Anonymous - China/Asia Manufacturing From Behind the Curtain

International Trade Resources Podcast

Today on the International Trade Resources Podcast, our host Kim Kirkendall is with “Tom,” an anonymous guest working in Southeast Asia for a conglomerate of Taiwanese companies. He is anonymous because he is going to give us a behind the scenes look at factories overseas. “Tom” has years of experience living in Asia (he is North American) and working in the trade and supply chain space. This is a critical episode or importers!

Our topic today is the dynamic between Asian owned manufacturing and their foreign client’s management, and how that impacts the regular business transactions. “Tom” offers insight on how specifically in China, Taiwan, and Vietnam the locally owned companies interact with their foreign clients.

In this discussion we focus on the intersection of China, Taiwan and Vietnam. Vietnam in particular has seen massive growth in foreign direct investment, and not just from western investors, but companies from Mainland China have been expanding into Vietnam.

Our anonymous guest breaks down the dynamic behind the scenes of the most common interactions between domestic Asian manufacturer and foreign customer - including the lies that are told. It is a foreign customer's greatest fear - that the factory changes materials to lower cost or accepts a low price and then increases later.

What is the focus of the lies? Compliance standards, pricing, sub contracting, quality assurance, and more are all possible areas affected. Many people incorrectly assume that this process is driven by the factory, when more often than not, it’s a result of another dynamic in play. Listen in as Kim and “Tom” talk about what leads to these situations and offer advice for how to have a clear understanding of what is really happening behind the scenes.

They talk about whistleblowing, bribery, falsified documents, and more. And then we will break down the drivers behind these situations - is it greed or laziness or what?

Finally, Tom offers his advice to buyers in the west to help them read between the lines and improve the outcomes - better product, fair pricing, etc.

Things you’ll learn

• What is happening behind the scenes in Asian factories
• What are the drivers for fraud and falsification
• What can you do about improving your product outcomes
• Actionable items to improve your organizations import procedures

Episode Sponsors:

Modifi

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