Direct Factory Outlet

For economic reasons and to collect more information it is advisable to visit several factories in the same area during you trip.

Gaining Competitive Knowledge

Factories keep track of details about their competitors due to the frequent change of engineers and managers. They usually stay in contact with previous colleagues and know exactly what is going on in their old factory long after they have left.

Over the years, you will receive frequent invitations from factory managers that have moved to new factories and want to regain you as a customer. It is often a good chance to obtain better prices as an incentive to buy from them.

You can only determine a factory’s quality and capacity by visiting the new factory and properly evaluating it. Keep in mind, a new factory manager can turn an inferior factory around, but you are better off waiting until that has happened before placing your purchase orders.

Start Planning You Travel Time in China

It can be tempting to invite managers from several factories to meet with you in the comfort of your hotel. However, it makes much more sense to visit your suppliers at their factory. You need to meet the full factory team and survey the operations.

China is a vast country. You will want to visit several factories in the region you are visiting. It is common for people to underestimate the travel time between their hotel and the factories as well as from one factory to another. Here are some general travel times for you to use as you begin planning a trip:

Greater Ningbo Area

After arriving at the Ningbo International Airport you can expect at least another 1 hour by car to reach your first factory. Take this in to consideration so that you do not waste precious time in a car. Further on, I will give you some tips to maximize the use of your travel time. Car travel is generally the only way you can reach factories in this area.

Foshan/Shunde Area

This is another industrial area, which is located in the Southern China Guangdong province. You can reach it conveniently by ferry from Hong Kong. Upon arrival, you still need to ride 30-45 minutes by car to reach your first factory. Knowing that the ferry takes 2 1/4 hours lets you easily calculate that it is impossible to visit more than 2 factories per day if you want to evaluate them thoroughly.

Since travel occupies a lot of your time, it is advisable that you make enquiries with each factory ahead of time. Learn their exact locations and ask for scheduling suggestions. Following their suggestions will save substantial travel time that is better spent in meetings and evaluating the factories. Another tip is for you to ask the factory to arrange for your ground travel including onward travel to the next factory. They are usually happy to accommodate you.

Immediately after arriving at the factory, you begin taking in information about how well it is or is not run. Of course, this is only the first impression but this is where the whole picture begins developing.

The Front Gate

Some larger factories have uniformed guards at the gates. Often the uniforms are nearly perfect replicas of the police. I mention it here because this can lead to confusion or a misunderstanding that the factory is involved with a police incident.

If you do not see any guards or only a single lonely guy guarding the entrance, you can bet that the factory is not paying much attention to security or wants to save money.

Finding waste material near the entrance area it is an indication that factory management is not concerned about cleanliness and tidiness. It can also indicate that they have not many customers visiting. Otherwise, the area would be cleaned up on a regular basis.

The Factory Grounds

You should be also concerned if you see finished goods stacked outside the factory building, especially if the goods are not even covered by a roof. The Southern China costal area is prone to frequent showers and you do not want your goods loaded into a shipping container with a wet outer carton.

After 4 weeks in the container, most of the products will be nothing but garbage. I am not exaggerating. Unfortunately, I have seen many such scenarios, which is why I mention the subject. To be clear, I am not talking of goods in the process of being loaded into a container but about goods that are being stored outside.

It is not just rain that damages unprotected goods. Sunshine bleaches the corrugated cardboard material and high humidity will soften it.

If you find both a lack of security and weather battered goods, you may already have as much information about the factory as you need.

Entering the Factory

Your next impression might be a surprise if you find that the factory is much smaller than expected. You could also find that the factory buildings are in a very bad condition. An indication that the factory lacks funds to modernize.

You can expect the guard to alert management of your arrival and somebody should be sent to pick you up. If that does not happen and they let you stroll around the factory area without anyone’s attention, it is another sign of poor management.

Some factories are very large and you will definitely need assistance to find the management office. The better organized and large factories have a separate reception desk to welcome visitors. You will sign a guest register and be given a visitor’s identification badge.

It should not be normal procedure for visitors to wander around the factory unaccompanied. If somebody visits your home, you would not appreciate finding him or her coming and going from you rooms without your knowledge.

The front desk staff can communicate in English. Normally, the larger the factory, the better the command of English. Once you are registered, the receptionist will contact the management office to send somebody for you.

Remember some factories cover an area exceeding 100,000 square meters. Without assistance you will be lost in no time.

If the factory is really well organized and experienced at receiving visitors frequently, everything will work like a breeze. They may even have a welcome sign on a reader board with your name and your company’s name on it. Something like a small marquee. Take a moment to admire and praise it, which will please your hosts. Taking a photo of it would be even better.

The Showroom or Conference Room

Your next stop will probably be the showroom or conference room, take your time to observe how the office is organized. If there are many empty cubicles, it is an indication that either the factory does not have enough employees or it is lacking in purchase orders.

You can also see whether the employees are playing computer games or chatting online. Hopefully they are really busy with purchase order related work. Of course you are not visiting the factory as their supervisor but it is always good to study as much as you can for your own good.

After a few factory visits this will all become routine for you.