Sourcing procedure

To allow Western companies without foreign purchasing experience to operate in the Far East, the strength of a Western managerial strategic purchasing approach is combined with the Chinese experience in sourcing and exporting. All projects are coordinated in China and constantly projected on the Customer needs. Frequent reporting assures a solid process.

Our procurement services consist of the two basic activities: Sourcing and Expediting. Under the button ' a possible approach' a more detailed specification of our services are provided. While working with wtC, you can choose the services which are applicable for you: you can either choose a full service package or just concentrate on parts of this package.

1. Sourcing

Suppliers are sourced aaccording to the customer’s specification. Depending on the importance of the specific goods and the customer’s demand, one or more supplier will be selected. The final supplier selection will be made after an audit or a supplier visit, together with the customer. wtC will prepare all details of this visit. Afterwards, you report about selection-information and the audit or plant-survey. In case the supplier has no export-license, an export-office will be selected. After a trial-order the supplier can be added to your supplier database.

2. Expediting

In order to ensure a reliable delivery time, orders should be expedited. The expediting process is cut into three parts. The first part consists of an administrative check of the order receipt and the confirmation. According to specific matters in the sourcing process, checks on the availability of raw materials (or semi finished goods) and resources (machine capacity) will be made. During the production a quality check will be performed to ensure a punctual shipment. Quality checks will vary per sourced item. Finally, before shipment, a check of quality and quantity is made to ensure the payment risk. Next, the forwarding agent is contacted and the shipment is guaranteed.

Ad 1.1. Sourcing Procedure

More specific the following procedure in regard to the sourcing process could be initiated. The procedure consists of a 4 step-Import consultancy: Intake, Programming, Research and Reporting.


1.1. Intake
At first, an analysis of the company profile and determination of the sourcing project in relation to its purchasing policy will take place to put the right emphasis on the consultancy activity. The second step is to define the sourcing items. If no specific Oriental sourcing experience is available, target products can be selected upon profitability-criteria. Furthermore, special features to be taken into consideration in the supplier selection process should be defined. The intake will be done based upon a query and finalized in-company in order to get the right profile.

1.2 Programming
As a result of the intake-procedure, the next step is to determine the duration of the project. The number of target products and the required sourcing strategy will obviously influence the lead-time as well as the necessity to put trial orders. Of course, the priorities pointed out by the customer are leading.

1.3 Research
This process will be executed in compliance with a tight schedule determined in the previous step. According to the importance of the target product, as a final step in the supplier selection process, a plant survey can be scheduled, possibly before or during the production of a trial order.

1.4 Reporting
Eventually, a report will be provided in which the former process is detailed. Especially the results of the selection criteria will be pointed out as well as more specific information about the supplier and, in case of a trial order, the results of the quality-check during the production of the trial order. The report will also point out highlights in the forwarding process.

2. Expediting Procedure

According to the needs of the customer and after completing the sourcing procedure, the expediting procedure will be initiated. The expediting procedure consists of ‘an administrative order-intake-check’, ‘a during manufacturing expediting’ and 'a before shipping expediting’.


2.1 Administrative order-intake-check
In order to secure the delivery time and administrative check of the purchasing order intake will be done. The criteria of this check will vary according to the target product. The order confirmation, the material availability check and the capacity check are important topics in this matter. Preferable ERP-documents will be the input for these checks.

2.2 During manufacturing expediting
During the production physical or in administrative checks will be performed, depending on the importance of the purchasing order. The physical check will be based upon a quality checklist containing all critical points in the production process. This checklist will be established together with the customer and indicate objective targets to be achieved. The administrative checks will consist of reports provided by the supplier on critical issues during the manufacturing.

2.3 Before shipping expediting
Before the goods are shipped a final physical check according to AQL is made on the spot. This check includes the quantity and the quality. The criteria to be checked will be established in compliance with the customer. Next, the forwarding process will be checked in order to guarantee the delivery time in the port of arrival of the customer.

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