If you are sourcing any industrial products from China then there is a need for as much reassurance as possible to ensure that there will be minimum defects possible and a high standard will be maintained while the manufacturing process will continue. Therefore, proper production monitoring will make sense.
Also, it is important that your sourcing cost remains low and all the product batches are timely processed and meet the exact specifications. Production monitoring is the only way that any sourcing company must adopt so that their service can significantly improve.
What do we mean by production monitoring service?
Production monitoring will be an end-to-end service that keeps track of your entire manufacturing process. It gives clients more control and transparency throughout the complete production process, ensuring that there are no unpleasant surprises.
Importers must ensure the quality of products during production in order to limit the number of cases of late shipping and quality issues.
What is the role of any sourcing company?
Whenever you deal with any Chinese supplier then it is essential that you must appoint a sourcing company that is either based in China or any nearby area, who will be familiar with the language and business culture of China.
Generally, the following are the main responsibilities of the sourcing company:
- Professional factory audit
To start with, your Chinese sourcing partner will perform the following to identify a suitable company to manufacture the required product.
- Basic auditing of general information
- Documents audit to ensure your supplier is qualified
- Auditing of factory background to ensure your supplier is a reputed company and financially sound
- Auditing the manufacturing facilities by taking photos to send you a report of their factory visit
- Human resource audit
Also, check the company management and manpower available along with their qualification, experience who is going to manufacture your products.
- Business capacity audit
Collect information about their past businesses so that you may know the background of your manufacturing company.
- Production capacity audit
Check their current production capacity, machinery available so that you will be assured about their timely delivery.
- Quality control audit
What kind of quality testing facilities is available with your manufacturing company
- R&D capacity
Whether they have any R&D facility
- Order fulfilment
These sourcing firms must have a tested e-commerce order fulfilment procedure in place that gives them complete visibility into every purchase, from the initial sales inquiry to shipping delivery.
To remain on top of the order, they will use best practises to streamline your order fulfilment operations, manage resources effectively, and interface with the Chinese manufacturer.
They place a high value on quality as well. They must complete your order according to your instructions and deliver your entire product as agreed during the time of purchase.
- Schedule and report your order status
You will never have to worry about order processing times. These sourcing firms will look for manufacturers with a well-defined schedule based on inventories, resources, and orders. The factory should be able to supply your order in time and offer you priority based on your specifications.
The sourcing business will tell you when your order reaches critical milestones. They will use a certain streamlined workflow process for keeping you informed and will notify you if they anticipate any delays in shipping dates.
- Quality inspection
Your sourcing companies in China will also ensure the quality of your product in the following ways:
- Conducting product preparing inspection
Doing raw material inspection and production plan inspection for ensuring the factory will start production in time and under proper condition.
- Production line quality inspection
Detecting problems during the production stage so that they can be corrected within time.
- Pre-shipment quality inspection
To ensure everything that will go into the shipping container is what exactly you want.
- Shipment arrangement
Importing can be a difficult and time-consuming operation. Your shipping plan is influenced by regulations, customs taxes, transit prices, and transit times. You can look into numerous choices with your courier providers and get your order delivered anywhere and whenever you prefer.
- Shipping to Amazon
If you are an Amazon supplier, you can get your shipment forwarded straight to the Amazon warehouse right from your port of origin in the United States, the United Kingdom, or another country.
Amazon FBA offers a variety of shipping options. It is vital to have a basic awareness of customs clearance, shipping costs, and duties. The sourcing firms will pack your shipment according to Amazon’s packing guidelines and assist you in finding a reliable FBA freight forwarder.
What are the various advantages?
Production monitoring offers you a behind-the-scenes look at the supply chain at many stages of production, instead of just at a single point. It gives you a better picture of what is going on and how all your products are going to be created at different stages, which means there are fewer defects because there are more possibilities to discover problems.
Every day of the production is inspected on-site by the service, so you may rest assured that you are doing everything you can to maintain excellent standards. In addition, problems are identified early on, allowing corrective action to be performed, making everything more efficient as well as productive after that point.
By validating the production schedule and monitoring the complete manufacturing process right from receiving all materials to shipping as per your quality requirements, it reduces the danger of late shipments.
Not only does the service assure that things arrive on schedule, but it also eliminates the possibility of any reworks, renegotiations, or refunds. Production monitoring also provides technical help to improve quality control of the supplier, allowing problems to be handled while they will be still manageable.
Product development, supplier selection, production planning, pre-production, during production, and end of production, finally shipment are the seven steps of production monitoring.
Final word
Production monitoring is for you if you want more regular quality checks/feedback. This is an excellent technique to gain continual input on your production process because you do not know what resources the vendor and your Chinese factory are going to put into while producing your orders.
A good sourcing agent can help you minimise unnecessary cost and delay while also ensuring that your entire production process runs properly.