Searching for suppliers in China is a challenging task, and extensive due diligence is necessary to ensure that you find a capable and trustworthy manufacturer for your medical products. Many medical companies have been unsuccessful with their initial ventures into China sourcing and have found it challenging to increase their production units because of the limited availability of qualified suppliers. However, investing the time and effort to find a reliable supplier from the beginning will minimize the likelihood of troublesome quality issues and other problems down the road.
To start off the supplier search process, you can look into potential suppliers online and evaluate their company website or their profile page on Alibaba.com—a Chinese e-commerce company that directly connects manufacturers in China to buyers all over the world. A reputable manufacturer’s Alibaba profile should include abundant details about the company, such as the number of employees in each department, the company’s production capacity, trade capacity, quality management process, photos of the facilities and equipment, and more. From this information, you can form a general impression of each company and come up with a list of manufacturers that look promising. You should then contact these companies to ask for more information about their products as well as scans of their certifications, licenses, and other relevant documents.
No matter how carefully you carry out these initial steps, there is always the possibility that some Chinese companies will provide fraudulent information online or over the phone. Therefore, it is crucial to have a representative on the ground in China to visit the manufacturing sites and verify the Chinese supplier’s claims in person. An extensive assessment must be conducted, which includes gathering detailed information regarding the company’s employees, manufacturing equipment and facilities, warehouse, products, export markets, annual revenue, regulatory certifications, and past experience with exporting to international customers. The results of this assessment should determine whether the supplier is the most suitable for your particular medical product. In addition, you should pay attention to whether the company’s staff can speak English and are properly trained professionals.
Changing suppliers later on due to problems that arise, as opposed to completing a thorough assessment from the start, can easily cause issues that consequently disrupt production. Therefore, even if the number of units being sourced from a certain supplier is relatively low in volume, it is still imperative to conduct an on-site evaluation of each and every manufacturer. In addition, another characteristic that distinguishes successful medical companies from others is the experience level of their on-the-ground staff in China. Qualifying and developing suppliers while integrating them into the product development process requires specific skills and experience, both from a cultural and technical perspective.
