A Five-Point Strategy For Making Global Sourcing Successful

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As the new Import and Export Guide for About.com, I wrote this article on global sourcing:

Global sourcing offers many benefits, including lower costs, faster go-to market time and a broader resource pool. This article provides tips on how to make the most of global sourcing. But first, it's important to understand exactly what global sourcing means.

Global Sourcing:  5 Ways to Make Global Sourcing a Success

What other tips am I missing?

Buying on a Global Scale

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What are corporate decision-makers thinking about global services and outsourcing? Are they planning to increase or decrease their spending? Does your organization lead its peers in global sourcing? Or is your enterprise a follower?

The article, Is Global Sourcing an Item on Your Strategic Plan of Action, examines what buyers are thinking when it comes to sourcing services on a global scale.

Is the Promised Land Offshore?

As supply chain managers now operate in a global business ecology, including low-cost regions in today’s operations is a given. Determining which regions to access for a particular purpose and managing risks inherent to global sourcing, however, remain significant challenges.

Sourcing is no longer about trying to get it cheaper, whatever “it” is. Companies continue to leverage savings in various functions and processes in low-cost regions in the world, where they can be conducted at lower cost, either by third parties or by their own efforts. And they are doing so aggressively.

Read more here.

Strategic Global Sourcing: Hitting A Moving Target

When sourcing from Asia and the Pacific, manufacturers need to constantly keep on top of who does what well.

Imagine going to your favorite restaurant and finding out that there's a new chef in town and the dish you made a special trip for now tastes like wallpaper paste.

"Global sourcing dynamics are also always changing and a good source today may not be so good six months from now," observes Christopher W. Runckel, founder of Runckel & Associates, a Portland, Ore.-based consulting company that helps businesses expand in Asia.

Read more here to learn about tips on finding a good sourcing partner.

Global Sourcing Checklist

If you are considering sourcing a product overseas, this is a good article to read. It covers ten tips to help you get started. You'll have the whole world in your hands.