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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:
- 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!
- 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.
- 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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