My friend and fellow CSIC contributor Neale O’Connor is a Visiting Associate Professor at the National University of Singapore. As part of a research project, he had his students contact almost 50 suppliers in China to get quotes on USB drives.

You can find the data below. Here are my suggested takeaways from the research. While the pricing points may be of interest if you are a buyer of USB’s, for me the most interesting aspect is the way in which the quotes were received from the suppliers.

Keep in mind that the students asked all the suppliers to quote on the same specs and counter sample. Yet you can clearly see below that no two quotes share the same format. Every price is different, just as every quote format is different. Currencies, MOQ, Specs are jumbled together in way that makes it impossible for a buyer to conduct an apples to apples comparison of the supplier simply by price.

Lead times, MOQ, Specification (quality level) all impact the price. Picking the lowest price offer is most likely not the best option from the 45 choices below.

Since China doesn’t have a standard format for the factory quotes, how to plan an effective RFQ in China (request for quotation)?

Here is a behind the scenes look at how companies like PassageMaker conduct the research to find factory direct sources for our clients. The single most important factor in determining the success or failure of your sourcing program will be finding the right supplier. It sounds obvious, but making apples-to-apples comparisons of vendors at a national level can be daunting. Just look at how messy the data is from the USB suppliers below.

Phase One “Defining”

The “right supplier” is unique to each buyer. Force yourself to list all the desired attributes of the product and factory and rank them. Beyond the holy trinity of price/quality/lead-time also think of attributes like location (do they need to be near a certain port or in area where you have other vendors), Capacity, Service Attitude, Language, Intellectual Property, Warranty Terms, Factory Ownership, Equipment, Export Experience and so on.

Phase Two “Initial Research”

Initial research generates a list of 50-100 potential Chinese suppliers using existing vendors in the AVL (approved vendor list) and web directories and industry/trade show directories.

Assume the vendor is a middleman until proven otherwise, not the other way around.

Avoid factories that refuse to list the name or location of the production facility- they probably don’t own the PRC factory and are a middleman of some sort.

Focus on those factories that can clearly show production experience with your particular product or production method.

Be aware that polished English skills do not reflect production skills. Often the most polished websites are set up by trading companies.

Review the 50-100 candidates’ websites and brochures against client’s desired attribute list. But hold off on asking for price or even contacting the potential suppliers until step 3. If you start asking about price too early you will subconsciously gravitate to the vendors with the lowest price. That may or may not be the best overall option. Narrow the field down to 15 to 20 candidates based on non-price attributes.

Phase Three “First Contact”

At this point, “first contact” is initiated with 15-20 vendors in the following 5-step process.

Step one: Send an e-mail to ask for a quote. That sounds easy enough, but if you don’t follow some simple tips, you will most likely get a mess like the students got when researching the USB prices below.

Time Saving Tips:

a) Give the supplier your RFQ form to fill in which specifies the attributes you care about. That way all the suppliers are filling out the same form with the same fields. This will make it a lot easier for you to compare options.

b) For reference, also ask them to offer a quote in the standard format they use. If they don’t have a formal quote sheet, run away. That’s a red flag that they are not professional.

c) Be as specific as possible in the product description. Ask the supplier to quote to your spec. If they quote off-spec, ask them to explain in detail where their quote differs from your specs.

Step two: Are samples available? If they don’t have samples readily available, they probably don’t deal in your product on a regular basis.

Step three: Granted the sales team will be the most polished in terms of English skills, but how is their understanding of your basic requests? If you ask for information on a red umbrella and get sent a sample of a blue shoe, you are going to have problems with communication down the road!

Step four: Don’t be seduced by the siren’s song of low price. The lowest unit price can be the most expensive supplier after you factor in the cost of defects, missed deliveries and operations headaches!

Step five: Confirm the actual production location and ask for ownership papers of the factory. Be explicit that the production location may be audited and that this location cannot be changed w/out approval of buyer. (You would be surprised at the number of middlemen who will take the buyer on a visit of a factory only to change the location to a less expensive and poorer quality option after the buyer leaves)

The above research should narrow the field down to about 5 highly qualified candidates. As that point you can, with confidence, move to the final steps of negotiation, due diligence/auditing and sampling.

Related Content and Reference Material

Data from Prof. O’Connor’s research on USB pricing is listed below.

How do we choose a good manufacturer in China?

Video 1: Finding Suppliers

Video 2: Evaluating Suppliers

Video 3: Negotiations

Video 4: Project Management and Quality Control

Video 8: Avoiding Scams