Under pressure from stiffer competition and tougher economics, many of our clients are taking a second look at suppliers in countries they once avoided and asking: “So, the price is right, but how’s the quality and what kind of service will I get?”
“We never considered using suppliers in Vietnam, India, China or Mexico,” one global supply chain executive told us. “But the world is changing. With experience and the pressure of competitors from traditional source economies like the U.S., Germany, Canada and Japan, many manufacturers and suppliers in these ‘B-List’ countries have sharpened up.
“Like we would with any new supplier, we did some close audits and on-the-ground quality investigations, and we’ve found more than a dozen new suppliers who match or exceed our quality and delivery expectations.”
If you find yourself asking, “Should I broaden my thinking in terms of global sourcing?” you may want to consider this: Based on the growing number of international cargo shipping requests that we are getting from unusual places, it appears that the answer for many companies is emphatically, “yes!”
At ICAT Logistics Detroit, we continue to find, vet and test cargo shippers and logistics partners in parts of the world where economies and supply bases are growing rapidly so that we can better serve our customers. Our clients are finding that suppliers in some of these countries have fresh ideas. Many of them try harder to please their clients. They understand that unless they perform, they’re out of work.
During the past decade, we have seen significant progress in developing countries where businesses are hungry to compete on the world stage. They are upgrading their capabilities, training their people, and setting high customer service standards to attract partners from the traditional commercial centers.
In our company, we have found great partners all over the world to handle shipping from well-established nations as well as countries that are emerging as economic powers. That gives us flexibility and options in our freight forwarding and helps us better serve our clients as they extend their reach.
For both our customers and for us, it’s getting to be a smaller world every day.
We’re your custom shipping resource. Solutions to our customers’ most challenging issues are derived from decades of success in global logistics. https://www.icatlogisticsdtw.com/