How we work
We buy from the cluster, not from the showroom.
Chinese manufacturing is organised into dense geographic clusters, and the trading districts that front them are not the same thing as the factories behind them. Almost every showroom in a Foshan ceramics mall represents a plant somewhere else, frequently in another province. Knowing which is the difference between buying a product and buying a photograph of one.
01Scale
The scale is not an opinion.
China produces more than sixty per cent of the world's flat glass and fifty-two per cent of its crude steel. It accounts for roughly two thirds of global aluminium extrusion consumption and over eighty per cent of the world's air conditioning units. It has been the largest ceramic tile producer for thirty-two consecutive years.
It is also, at present, in structural over-capacity. Capacity utilisation in non-metallic mineral products, which covers cement, glass, ceramics and concrete, has fallen to the high fifties. Roughly half of China's installed ceramic tile capacity is idle. Domestic construction demand has contracted sharply while installed capacity has barely moved.
For a buyer with capital, technical discipline and somewhere to put the product, that is the most favourable procurement environment in a generation. It is also why quality discipline matters more now than it did five years ago, not less.
02The clusters
Where we buy, and where it ships from.
03Beyond China
The origin follows the project.
Being close to Chinese manufacturing is an advantage, not an obligation. Where tariff exposure, trade defence measures, technical standards, lead time or freight economics make another origin the right answer, we buy there instead.
Natural stone from Turkey, Italy, Spain, Greece, Egypt, Brazil and India. Sections and reinforcement from India, Vietnam, Turkey and the Gulf. Fenestration and door hardware, control gear, compressors and cartridges from European manufacture. Ceramic tile from Turkey, Spain and Italy where the specification or the duty position calls for it. Engineered timber and panel products from Southeast Asia and Europe.
We say this because origin is not a marketing question. Anti-dumping and countervailing duty positions change monthly, and the correct origin for a given product into a given market this quarter may be the wrong one next quarter. Every quotation is screened before it is issued.
04Supplier qualification
No purchase order is issued to an unqualified supplier.
The gate has six stages and cannot be shortened for a commercial deadline. It can be accelerated by paying for expedited audit. It cannot be waived.
Identity and screening
Business licence verified against the national enterprise register. Registered capital, incorporation, legal representative, scope of business and export rights confirmed. Beneficial ownership traced. Screening against the relevant sanctions, denied party and forced labour entity lists.
Factory verification
An on-site audit confirming the factory physically exists and is not a trading office representing a plant elsewhere. The cheapest check in the process, and the one most often skipped.
Capability audit
Equipment list, capacity, process flow, which steps are performed in-house and which are subcontracted and to whom, quality control laboratory and test equipment, staff competence.
Management system
ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certificate numbers verified against the issuing body's own database rather than accepted as a document. The certifier must itself be accredited.
Conformity register
Every certificate relevant to our destination markets logged with issuing body, number, the exact models covered, scope, issue date, expiry and surveillance dates, verified at source. Certification in this industry is model-specific and factory-specific, not company-specific.
Social compliance
amfori BSCI or SMETA where the market or the customer requires it.
05Supplier tiers
Not every supplier is treated the same.
| Tier | Definition | Treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Strategic | Sole source for a category or substantial annual volume | Annual capability and social compliance audit, live certificate register, named account management both sides, agreed annual volume and price tier |
| Core | Regular repeat purchase | Capability audit at onboarding and every two years, pre-shipment inspection on every consignment reducing to sampling after a clean record |
| Qualified | Approved and available, purchased occasionally | Factory verification and documentary qualification, pre-shipment inspection on every consignment without exception |
| Restricted | On the register but limited by a defect history, a certification gap or a category exclusion | Approval required per order, enhanced inspection, written rationale on file |
Looking for a specific product from a specific origin?
Tell us the line, the standard it has to meet and the market it is going to. We will tell you where it should come from.
Request a quotation