical conditions of production, requirements for files, production time, payment options (70/30 for example), availability of similar products previously produced, possibility of inspection of the factory in further (this is a very important feature. they love it). It is quite normal to request images of similar products, finishing options, etc. Subsequently, you will understand how seriously the manufacturer reacted to your tender (whether a manager was selected to deal with your order, or was it just a sample mailing). Secondly, you will show that there is no need to hurry and you need to correctly determine the supplier, relying on a long-term relationship.

Over time, you can choose from the remaining sentences the one that suits you best. At this stage, it is already possible to send detailed drawings and accompanying documentation, wait for an answer and proceed to price collusion. You need to be prepared that the first proposals will certainly be overpriced. It all depends on your budget and knowledge of the right price. We are bargaining, but not as in a market, but giving our well-founded arguments. You can provide already debugged and approved budget, for example. Here it should be noted that the practice of paying 70/30 is considered normal. Usually payment is accepted via Paypal, Western Union, bank transfer. 70% of the amount at the beginning of production and 30% after receiving clear and distinct photographs of the final product. Of course, the most optimal option is to visit the factory at the time of the start of production and see for yourself the necessary workmanship. It is very entertaining and informative, by the way.

With the electrician, as it turned out, everything is much more complicated. In my case, it was necessary to develop a power supply unit for the given parameters and drawings of the future PCB. Power supply manufacturers are not engaged in such developments. Those rare companies that were ready to take it up were billed far beyond my development budget. Yes, it is for the better, because such developments require closer communication with the performer and preferably in their native language.

As a result, my choice fell on the site www.freelancer.com
It has millions of freelancers from all over the world on almost all activities.

Register, announce the tender

In my case, from all the offers, I chose a freelancer from Ukraine. Although at that time I was in Bangkok, but I wanted to communicate in Russian and thereby learn as much as possible about the subject of the order. And I was not mistaken - there were quite a few subtleties!
In my terms of reference were given all the necessary parameters of the product with a clear location of the main parts, radiators, drawing a future PCB. I also indicated the need to assemble 2 ready-made samples.
You can pay for the order in parts. The 70/30 scheme is also quite suitable here. Payment methods - Paypal, credit cards.

It seems to me that this material is quite enough to successfully begin the search for your supplier.
They ask me a lot about the contacts of the supplier I worked with. I'm not giving it. And not because I'm so greedy, but because each task has its own peculiarities. And trust me, you can find a supplier better, geographically closer, cheaper, according to the task you set.

Update:
If you don’t have enough knowledge of a program (Solidworks, for example), I recommend using video lessons from Lynda.com
I think this resource contains the best of the best teachers in almost all areas of software products. Everything is clearly, competently, compact. Personally, I mastered Solidworks for a week. I also used their lessons in studying several programs for post-production and video editing.

And I would also like to add that electronic trading platforms are intended primarily for people with certain knowledge and specific goals. If you are not completely sure that you are right, then it is better not to distract people from work. They have it, and so abound. As it was said in one cool cartoon: “It’s better to lose a day, but in an hour to fly”