How to Find Reliable Chinese Manufacturers? Different Understanding of ‘Lead Time’ Shocks Foreign Buyers

As the world’s biggest “factory”, China has embraced millions of buyers and entities from all over the globe to source any product that you can imagine. Throughout the process, buyers have enjoyed the price competitiveness and advantages of economy-of-scale, but at the same time, faced challenges on various fronts when dealing with Chinese suppliers. From a survey conducted in 2016 by PP-OEM, nearly half of international buyers reported that the long and often changing lead time is one of their top issues among several other potential pain-points. Lead time refers to the period of time from the customer confirms an order to the date when the ordered goods are ready for delivery. In general, this process takes from 30 to 60 days, depends on the products and the manufacturer.

The myth here is that the date of delivery is often deemed by some Chinese manufacturers as a loose agreement rather than a strict requirement, resulting in often delayed delivery date and angry clients anxiously waiting on the other side. This kind of difference in understanding is disastrous for buyers who made promises to their clients or have been facing low in inventory. A more horrible scenario is sourcing for the holiday season but later find out the goods missed the date of delivery due to longer-than-expected lead time. This can be particularly bad for overseas buyers who are trying to add their goods into a “just in time” peak season schedule.

How can oversea buyers find realizable supplier that can help them avoid this disaster? Many criteria are crucial when choosing a partner: experience, expertise, professionalism, and so on. Sometimes lacking any of the three may be problematic. For example, having 30 years of experience in the international lighting industry, WELLMAX understands better than others about the challenges oversea buyers are facing. As the renowned LED Bulb Expert, WELLMAX aims to provide valued products and services to its partners. With this in mind, WELLMAX has conducted a detailed survey and analysis on pre-production, production and post production procedures, aiming to find out the ultimate way to maximize efficiency in the process. Through having professional representatives to handle pre-order communications, providing accurate time forecast, unifying raw material sources, and closely following up throughout the manufacturing process, WELLMAX manages to offer a 25-days super-fast lead-time for its LED product series.

As the saying goes, Time is Money, WELLMAX’s 25 days lead time will save buyers time and money. WELLMAX has helped numerous buyers from different countries to replenish their stock in time with quality LED bulbs. As the LED Bulb Expert in the lighting industry, WELLMAX has professional teams to offer holistic product suggestion according to client’s country and market requirements. WELLMAX’s R&D lab consists of experienced elite R&D teams; they work with SGS and DEKRA closely for testing products to meet different global market certifications.

Want to know more about how WELLMAX can help you? Come to the Guangzhou International Lighting Exhibition (GILE) at the China Import and Export Fair Complex from 9 – 12 June 2017, where WELLMAX will debut new products and display a full 2017 series of stylish and quality LED products on this one of the most influential and comprehensive lighting and LED event.

Source: Chinese Law Blog, How to Avoid China Manufacturing Problems, Part 2: Focus on These Five Things, January, 2016