Dans l'économie éclatante chinoise, un large réseau des fournisseurs produisant la qualité et les pièces et les équipements industriels concurrentiels monte. L'approvisonnement en Chine est l'occasion pour que les compagnies industrielles occidentales augmentent des marges, de créent ou maintenir un avantage concurrentiel.
Mais il y a beaucoup de défis dans l'exécution. Le plus grand est de contrôler le CHANGEMENT intérieurement. Voici une liste de changements essentiels pour le faire se produire.

De plus en plus les chefs occidentaux de compagnie décident de commencer des marchandises d'approvisonnement de Chine et de tirer profit de ses bas coûts de production. Mais nous voyons plusieurs de ces initiatives d'approvisonnement de la Chine sans pièce forte de gestion de changement : Ils sous-estiment habituellement le temps et les efforts requis pour expliquer, former, démontrer et convaincre des employés de décaler aux fournisseurs chinois.

Le changement est énergique en effet : Achetant, la qualité, technologie, logistique, départements de conception a organisé leur travail autour des relations avec leurs fournisseurs « traditionnels ». Le décalage « de l'approvisonnement local » avec cette base traditionnelle d'approvisionnement « approvisonnement lointain » avec de nouveaux fournisseurs en Chine affectera nettement la manière qu'ils fonctionnent :

Premièrement, Département de conception doit intégrer de nouvelles contraintes techniques et économiques dans la conception de la prochaine génération des produits. Les 3 principes principaux sont :
1. Les parties avec la valeur supplémentaire élevée et les montages partiels sont ceux qui apportent les meilleurs avantages de coût quand originaire en Chine.
2. Les procédés de production en Chine sont différents : La production automatique est remplacée par un certain nombre d'étapes manuelles. It reduces capital investment and cost, increases production flexibility but tolerances are not as good as for an automated process.
3. Parts with critical Intellectual Property shall be kept outside China.

Secondly, the Engineering Department used to rely on their traditional suppliers’ superior engineering capabilities, expertise and capacity to innovate. Switching to a supplier which expertise is not as good means:
1. More work: New technical validations and support to the new Chinese suppliers
2. Due diligence: Thorough checks of all safety standards

Thirdly, in the Logistics Department, employees will have to start setting-up new flows coming from China and adapt to a new set of principles. Long transport time by containers may be a new constraint. Factory logistics teams deal with hundreds of issues a day, and new constraints are never welcome. For example, daily deliveries in returnable boxes are not an option when the producing factory is 10,000 kilometers away. The delivery cycle is obviously too long and the investment in boxes would be too large. But if this is the preferred delivery method, the Logistics Department will have to change its habits and adapt to new objectives.

Also, the Quality Department must re-examine its approach of supplier’s quality:
The Quality of the purchased parts used to be sub-contracted to the suppliers: Quality objectives are included in the purchasing contracts and defective parts are sent back to where they come from. The buyers have nothing to do with the quality management of their suppliers. This approach does not work with far sourcing. Waiting for the parts to be delivered to check their quality would be too risky and costly. It takes time and resources, but buyers have no choice but to retake control of the quality management.

"You get what you inspect, not what you expect".

As an example, Shanghai General Motors has developed an army of Advanced Supplier Quality (ASQs) engineers, traveling 4 days a week to their suppliers’ factories. Their role is to directly and constantly manage quality improvement plans.
However, for a Western company without a dedicated organization established locally, managing supplier’s Quality on a regular basis can become problematic: Many of our customers come to us initially to solve Quality problems. Outsourced in-factory quality control and pre-delivery inspections is a common solution.

Finally, directly on the battle front, in the Purchasing Department, the buyers must also adapt their negotiation style and attitude.
One cannot go aggressive on price reduction targets to Chinese suppliers without giving anything in return. It is not only because of the Chinese business culture (you have to become good friends before signing a deal). If the outcome of the negotiation is not a win-win deal, the Chinese supplier might start finding ways to cut his production costs and regain his margin: Swap raw material to cheaper ones or sub-contract to another company. An unprofitable deal for the supplier usually damages the quality of the parts.

If confrontation seldom works, a supportive attitude towards a Chinese supplier generally pays off. Give practical advices, deliver simple trainings, and show your support where it is needed: Suppliers will keep a positive attitude and this will bring mutual benefits.

This is the founding concept of Supplier Development: A Supplier Development project usually starts when the owner of a Chinese company accepts the active support of his potential client over a period of time and engages his company in the implementation of all the best practices brought to him and his staff. In return, the buyer creates a tailor-made production facility for its parts, and a loyal supplier. After 6 months of weekly visits and workshops with the different departments, the Chinese factory dramatically improves and the production starts. This is certainly a large time and effort investment, but it pays off in sustainable cost advantage. Success stories such as BOSCH’s or VALEO’s tend to prove this is a good way to do Industrial Sourcing in China.

All these changes will be effective only if they happen concomitantly and as the China sourcing project makes progress. Such a challenge must be addressed by a company-wide Change Management project.