It is an acknowledged fact that most businesses need a helping for importing material from China. This is why a procuring agent is so important. Be it an individual or a company, they act as a procuring agent of sorts. This purchasing agent, China would help you achieve a lot of things. It would almost be like having an incorruptible ally and that too on the Chinese front lines. However, remember that it’s no protected or professional title and just about anyone can use this as his or her professional name.
The need for a procuring agent
A procuring agent is an person, operating for an organization or even working in the form of a freelancer, serving companies abroad to import from China. While a procuring agent is not a necessity only for importing from China, fact remains that a first class agent can be an tremendously important asset in your overall manufactured goods procurement strategy.
Here are a few examples of how a procuring agent can prove helpful –
– To find new products and their suppliers
– Inspect upon the present suppliers
– Supervise discussions and chalk out agreements
– Carry out industrial unit inspections and quality management
– Administer shipping and logistics
Handling these Chinese suppliers can be rather time consuming. Discovering the precise one even more so and necessitates a sound and tactical approach that vigorously weeds out the bad suppliers, which constitutes the majority. It is also important to recognize those who are capable of manufacturing a particular item.
It is up to you whether or not you would like to work with a procuring agent. If you have earlier information and ”in house” skill to manage the frequently perilous and time consuming events, don’t be indecisive about saving precious money and doing things on your own.
Area of product knowledge
Importing from China can be a totally unlikely story depending on the merchandise. Some goods are very difficult, while others a rather easy to be precise. Hiring the procurement agent with the right product information is dangerous and can make the distinction between a triumphant business transaction and complete disaster.
Ask your procuring agent for buyer references in the same industry and case studies from previous orders. While it might be impossible to find procuring agents specialized in particular niche products, it’s still likely to ask for references for the buyers of a related industry in order to determine whether an agent is qualified or not.
Sourcing methods and organization
Looking for suppliers is comparatively easy. All it takes is a well organized and well implemented sourcing plan. A fine procurement agent has a clear and logical move towards product sourcing. They would put the client’s product provisions and certification requirements in the first place. This would come before any existing supplier relationships and correlated reward.
So you see, a procurement or purchasing agent is just about essential when it comes to importing stuff from China and you can’t really do without them for your own good.
