The paper analyzes five Finnish case companies to study the sourcing process from China. A framework of a six-stage sourcing process is developed that includes finding and choosing suppliers, making contracts and orde...The paper analyzes five Finnish case companies to study the sourcing process from China. A framework of a six-stage sourcing process is developed that includes finding and choosing suppliers, making contracts and orders, performing production and quality control, planning logistics, inspecting purchases, and developing supply chain management. Each stage describes the activities from the channels of seeking suppliers to cooperative areas for further development. The case study illustrates the practices of sourcing from China are actually quite similar to the sourcing process in other countries. The study highlights that quality control is the core issue in sourcing from China. Moreover, the difference in understanding sustainable quality affects supplier screening and quality control. Close cooperation on quality control is the key to managing the supply chain to increase competitive advantage through sourcing from China.展开更多
文摘The paper analyzes five Finnish case companies to study the sourcing process from China. A framework of a six-stage sourcing process is developed that includes finding and choosing suppliers, making contracts and orders, performing production and quality control, planning logistics, inspecting purchases, and developing supply chain management. Each stage describes the activities from the channels of seeking suppliers to cooperative areas for further development. The case study illustrates the practices of sourcing from China are actually quite similar to the sourcing process in other countries. The study highlights that quality control is the core issue in sourcing from China. Moreover, the difference in understanding sustainable quality affects supplier screening and quality control. Close cooperation on quality control is the key to managing the supply chain to increase competitive advantage through sourcing from China.
