Sourcing in the global landscape has become increasingly dynamic and sometimes challenging due to economic downturn and geopolitics. To thrive in the global marketplace, NewsBites talks to Alan Scanlan, one of the Partners at Source Find Asia, to shed light on sourcing practices around the globe from his 15+ years of expertise in this field.
Helping Companies Succeed in Sourcing
With a family business background of sourcing in Mainland China, Alan moved to Hong Kong a few years ago when he met a business partner of Source Find Asia in the city. Stemming from the idea of helping businesses to source effectively, he decided to set up his own business and join hands with Source Find Asia. The company helps complete the whole supply chain by looking after nearly every process from mass production, quality control, shipping to even marketing.
Sourcing Challenges and Opportunities
Alan sees the current sourcing industry as quite challenging: for example, the shipping industry has become quite volatile since the pandemic with prices going up, the tariffs issue due to US-China tensions… all these account for the obstacles facing the industry. Companies need to be more proactive in setting strategies to prevent “surprises” arising from the Black Swan events.
Winning in the Emerging Markets
For those working in the sourcing field, it is important to pay physical visits to the manufacturing facilities regularly, such that you can see things differently and suggest practical ways to improve the processes and save costs, making big differences.
Apart from having a thorough understanding on actual operations, be clear in your company vision and plan in advance, e.g. pre-order raw materials to save some costs; arrange aviation to avoid delays etc. also help.
Re-emphasizing the Importance of Strong Ties
Alan could not stress enough on the importance of Relationships – be it with the suppliers, frontline staff, or any one involved in the supply chain. Management must take the initiative to let everyone be aware of the company’s growth, and the next steps. This way, the company got the chance to have better terms in the long run.
Comparing Different Emerging Markets
To Alan, India, Vietnam and Mexico are also growing fast in the competitive global market, but China is still ahead of the curve in terms of its broad spectrum of products available to the market.
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Embracing Technological Changes and Sustainability in Sourcing
AI Does A Great Job in Branding
Automation and AI are inevitably playing a role in the ecosystem. Take Hoek Home, one of Alan’s businesses on home furniture, as an example: machines are used to do the finishing cuts, arrangement of goods etc., but still a lot of people are involved. But for AI, Alan believes it is more on the brand side, i.e. content creation and marketing, rather than on the sourcing side.
Sustainability Often Driven by Customers
Businesses can definitely benefit from going green, as modern customers are likely to look at how eco-friendly the products are. From Alan’s personal experiences, China has been going far in the sustainability scope, with a lot of green initiatives in place in both nationwide and business contexts.
Advice to Those in the Sourcing Industry
Wrapping up the interview, Alan highlighted the significance of achieving Win-win – companies should think from both manufacturing and customers’ perspectives, making sure everyone is happy to work for the company’s best interests.
About the Interviewee
Alan Scanlan | Partner, Source Find Asia
Alan is a distinguished sourcing expert with a 50-year Far East market family legacy. He founded Newlands Sourcing and has now merged with Source Find Asia resulting in a profitable venture. With over 15 years of experience, his strategic prowess in China ensures unparalleled services
for US and European clients.
At HKTDC, we value buyer-supplier relations as much as Alan does! Visit our e-Marketplace today to find out more: