Xiamen Unitex Trade Co., Ltd. is a professional underwear sourcing & supply-chain management company based in Xiamen, Fujian Province, in the Xiamen–Quanzhou–Jinjiang knitwear cluster of south-east China. Founded by Will Lin, who has worked in the apparel trade since 2004, the company has been exporting since 2009 and was incorporated in Xiamen in 2013. It runs its own liaison office in Jinjiang and works with a network of BSCI & OEKO-TEX Standard 100 certified partner factories to serve retailers and brands across Europe, the US and Australia.
Continuously obtaining high-quality, low-price, timely-delivered products and services that exceed expectations is the eternal goal of procurement work. To achieve this goal, we must have excellent and loyal underwear suppliers. The so-called excellence means that the underwear supplier has the ability to provide us with high-quality, low-price, timely delivery of products and services beyond expectations; the so-called loyalty means that the underwear supplier always regards us as the first customer and always takes our needs as the direction of our continuous improvement, we will unswervingly support us even when we encounter difficulties.
However, in some enterprises, the reality is that good suppliers are usually not loyal enough, and loyal suppliers are usually not good enough, so continuous development and replacement of suppliers has become a helpless choice for these enterprises. The result: frequent fluctuations in quality, price, and delivery, intermittent service, high-quality, low-price, on-time delivery, and service that exceeds expectations despite the busyness of related departments. It’s always out of reach.
Why is this so? I think one of the fundamental reasons may be that these companies always want to find excellent and loyal suppliers directly for their own use, but they don’t realize that it is necessary to have excellent and loyal suppliers when the attractiveness of the company is not strong enough. Cultivation is more important than finding.
So, how to cultivate excellent and loyal suppliers?
First of all, we must correctly understand the basic role of suppliers in the process of product realization, establish the idea of relying on suppliers and service suppliers, treat suppliers well, and give suppliers confidence:
1. Treat suppliers equally
In the buyer’s market environment, in the business relationship, the demand side is usually in a strong position, while the supplier is usually in a relatively disadvantaged position. Therefore, some companies often use their strong position to directly or indirectly force suppliers to accept some unequal conditions. This approach may bring some benefits to the company in the short term, but it is not good for the company in the long run, because although suppliers are forced to accept these conditions, they are unwilling to accept it. Once there is a better market, they will immediately “transfer love”. As a result, it is natural that product quality, delivery time fluctuations and service quality decline, and enterprises will naturally change from “beneficiaries” to “victims”. Therefore, in order for suppliers to be loyal to us, we must treat suppliers equally.
The so-called equality treats each other, I think, is to do what you don’t want, do not do to others, treat yourself and others in everything, and compare your heart with your heart. And one of the most basic is not to force suppliers to do things they don’t want to do. For example, negotiate on the premise of equality and voluntariness, do not sign agreements with suppliers with unequal conditions, let alone force suppliers to sign similar agreements in any way; do not force or deceive suppliers to participate. We will not force or deceive suppliers to accept business that they are unable or unwilling to accept; strictly perform the obligations stipulated in the agreement, and do not refuse to perform for any reason or perform in a discounted manner.
2. Actively safeguard the interests of suppliers
Suppliers cooperate with us for profit. Suppliers won’t work with us if they can’t make a profit, and even if a relationship is established, it won’t last. Therefore, if suppliers are to be loyal and continue to provide us with satisfactory products and services, we must actively safeguard the interests of suppliers.
(1) Give suppliers a reasonable profit margin. In order to seize the market first, some suppliers usually adopt a low-price strategy. After occupying the market, they wait for an opportunity to increase the price or make a fuss about new products. If the plan is successful, they will continue to cooperate with us. Once the plan fails, they may quit soon. Therefore, in the long run, even under the premise of equal quality and service, the lowest price may not be the best choice, the key depends on the rationality of the profit margin. Different people have different opinions on the rationality of profit margins.
(2) Suppliers are not required to undertake any obligations other than those stipulated in the agreement, and they do not unilaterally increase product requirements or service requirements, reducing the supplier’s profit margin in disguise. If the product requirements or service requirements are increased due to our reasons, resulting in an increase in the supplier’s cost, the supplier should be compensated accordingly.
(3) After entering the mass production stage, the design scheme should be kept as stable as possible, and should not be changed easily unless it is absolutely necessary. If it is necessary to change, you should also actively communicate with the supplier in advance, and do a good job in the aftermath.
(4) Try to use exclusive supply. If the supplier’s supply capacity can meet our needs and there is no major fault, do not easily add new suppliers, even if there is a better price. If it is not an exclusive supply, if the supplier has no major fault, it is not easy to reduce the procurement ratio or change the procurement direction. If the supplier invests in the product development process or design change process, it must give corresponding returns from orders or other aspects.
How to choose the right underwear supplier?
1. Qualified product quality:Qualified product quality is an important prerequisite for judging a high-quality underwear supplier. For purchasing companies, no matter how low the price given by the supplier is, it is unacceptable that the products cannot meet the purchasing requirements.
2. Lower cost:The purchase cost affects the final output benefit.
3. Timely delivery: Whether the supplier can organize the supply according to the agreed delivery date and delivery conditions directly affects the continuity of production. Therefore, delivery time is also one of the factors that need to be considered when choosing a supplier.
4. Good service level: The overall service level of the supplier refers to the ability and attitude of the supplier’s internal operations to cooperate with the purchasing company.
5. A sound supply management system: When buyers evaluate whether a supplier meets the requirements, one of the important links is to see whether the supplier adopts a corresponding quality system for quality and management. For example, whether the enterprise has passed the IS09000 quality system certification, whether the internal staff have completed all the work in accordance with the quality system, and whether the quality level has reached the internationally recognized IS09000 requirements, etc.
When looking for reliable underwear suppliers, you can choose those underwear suppliers who have rich production experience, complete production process and meet international quality standards. At the same time, through measures such as sample confirmation and contract signing, suitable suppliers can also be effectively screened out. For foreign trade companies, it is also very important to establish a long-term and stable cooperative relationship.
· Xiamen Unitex Trade Co., Ltd. — OEM & ODM underwear sourcing partner