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Technical Sourcing

Insights

What we have learned doing the work

Four pieces on the parts of sourcing that decide whether an order succeeds — reading a business licence, reading a quotation, costing a system rather than a device, and getting the compliance sequence right before anything ships.

Written from the engagement we are running, not from a template. Where a piece cites a finding, it is a real one and it says which engagement it came from.

  1. 01

    Supplier verification

    How to tell a Chinese factory from a trading company

    The business licence, the business scope, registered capital and export entitlement — what to read, what to ask on a call, and what a trading company says when you ask it directly.

    7 min readRead
  2. 02

    Quotations and pricing

    EXW, FOB, CIF: what a Chinese quotation actually includes

    Two quotations at the same unit price are rarely the same price. What each incoterm moves, where risk actually transfers, and the questions that make two numbers comparable.

    7 min readRead
  3. 03

    Total cost of ownership

    What a body-worn camera deployment really costs

    The camera is one of six or more purchases. Docking, evidence management, retention, network, power, manpower, spares, freight, duty and certification — and why the cheapest unit price often loses.

    8 min readRead
  4. 04

    Compliance and import

    Importing electronics into Nigeria: what stops a shipment

    NCC type approval, SONCAP, Form M and PAAR — what the Chinese factory can help with, what it cannot touch, and why responsibility must be allocated in writing before an order is placed.

    8 min readRead

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These questions are easier to answer about your own shortlist

Tell us what you are sourcing and at what volume. We will tell you what we would need to verify before anyone recommends a supplier to you.

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