china management Archives

Managing Change in China Manufacturing

by Gary Young on March 15, 2019 with No Comments

Opportunities abound in China. For our clients, it holds the opportunity to have their products manufactured at the level of quality they need and at price that allows them to be competitive in the marketplace when, for one reason or another, those opportunities are not available from domestic sources. For average Chinese people, the coming of Capitalism to their economy … Read More

Five Common Pain Points for Importing

by Gary Young on February 28, 2019 with No Comments

Avela Corporation has been sourcing manufacturing in China for our clients since 2002 and we have pretty much heard it all. Clients often come to us after having tried to “go it alone” by dealing with a trading company that they may have met at a trade show, through a website on Alibaba or elsewhere. If all goes well, things … Read More

China Sourcing: Setting Goals.

by Gary Young on September 3, 2012 with 2 Comments

Having been in the China sourcing business for almost 13 years now, I am often asked what is the most difficult aspect of working in China. My short answer is “Communication”. China manufacturers want to create the product you are asking for. What I have come to appreciate is just how nuanced our thoughts are, and how good communication is taken for … Read More

New Life and China Sourcing

by Gary Young on December 13, 2011 with No Comments

Usually I am writing detailed blogs about China Sourcing. But not this time. It is time to take a break from China Sourcing and celebrate life. One of the perks of being in China for over 10 years now is having the privilege of participating, in a small way, in the lives of my staff and friends in China. As … Read More

China Sourcing and Protecting Intellectual Property- Part Two

by Gary Young on December 13, 2011 with No Comments

China Sourcing: My personal experience. To sum up part one briefly, China has a conundrum when it comes to intellectual property. On the one hand, they are the world masters at copying or knocking off. There is a cultural argument, or some might call it an excuse, that it in the tradition of Confucianism, it is considered an honor for your idea … Read More

China Sourcing and Protecting Intellectual Property- Part One

by Gary Young on April 21, 2011 with No Comments

China Sourcing seems precarious. China has a reputation for knocking off or copying products.Â This reputation is well deserved. If you look at it from a neutral point of view, it is kind of amazing. I say amazing because, not only are the accuracy of knock-offs impressive, but the speed of copying a product is breathtaking. On one hand this … Read More

China Sourcing Uses Mergers or Acquisition Skills

by Gary Young on January 22, 2011 with No Comments

At my Vistage meeting last week, we listened to a speaker about mergers and acquisitions. And as usual with me, I was trying to imagine how this great information would pertain China sourcing. He said that 65 percent of mergers and acquisitions fail because parties spent time putting out fires and not planning properly. That

China Sourcing and Accountability.

by Gary Young on November 15, 2010 with No Comments

I get asked quite often; “How can you guarantee that my order from China will be perfect?” I usually say that we have procedures and a process to work through quality issues. There is a whole list of things we do including the development of a check lists, photos and video confirmation and third party materials testing just to name a few. But what I don’t talk too much about is what else we are doing behind the scenes to increase accountability on the China side and both sides for that matter. It is something we do to make our job so much easier in China but it dawns on me that maybe I should be bragging (just a little) about our accountability effort and how it saves time, money and benefits all three parties. (Our client, the factory in China and us- Avela Corporation