Monday, 25 June 2018

Extensive Analysis on Demand Planning and Forecasting

Business decisions always come with a lot of risks. There is never an assurance where decisions CEOs make for their respective companies will translate to success. However, there’s demand planning and forecasting which can help foretell the chances of success out of business decisions you make for your company. Demand planning and forecasting is a vital process anticipating the demand for a product or service based on uncontrolled variables such as competition. Product demand forecasting is always targeted towards future time periods such as next month, within a year or for the next ten years.

demand forecasting introduction demand planning and forecasting - Intrepid Sourcing

The Effect of Demand Planning and Forecasting

A lot of businesses hugely rely on demand planning and forecasting for their operations. They look at all these forecasting reports to lessen the risks they take out of their decisions. There are also demand forecasting tools such as statistics, software, and apps they can use for a more accurate demand planning and forecasting. There are even some companies who assemble teams who work exclusively on this particular task aside from their regular employees.

In our company, we provide demand planning and forecasting services for our clients in support of the products they launch and continue to manufacture. We make sure the objectives are modified according to the outcome of our demand planning and forecasting. For example, if our client is planning to manufacture 100,000 units of their latest product but the forecast suggests demand is low for the product. We will ask our client to modify the numbers and only manufacture 30,000 to 50,000 units to avoid potential loss. This is the part where the marketing department will do their magic and promote the product to further increase the demand later.

As you can see, demand planning and forecasting do not only impact the manufacturing process but also play a huge role to cost estimation and other financial aspects of an organization. The demand process can also be a factor in employment and workforce within the company. If the demand forecast suggests a very high number, then the company should automatically adjust and makes sure they can comply with the demand and they have enough employees for the huge workload for their upcoming product. They do not really have to hire additional employees full-time but on a project basis only for this high demand product.

from
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Thursday, 21 June 2018

What is Logistics Management?

Logistics is such a big word in the world of manufacturing and supply chain management. The word refers to all the activities being done by a company in this industry as part of their operations which include procurement, feasibility studies, inventory management, maintenance, logistics management and a lot more. The main goal of logistics management is to make sure everything is done right from the top of the operations all the way down to its customers at the right place, time and conditions. It is understandable that errors and problems could be encountered in any operations but with integrated logistics in place, these issues can be avoided and there are always contingency or fallback plans when worse comes to worst.

logistics introduction logistics management - Intrepid Sourcing

Advantages of Logistics Management

Logistics management has always been a critical part of supply management and manufacturing companies’ concerns. They know and understand how supply chain logistics help them meet or even exceed customer expectations.  As a competent sourcing company, we help our client do logistics management so that they can fully enjoy the advantages of such process. Logistics management can have a huge impact on your business and here are a few advantages you need to know of.
  1. Reduced overhead costs
Part of logistics management is to create partnerships with suppliers, manufacturers and even couriers that you need to work within a supply chain management business. With partnerships, you can get the best deal out of their services instead of working out of a generic business relationship.
  1. Faster delivery time
Aside from looking for the best price to service ratio, you need to also make sure that your products get delivered on time and this factor gets covered by logistics management. In our experience in logistics management, we overlook the entire shipping process from the manufacturing process until the products are shipped to our client’s warehouses. Delivery time should never be an issue and our logistics team make sure our clients experience the best and fastest delivery process.
Better efficiency and reduced costs are the results of excellent logistics management along with understanding the process on a system theory level. Keep in mind that this process requires strategic planning and you cannot just dive into the process without knowing the things you want to achieve or improve. Our logistics services are top notch in this industry and we do not only settle for what’s traditional as we continually look for improvements and work on other aspects of logistics management that we need to learn of.

from
https://intrepidsourcing.com/what-is-logistics-management/

Wednesday, 20 June 2018

Quality Control Plan in the Industry of Manufacturing

A basic overview of how we establish a quality control plan as part of our sourcing operations, which is a necessary process to screen suppliers and make sure we are both on the same page in terms of quality service.

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Monday, 18 June 2018

Pragmatic View on Intermediary Services

Intermediary services are very instrumental to supply chain management and manufacturing businesses. Without these services, there would be no flow in transporting products from manufacturers up to the end users. It would be much more efficient if a third party intervenes in talking to all the suppliers instead of customers communicating with them one by one. They can also be described as “the middleman” but their intermediary services really go beyond than transacting with suppliers and customers.

intermediary services introduction intermediary services - Intrepid Sourcing

Different Types of Intermediary Services

  1. Intermediary services as agents/brokers
They usually represent the manufacturers in playing this role and they are the ones responsible to look for stores/merchants who are willing to purchase the product. They add a small percentage to the product’s price which serves as their commission or broker’s fee.
  1. Intermediary services as wholesalers
With this role, they purchase the products in bulk and then resell it to customers at a price a bit more expensive compared to how much they purchased them from the manufacturer. Unlike agents and brokers, they work around a bigger budget due to the quantity they buy from suppliers.
  1. Intermediary services as distributors
Distributors are like wholesalers except they seem to own the product or act as its franchise holder. They are sole distributors for products or manufacturers they are tied up to. For new products, they usually set a launching date as part of their marketing strategy to make the product more desirable to consumers.
  1. Intermediary services as retailers
Unlike agents/brokers who look for stores/merchants who are willing to sell the product, retailers sell the product themselves directly to the consumers. Profit is more direct this way, but the work involved could be heavier since they will also be in charge of marketing and other additional tasks agents/brokers no longer do.

Biggest Advantage of Intermediary Services

In our sourcing and intermediary company, we perform different types of qualified intermediary except for being a retailer. Our qualified intermediary may also include but are not limited to doing paper works, checking legalities, handling customs and a lot more. The biggest catch why our clients choose to go with our intermediary services is because they are able to save money through our help. We have better-negotiating power in dealing with suppliers since we are more connected to them compared to the relationship between customer and manufacturers. We can easily coordinate with suppliers/manufacturers and provide immediate payment methods which most clients do not have. To sum it all up, we make transactions flow smoothly and everything becomes more convenient for each party involved.


from
http://intrepidsourcing.com/pragmatic-view-on-intermediary-services/

Thursday, 14 June 2018

Quality Control Plan in the Industry of Manufacturing

A basic overview of how we establish a quality control plan as part of our sourcing operations, which is a necessary process to screen suppliers and make sure we are both on the same page in terms of quality service.

The post Quality Control Plan in the Industry of Manufacturing appeared first on Intrepid Sourcing and Services.



from
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Monday, 11 June 2018

Do’s and Dont’s of Product Packaging in China

A basic overview of our process and standards when it comes to product packaging, which is a necessary aspect of our service because it easily represents the quality we want in our products.

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Thursday, 7 June 2018

Establishing a Product Costing System

As we have previously discussed, our company assists suppliers through production line assessment to ensure quality in manufacturing products and this goes the same way when it comes to setting a product costing system. We make sure products are priced the right way which is why we have established a product costing system in this company.

product costing introduction product costing system - Intrepid Sourcing

Components of a Product Costing System

  1. Material Expenses
This product costing system component must be the basic when it comes to calculating product costs since material expenses are where most of the capital goes in terms of production. Material costs also include freight expenses, storage fees, import duties and other expenses directly attributable to the material acquisition.
  1. Labor Expenses
This component involves overhead labor costs and all the personnel costs required to get the product done. Salaries, payroll costs, and third-party services fall under this product costing system category as well.
  1. Factory Overhead
These are expenses that cannot be categorized under direct material costs nor labor costs but are still vital to manufacturing the final product. This component may include manufacturing supplies, utilities, rentals, repairs and other indirect material or labor expenses.
  1. Taxes, Duties, and Fees
This used to be a minor factor in our product costing system when we started the sourcing business but has fully come to play when we started doing business in China. Unlike most countries, China has a very complex structure when dealing with their customs. Even though they also apply the 3 main type of taxes (value added tax or VAT, consumption tax, and customs duties) for importing products much like in most countries, the rules for each type of tax are very much different compared to what is traditional in other countries. This is why you need to have a complete understanding of the fees you will be paying for at the customs so you can incorporate them as part of your product costing system.

Calculating Product Costs


Companies follow different formulas for establishing a product costing system. Here in our company, we follow the standard product costing system in the industry which is to divide the total production cost to the number of units produced. The quotient is the production cost per unit and should be the basis for the actual sales price of the product upon considering other factors such as competition, availability and a lot more. Any amount applied beyond the production cost per unit is already considered as your potential profit and values below the production cost per unit are the loss to the company. This process is how our product costing and pricing is established.


from
http://intrepidsourcing.com/establishing-a-product-costing-system/

Monday, 4 June 2018

Production Line Measures

We are exposed to different industries such as manufacturing, retail, and even marketing as a sourcing company. We completely understand how competitive these industries are and it is a must for us to adjust to the competition. You cannot simply stick to the basics to be competitive in any business environment. In this blog post, we will further take a closer look at one of the more complex processes we will divulge which is: production line assessment.
This process is much like supplier assessment except this time around we dig deeper into the supplier or manufacturer’s system/processes, operating procedures, and production standards. We would not really intervene to how they do the following, but we only want to make sure these factors are in line with the company standards and our own expectations from them.
Cost estimation is used to make the following products: Garments, Plastics, Electronics, and Branded/Logo Items.


 

What is a Production Line?

A production line is the process flow of manufacturing a product. It starts with the materials and components of the product, the creation process and up to the end of the line when the final product is materialized. The manufacturing production line can easily be described through words but the actual process including the micro-processes involved can really be tedious. However, you really must go through a production line assessment if you want to significantly decrease costs and achieve the best quality.

As a globally competitive sourcing company, we want our manufacturers and suppliers to follow an optimized production process for their production. In the world of manufacturing, this term is known as “Lean Operations” which is one of the components of the Lean Manufacturing operation system. Most production processes are underutilized and could follow rudimentary methods, which is why it is important for us to assess them from time to time. Helping them achieve an optimized production process will not only help our company but will also benefit them to improve their services.

We want to ensure good quality (or at least reach client standards) of our manufactured goods. The best way to achieve this is to assist our suppliers and manufacturers in their production line process and make sure it is optimized for better efficiency and maximum productivity. There is no need to spend resources in this process, you only must set standards for the manufacturers and suppliers to comply. The manufacturing production line is not your work as a sourcing company, but it is your responsibility to assess the system is up to the company’s standards.
For more details specifically about what this service is; click here: Further reading on Cost Estimation

Click here if you want to do a cost estimate on White Label products.
Click here if you want to do a cost estimate on Apparel.
Click here if you want to do a cost estimate on Electronics.



Click here if you want to do a cost estimate on Plastics.


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