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My 4 year old daughters’ introduction to outsourced manufacturing and project management in China

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A few months ago I was doing a video blog about the service my company offers our clients. Nobody really watches that stuff, but I had to get it on the website for marketing purposes. As I  was getting the camera set up, my daughter burst into my recording study and told me she wanted to do the introduction.  Glad I accepted, as it has been our most popular video to date.

She does a short 5 second intro then hands the mic back over to me.  Here are highlights from the transcript of the video.

 

How can PassageMaker help clients who wish to do business with China?

Simply put, PassageMaker is US owned & operated, China-based. We set up virtual workshops & virtual purchasing offices for clients who don’t want the headaches and financial obligations of setting up their own factories and offices in China. So PassageMaker recruits, hires, trains AND most importantly, manages local manpower to work on the client’s project.  We literally build “your factory inside our factory” and “your office inside our office

 

What are the options for managing a team in China?

Doing business in China requires a presence there.  It doesn’t matter if you are buying, selling or manufacturing, at some point you will need boots on the ground, people you can trust, to look after your interests. Traditionally, there were three options:

  1. Fly your team in from back home

But this is a temporary fix and expensive when you consider costs of travel, time away from office, not to mention the wage differences between staff in your home country and China.

  1. Hire an agent

But agents, both Chinese and Foreign agents, are not known for their loyalty or professionalism. For example, you may be paying an agent a commission but behind the scenes they are getting a kick back from the China side too. Agents may not always have your best interests in mind.

  1. Set up your own office or factory in China

But this requires a large investment in time and capital. Plus it comes with a whole new set of headaches-  hire/fire issues, labor laws,  licensing, government relations, local taxation and even  exposure to social compliance and corruption issues.

PassageMaker has created a 4th option, that costs less than the other options, and delivers better results.

Our catch phrase is “outsource your infrastructure, manpower & management to PassageMaker”, but what does this really mean?

PassageMaker recruits, hires, trains AND manages local manpower to work in our offices and factories on behalf of the client.

 

Let’s talk office and factory infrastructure in China

You are probably familiar with virtual offices and virtual assistants.  But PassageMaker’s infrastructure is more than just physical space, a desk and access to internet.

When we talk “infrastructure” we mean PassageMaker’s operation manual, templates and S.O.Ps for getting things done in China.

So much more than just space- infrastructure means import/export licensing, VAT rebate facilitation, and 20 years of China experience put to work managing your China project.

 

Want white collar workers to find and manage suppliers or even sell your goods in China?

We got you covered.  At today’s exchange rate, professional staff can be hired in PassageMaker’s Shenzhen office with a base salary starting at just over 430 USD per month.

 

Need a blue collar team to physically manufacture, assemble, inspect or package your product? 

We got you covered. The minimum wage or base salary at PassageMaker’s workshop is around 2 USD per hour at today’s exchange rate.

 

What’s does it cost to engage PassageMaker and how would this cooperation work?

You cover the direct project expenses of the goods purchased, shipping and the payroll of your dedicated team.

We simply add a small commission on the value of the items bought and sold on your behalf in China. The bigger the project, the smaller the commission.

 

How to get started?

Download the rate sheet from our website, then fill out a simple questionnaire about your project and our website will generate a formal quotation and service proposal.   We’ll give you some time to review, then we can set up a call to answer any questions you may have.

 

 

She does a short 5 second intro then hands the mic back over to me.  Here are highlights from the transcript of the video.

 

How can PassageMaker help clients who wish to do business with China?

Simply put, PassageMaker is US owned & operated, China-based. We set up virtual workshops & virtual purchasing offices for clients who don’t want the headaches and financial obligations of setting up their own factories and offices in China. So PassageMaker recruits, hires, trains AND most importantly, manages local manpower to work on the client’s project.  We literally build “your factory inside our factory” and “your office inside our office

 

What are the options for managing a team in China?

Doing business in China requires a presence there.  It doesn’t matter if you are buying, selling or manufacturing, at some point you will need boots on the ground, people you can trust, to look after your interests. Traditionally, there were three options:

  1. Fly your team in from back home

But this is a temporary fix and expensive when you consider costs of travel, time away from office, not to mention the wage differences between staff in your home country and China.

  1. Hire an agent

But agents, both Chinese and Foreign agents, are not known for their loyalty or professionalism. For example, you may be paying an agent a commission but behind the scenes they are getting a kick back from the China side too. Agents may not always have your best interests in mind.

  1. Set up your own office or factory in China

But this requires a large investment in time and capital. Plus it comes with a whole new set of headaches-  hire/fire issues, labor laws,  licensing, government relations, local taxation and even  exposure to social compliance and corruption issues.

PassageMaker has created a 4th option, that costs less than the other options, and delivers better results.

Our catch phrase is “outsource your infrastructure, manpower & management to PassageMaker”, but what does this really mean?

PassageMaker recruits, hires, trains AND manages local manpower to work in our offices and factories on behalf of the client.

 

Let’s talk office and factory infrastructure in China

You are probably familiar with virtual offices and virtual assistants.  But PassageMaker’s infrastructure is more than just physical space, a desk and access to internet.

When we talk “infrastructure” we mean PassageMaker’s operation manual, templates and S.O.Ps for getting things done in China.

So much more than just space- infrastructure means import/export licensing, VAT rebate facilitation, and 20 years of China experience put to work managing your China project.

 

Want white collar workers to find and manage suppliers or even sell your goods in China?

We got you covered.  At today’s exchange rate, professional staff can be hired in PassageMaker’s Shenzhen office with a base salary starting at just over 430 USD per month.

 

Need a blue collar team to physically manufacture, assemble, inspect or package your product? 

We got you covered. The minimum wage or base salary at PassageMaker’s workshop is around 2 USD per hour at today’s exchange rate.

 

What’s does it cost to engage PassageMaker and how would this cooperation work?

You cover the direct project expenses of the goods purchased, shipping and the payroll of your dedicated team.

We simply add a small commission on the value of the items bought and sold on your behalf in China. The bigger the project, the smaller the commission.

 

How to get started?

Download the rate sheet from our website, then fill out a simple questionnaire about your project and our website will generate a formal quotation and service proposal.   We’ll give you some time to review, then we can set up a call to answer any questions you may have.

 

Notes on account management, MOQ and scalability

Once the service agreement is in place and initial payment received, the project official starts and an Account Manager will be assigned to your project.  Our Account management team includes bi-lingual Europeans and Americans based in China. They will serve as your primary point of contact and they take responsibility for ensuring the China-based team is meeting the project goals set by the client.

Rather than wait for the recruitment of new staff to be completed, in many cases, existing PassageMaker staff can be assigned to the new project on a temporary basis to help quickly launch and ramp up these new projects.

It’s also important to note that our service is very scalable. If at some point in the future, your wish to actually own your own office or factory in China, know that the virtual office/factory team can be transferred over to this new entity.

Our largest project to date had 56 dedicated staffers and our smallest has 1.  Some of our largest projects today, were small a few years ago. So, we have no minimum order sizes and as long as your project is stable enough to engage at least 1 full time person in our office or workshop, we are very open to cooperation.

Thanks again for your interest in PassageMaker, we look forward to being of service!

Blue Cactus Wisdom; or why the “Slow Food Movement” rocks.

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The Blue Cactus Cafe in Columbia, SC is the most unique place I’ve eaten. It appears a very plain diner, but inside wonders are kept. The menu is half Tex-Mex and half Korean. Dad’s American and Mom’s from Korea and the food is all home made every day, including the Korean hot bean paste and kimchee. If you’ve never had Korean food, you simply don’t know what you’re missing.

But what sets the Blue Cactus apart from other good Korean restaurants is their dedication to “slow food”. They will not be rushed. Good food takes time. The kitchen is small, as is the whole restaurant, and if you’re in a hurry, they suggest you go elsewhere. Lunch takes at least an hour, and complaining will get you nothing positive. As the Daughter once said to me, when she thought I was complaining (I wasn’t, I swear), “don’t mess with the people who can put their fingers in your food”.

While this may turn some folks off, they are the distinct minority. Business is always brisk, and the walls are covered with postcards from around the world, sent by dedicated fans. Whenever I am in the area I stop by for take out, and I live in Salem, VA. That’s 4 hours 15 minutes worth of take out. I have three identical coolers, all bought from the same Kmart in Columbia on three separate trips over the course of two years that just happen to perfectly hold four orders of my wife’s favorite dish, Bee Bim Bop. It is that good.

PassageMaker often gets inquiries from clients wanting “rush” the development of their product. This is always a bad idea. There are some things you just shouldn’t rush. When you try to push a project along too fast, corners get cut and often the product is compromised. We are always conservative when estimating lead-times, because we believe firmly in under-promising and over-delivering.

These rush jobs also are part of the reason for China’s reputation for shoddy products. It takes 12-16 weeks to get an injection mold built in the USA. A typical tooling lead-time in China is 4-6 weeks. Part of that is technology, man-power, work hours, etc. But part of it is making tools that may not be perfect the first time, that will likely require some tweaking, and that may not run as many parts as the USA tools before needing serious maintenance or replacement. This doesn’t mean they are bad tools – given that they usually cost about 1/5 of the American cost, it’s a good trade, especially in a world where products rarely have long life-cycles. While the tool may need tweaking, the total development time is still usually less than USA for a fraction of the cost.

However, under duress I’ve seen a tool take as little as 2 weeks in China. While they are sometimes successful in making a good tool in that time frame, it is not something you can bet on, and it can often lead to disaster. Best to wait the 4-6 weeks.

In short, people often come to us with unreasonable expectations. And while it is tempting to always say what the client wants to hear, I have to remember my friends at The Blue Cactus and be up front – lunch is going to take an hour, but it is worth the wait.