Even if you’re concerned over missing out on the promise of profiting in this era of globalization, don’t rush headlong into linking up with just any offshore contract manufacturer. First, bear in mind offshore contract manufacturing is only an extension of contract manufacturing which the industry has conducted for quite some time; thus, your lessons learned from subcontracting commodities, components and packaging is not lost in the new world order.

Foremost of those lessons is that cost means more than the price tag. Ensure the offshore contract manufacturer can deliver the goods to your specifications as well as government standards, in the time you need them. Hammer out which partner in this partnership is responsible for each aspect of the process, from raw materials procurement through manufacturing and delivery of the final product. By using global contract manufacturers, you’re lengthening your supply chain. Answer the question of how long you want that chain to be.

1. Start in your backyard, with US-based companies.

2. Remember offshore precision contract manufacturing services by our neighbors in Mexico.

3. Do your homework before reaching out to Asia.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Keep a short leash on offshore precision contract manufacturing with US firms

You can exploit the low cost of offshore supplement manufacturing and keep the expertise, fast turnaround and in-house culture identity by working with US manufacturers that already have agreements with plants around the world.

I recommend: Pier Components contract manufactures and imports of fasteners, stampings, wire forms, cast products and plastic blow and injection molded parts. Triton Global Sources concentrates on heavy industry: casting, forging, stamping, plastic and rubber molding, machining and plating, plus warehousing and logistics management.

Head south for offshore custom contract manufacturing services

Mexico is still one of the top five trading partners with the US. Furthermore, as more companies outsource to Asia, their domestic markets grow with rising wage rates, eroding the price advantage they once had. Additionally, expect freight costs to rise with energy prices. If you market products requiring a more advanced labor force than a developing country can provide, or quicker production turn-around times, your better bet may be to head for the border.

I recommend: Made In Mexico provides full-service and flexibility to choose from a turn-key operation down to handling specific administrative support tasks. Rapid Industries also can go from full-service contract manufacturing to piecemeal shelter services; the company can handle production, packaging, warehousing and fulfillment.

Gain entry to the second largest market through an international contract manufacturer

China has become globalization's poster country. For all its apparent success, however, remember China is still a developing country. What took us a century to master, from the Industrial Revolution to the Post-Information age, will take at least another generation for China to top the learning curve. Whether you have commodity products or basic parts supply needs with a stable production run, or you want an early entry into a vast, mushrooming market, look to China as a manufacturing resource.

I recommend: With one foot in Chicago and another in the Yangtze River Delta, J.A.M. International provides a gateway both to have goods manufactured in China and to have products marketed in China. ChinaSavvy provides sourcing services for consumer and heavy industry companies looking for reliable, ISO9001-capable manufacturers in China.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  With the manufacturing process gone global, and so many processes standardized and products becoming commodities, intellectual property and brand equity has become the new precious resource. Protect it diligently. If you set up in China, where the legal system is very different from ours, work with a global contract manufacturer (or establish your own company) that is registered in Hong Kong. As a former British colony, their legal system is still based on British common law.