How an importer discovered 18% was being added before the factory quote
Situation. A consumer-goods brand had bought through an agent for two years and suspected its unit cost was drifting. What we did. Requested the original factory quotation and walked the order structure line by line — tooling, material, processing, packing, margin, and the agent's position. Result. The visible fee was 5%; the effective uplift was closer to 18%. The client renegotiated directly with the factory and moved to a disclosed-fee model, recovering most of the gap on the next order.
Mechanism demonstrated: fee transparency and cost-structure analysis. Figures illustrated, not client data.
A “factory” that was not a factory
Situation. A seller had been quoted well below market by a supplier presenting a large facility online. What we did. Licence and GSXT ownership check, then a verification visit. Result. The entity was a trading company reselling from a wholesale market, with no production line for the claimed product. The client avoided a prepayment and re-quoted against three genuine manufacturers.
Mechanism demonstrated: entity verification and factory-vs-trader determination.
Three critical defects, caught before shipment
Situation. A shipment of small electrical appliances was ready for loading. What we did. AQL inspection; three critical non-conformities were found on safety-related items; result recorded as FAIL. Result. The factory sorted and reworked the batch; a re-inspection passed before departure. The client avoided an order of returns and a potential safety complaint.
Mechanism demonstrated: sampling discipline and a clear PASS/FAIL decision with evidence.
When the drawings were the problem, not the factory
Situation. Four failed sampling rounds at a competent factory. What we did. Reviewed the specification and tolerance stack-up against the supplier's process capability. Result. Two tolerances were unachievable at the target price; after a specification change, the product passed at the first attempt. The client had been blaming the wrong party for two months.
Mechanism demonstrated: technical judgement — the part of sourcing that cannot be automated.