You may encounter some situations in the trade industry where some factories are reluctant to be inspected. Here is an example.
Mike was going to visit a gift factory in Shandong because he hoped to obtain new suppliers and divert existing orders. At the same time, he also wanted to investigate the specific situation of the factory and understand its production capacity, product quality, and price. However, when he tried to make an appointment with the factory for a visit, the factory owner replied coldly, “You can visit, but you need to place an order before you come. Otherwise, you’d better not come.”
Mike did not know why some factories are reluctant to be inspected. Did not this factory want to do business? Did not he want to waste time to meet customers who have not ordered a product? In China, there are three possibilities:
Possibility 1
It is a small workshop, reluctant to be inspected.
It is possible that the factory is a small workshop or family workshop, or even an empty shell, without basic elements of a real factory, such as the production, assembly, storage, and display. In fact, the boss himself knows that such a factory cannot be visited at all. Because their factories will only disappoint their customers, it’s better not to visit. However, if they cooperate without visiting, even if they meet later and feel that the factory is in a mess, but the products are acceptable, then the existing cooperation can continue.
Possibility 2
Although many factories call themselves factories, they are actually only a room in the village.
One Hong Kong businessmen once placed some orders for rattan furniture with factories in Shandong Province. Because the order was not big and the transportation was inconvenient, he did not visit the factory. However, after the factory delayed several orders, the businessman felt that he had to go to the location to find out why. He feared that the factory had lied. As a result, the businessman went to the factory from Hong Kong. He intended to know the situation face-to-face and see the real production and assembly situation.
However, when the businessman went there, he only found: “My God, this is not a factory! Although they have a legal business license, the so-called factory is just a room of a family home in the village.” What about the product and equipment? Don’t worry. Because the order was for rattan products, they made it by hand. Moreover, the factory distributed these orders to every household in the village. The women and the elderly of every household did the work separately and finally gathered the goods together to deliver them to the customers.
Why do they always postpone orders? Because if there were too many orders and the busy farming season came, the villagers could not finish their work in the field. So they could only postpone the delivery time.
In a word, this kind of factory may really be a factory, but if you want to visit it before cooperation, they may not be happy to accept.
Possibility 3
The factory produces products with special technology and fears for plagiarism. That’s also why some factories are reluctant to be inspected.
Generally speaking, different factories produce similar products with the same production process and equipment. However, some factories may have specially optimized their ways to increase production or reduce the number of processes. In this way, they can make their product price more advantageous through economies of scale or cost control. As a result, those factories particularly worries about the imitation of their peers and are often particularly vigilant. So in the absence of cooperation, they will not accept customers to visit. Unless cooperation has been started, there is the possibility of further meetings and detailed discussion.
These are three possible reasons why some factories are reluctant to be inspected. Many people have already experienced such things. We hope that you can take a warning and protect your rights and interests.