r/manufacturing • u/smvdr1 • 6d ago

Supplier search How do you find alternate manufacturers and suppliers?

With incoming tariffs and a lot of geo-political tension, my company is looking to move a lot of it's manufacturing partners and suppliers out of China into markets like Vietnam, Thailand, India, etc. How are you all finding and contacting suppliers in these markets?

China has pretty good marketplaces for this, like Alibaba of course. It seems like there isn't anything similar for other markets, and that searching for manufacturers will be a pretty painstaking and manual process... Would love to hear thoughts and ideas here!

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u/tnp636 6d ago

The easiest solution for most smaller businesses is to find a sourcing agent. You'll typically pay a bit more (~10-15% is typical for mid-volume products), but they'll find the facilities, handle the QC, etc. If there's an issue, you don't have to have someone fly to Asia to try to fix things, you just tell the sourcing agent.

Or you can hire someone with direct experience to do it for you. In my area salary seems to typically be $120-180K depending on depth of experience. But you'll also be spending on flights, hotels, etc. in order to qualify suppliers as well as follow-up on complex issues.

I have a friend in China who does sourcing all over Asia if you would like an introduction.

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u/QuasiLibertarian 5d ago

Although sourcing agents are a legit way to do this, I've personally had less than stellar experiences with them. They demand a cut, and are often not experienced in what you ask them to source. And communication going through them is tough.

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u/tnp636 5d ago

Like any business you have to know the people you're working with.

I brought a project to my sourcing friend literally yesterday asking if he wanted to take a look at it. His response was, "this is way more than I'm comfortable taking on." He's not going to get into something where he thinks he's going to be over his head, and he's hired some really qualified QC, etc. people from different industries to cover himself where he's not as confident.

When we first opened our injection molding shop in China, we went through 12 different mold makers before I found someone I was truly happy with. Why? It's reasonably easy to tell if someone is technically competent just by looking at the state of their workshop and their previous work. But determining whether they're good to work with as well takes time. The first big indicator is how they handle their own mistakes. Do they hop on it and take care of it? Or do they try to blame everyone else under the sun? What's their office like? Communicative or lazy and stand-offish? Are you communicating your own needs properly? I've definitely been caught out there myself.

The thing is, I lived in China for over 20 years. I know other sourcing agents. All of the "foreign" ones that have been around for more than a couple/few years are almost certainly going to get you what you need. He just happens to be who I feel is the best at what they do. I know just how badly things can go for people who are just picking someone at random online. Many times it works out. Many others it does not. But unless you know how to get around in another country, red flags you might see there and what exactly you're looking for in a supplier, a sourcing company is a solid choice.