Offshore Solutions Now Offers Sourcing, Consulting and Inspection Services Onsite in China
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Beaverton, Oregon and Shenzhen, China. May 21, 2008. Offshore Solutions Inc. (Offshore), an Oregon, USA company with offices in Shenzhen, Shanghai and Tianjin, China, announces that it is now offering onsite sourcing, consulting and inspection services in China. This is in addition to its traditional business of selling high quality Chinese-made custom engineered parts.
For less than the cost of sending company representatives to China Offshore Solutions can manage every aspect of the sourcing cycle. Offshore also provides onsite China inspections for projects already in progress. According to Offshore Solutions' Chairman Michael Bloom: "Our bi-lingual, bi-cultural team is always available to help."
When Offshore receives project drawings, it begins by reviewing them for completeness. This includes dimensional data, material callouts, tolerances, surface finishes, aesthetic requirements, and test requirements. When the Request for Quotation (RFQ) is prepared, Offshore anticipates questions that are likely to be asked by the Chinese production teams. During this technical review stage, Offshore identifies the specific manufacturing processes required to produce the parts. A systematic project preparation system helps to prevent costly downstream errors.
Factory Selection
Bloom adds: "It is critical for the success of your project to match the best factory to the product you are having manufactured. Selecting the wrong factory will waste time and lead to failure." To ensure the success of a project, Offshore identifies the required processes; selects Chinese candidate factories; audits each factory; and reviews quality certifications. The Offshore project team works within the customer's quality system to satisfy unique documentation needs and make certain the factory can comply with customer requirements.
Price Negotiation
Once Offshore Solutions identifies two or three well-qualified factories, it begins the price negotiation. An analysis is first conducted to estimate the true cost to the factory based on cost of raw materials, labor, machine time and amortization, etc. By the time price negotiations begin, Offshore already knows the lowest or "floor" price.
The customer is provided with all of the factory audits and related documents.
Price negotiation has both an engineering and a cultural component. Offshore's native Chinese engineers communicate with factories on the customer's behalf within an appropriate cultural context - they negotiate in their own language with full understanding of the host country's legal system and the social contract implicit in all transactions. Offshore leverages its influence with the factories to obtain the lowest possible price and best commercial terms on the customer's behalf.
Tooling
Offshore Solutions monitors the tooling process in person. It provides confirmation of progress via tooling drawings and/or digital photographs of tooling elements. Offshore engineers ensure that the factories develop the tooling processes concurrently to assure that no process is shortchanged by being placed at the end of the tooling cycle. This includes tooling design, die-making, mold-making, machining jigs, etc. Offshore Project Managers make sure the factories meet the agreed-upon schedule and minimize project slippage.
Inspection Services
Offshore Solutions now provides on-site inspection of goods during tooling and production. It applies whatever quality criteria the customer prefers. Factory measurements and claims are verified independently. When it comes to documentation, Offshore make sure each inspection submission is complete and that it truly represents the factory's quality assurance activities. The Offshore team monitors testing procedures and arranges third-party laboratory testing of samples in China or the U.S. Onsite China inspections can be performed on consumer goods, industrial parts, and automotive components. Even if a company manages its own project Offshore can perform China inspections as needed.
Production
Offshore Solutions manages production scheduling to assure on-time shipments. During the first production run, Offshore engineers are onsite to provide an independent inspection. If required, Offshore arranges for a statistical sampling of the production so that the first production articles can be inspected prior to shipping. The Offshore Solutions team conducts an audit of production to ensure that work instructions correspond to the Control Plan and that the factory workers are following them.
Packaging
Offshore carefully considers packaging early in the tooling -> production cycle. Strict attention is paid to the specifications for carton-level, palette-level, and container-level packaging. If needed, assistance can be provided with packaging-related services such as returnable packaging, package/palette labeling, and bar coding.
For further information contact Michael Bloom at 503-291-6190 ext 703, or mbloom@oshore.com
