Entering New Territory: Facilitating a Successful Diversification to India
The Client
The client is a custom hardware supplier serving manufacturing, industrial, construction, and fleet organizations in the US since 1979. They wanted to diversify their supply chain and had planned a trip to India to secure new contracts.
The Problem
The client had sourced materials and parts from Taiwan and China but wanted to diversify their supply chain to India. SourcX had previously submitted a quote, but at the time, the customer was not ready to commit or make the switch. A year on, the client had independently scheduled a trip to India, directly contacted manufacturers, set up meetings and were ready to engage.
They had never been to or sourced from the region and needed help to ensure their trip would be productive. Ideally, they needed to partner with someone with engineering experience and local contacts so their investment would be worthwhile. Unexpectedly, they asked us to help them with every aspect of the trip without guaranteeing SourcX their business at the end of it all.
The Solution
SourcX facilitated the client’s trip and ensured their time was well-spent.
• Helped with visa application.
• Provided letter of guarantee to secure a business visa.
• Planned local transport for inter-city travel and some sightseeing during days off.
• Provided a quality engineer to attend supplier meetings and act as a liaison.
Success
SourcX ensured the client’s trip went smoothly and that he visited all the suppliers on his list. Additionally, we were able to demonstrate our range of services, including:
• Introduced the client to a network of high-quality suppliers that were not on the client’s list.
• Demonstrated we could purchase and consolidate in our facility to reduce indirect costs, as we do for other customers.
• Provided technical on-ground support for development and quality audits during his visit.
• Offered better payment terms than the individual suppliers.
In the end, the client chose SourcX as their sourcing partner. We provided the level of service they were seeking, reduced overall cost, and mitigated the risks usually involved with sourcing smaller quantities through multiple suppliers and working with them directly.
As a result, SourcX achieved overall cost savings for the client and provided a conduit for them to source from India—without the headache of sourcing from India.