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 Importing & Custom Manufacturing

“Use our Experience to Your AdVantage!”

Over the years, our customers have relied on AdVantage Industries to provide custom manufacturing solutions for a wide range of promotional products. These projects fall into three primary categories:

  1. Modification of an Existing Product – We carry many products that can be “customized” with different shapes, features, and designs. Give us an ideal of how you would like to modify a product and we’ll take it from there. With our expertise in this area, almost anything is possible!

  2. Manufacturing Your Product – Maybe you have seen a product that you like or have a sample or picture of a product that you would like to offer. We can work with you to have the product made. If there are potential problems with patents or intellectual property rights, we can also advise you how to modify the product to avoid any potential legal problems.

  3. Create a Product – If you have an idea for a product that doesn't exist, we can work with you to evaluate its marketability and help with the design, prototyping and manufacturing. We have created many of the products we offer and offer considerable expertise in this area.

AdVantage Industries has over 25 years of experience sourcing and manufacturing products in Asia and can be a trusted partner in making you successful in the promotional products business. The growing trend, for labor-intensive products, is to source them from China. The reason is simple. China has the labor-rates and technical know-how to produce virtually any product for “pennies on the dollar” compared to US-sourced products. But... you have to know what you are doing to be successful at foreign sourcing and manufacturing. There are plenty of things that can go wrong and mistakes can be very expensive.

Many are tempted to try and import and manufacture products themselves. There are an abundance of internet sources and trade magazines that offer products or manufacturing services either direct from China or through trading companies that will arrange everything for you. While this might seem attractive, there is more to being a successful importer than just a contact in China:

  • The Right Contacts – In China, “who you know” often determines whether you succeed or fail in business. This is so fundamental, the Chinese have a name for it: Guanxi. We have been working and developing our contacts in China for 25 years and have built our relationships on honesty, hard work and trust.

  • Financial Resources and Relationships – Arranging for the payment, negotiating terms and prices, and maintaining strong banking relationships are key to successful projects. We have had years of experience in the use of letters of credit and other financial instruments to protect our (and your) financial interests.

  • Speak the Same Language – Despite China’s commitment to developing human resources with good English language skills, companies that are serious about doing business in China are prepared to conduct their business in Chinese. AdVantage employs native Chinese speaking employees that help us eliminate misunderstandings and build trust with our foreign manufacturers.

  • Work With the Right Factories – China is a very diverse country with varying levels of development and regional expertise. Some industries are spread all over the country and others are heavily concentrated in one area. Our experience has taught us where to source specific products and components and how to effectively manage the logistics necessary to produce quality products.

  • Quality Control, Inspection, Certifications – Once a container full of goods arrives, if something is wrong it’s either too late or very expensive to fix. Our foreign partners track the manufacturing process inspecting goods at all the critical stages to assure that what was specified and ordered is what is produced. Independent testing of products is arranged when necessary to guarantee low defect rates and deal with potential problems before they arise. In some cases, we actually design testing standards where none exist. FDA, FCC, ASTM certifications and approvals are obtained where necessary. Shipments are tracked and followed at every point from factory to our warehouse to make sure that what came out of the container was exactly what was originally put in it.

  • Understanding of Manufacturing Processes and Materials – When was the last time you saw what appeared to be two identical products with one of them selling for half the price of the other? There’s a reason one of them is cheaper and it usually has to do with quality and choice of materials. Over the years, we have built up considerable expertise in the manufacturing of a wide variety of products, the selection and understanding of proper materials and the ways in which different products are made. The factories that produce our products are pre-inspected before we use them with attention paid to what they have produced in the past. In many cases, we keep key components in our overseas inventory that help us expedite the manufacturing of specialized products.

  • Logistics Management – Timing is everything! One of the challenges in our industry is meeting event deadlines. Designing and manufacturing custom products are complex tasks that must be carefully understood and managed at every stage in the process. We are very experienced in managing the multitude of steps involved in the process of designing, prototyping, manufacturing, testing, inspecting, packaging, shipping and delivering the goods.

  • Packaging, Labeling – Proper packaging and labeling of products is important and an often overlooked detail in the process of making new products. There are marketing as well as compliance issues that need to be understood. Our experience in retail package design, proper UPC labeling and compliance requirements are a valuable element that contribute to a successful product.

  • Intellectual Property – Respect for intellectual property rights is important to AdVantage Industries. We hold a variety of both design and function patents and we strive to uphold the sound principals of US Patent law at all times. We strive to purchase patented products from the actual Patent Holder and alert our customers when we know a particular product is protected by a known patent. Occasionally, a new patent might preclude us from selling an advertised product, and should any new patent prevent lawful selling of any product, we cannot be held accountable for an inability to fill an order. AdVantage Industries will not manufacture a custom product known to have legal patent protection. Please contact us regarding any patent issues that are of concern, and we will do our utmost to protect intellectual property rights of others, as well as, to protect those of our own.

The bottom line is that, although it may be tempting to become a direct importer yourself, you will save time, grief and money by trusting AdVantage Industries to do what we have become very good at and do every day!
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