Finding and checking suppliers
When to change supplier.
Changing supplier means new samples, new approvals, new certificates and a first order that goes wrong in new ways. That cost is real, so the question is which problems are fixable and which are structural.
Problems worth fixing.
Quality drift on a measurable attribute. It responds to a specification, an inspection and a conversation with the numbers in front of both sides.
Communication failures. A second contact, a check-in rhythm and clearer written specifications solve most of them.
Packing damage. It is a specification problem and it is cheap to fix once somebody writes down what the packing has to be.
Occasional delay. Every producer has bad months, and a pattern is different from an incident.
Reasons to move.
Capacity they do not have. A workshop that cannot make your volume will not learn to, and pressing produces defects rather than output.
A capability gap on compliance. If they cannot hold the certification your market requires and will not invest in it, that is structural.
Repeated dishonesty about what happened. Mistakes are survivable and being told a container shipped when it did not is not.
Financial trouble. Requests to change payment terms in their favour, late deliveries and quiet substitutions together are a pattern worth acting on.
You became too small for them. A supplier whose priorities moved will keep saying yes and keep delivering last.
How to move without a gap.
Five steps, in this order. The overlap is the one people skip.
- 01
Qualify the new one first
Samples, an audit and a small order, while the current supplier is still shipping. Never leave before you have arrived.
- 02
Move your intellectual property
Tooling, moulds, artwork files and the specification. If the factory holds them, this is where you discover the contract mattered.
- 03
Re-do the compliance work
Certificates, test reports and registrations attach to the producer, so a new supplier means new documents rather than transferred ones.
- 04
Overlap the transition
Run both for a cycle. It costs more once and it prevents a gap that costs far more.
- 05
End it properly
Indonesia's export community is smaller than it looks and how you leave gets discussed. A clean exit keeps a door open.
Questions buyers ask.
How many bad shipments before I move?
It depends on whether the cause is fixable rather than on a count. Three failures with the same measurable cause and no corrective action is a structural problem, and three unrelated incidents is bad luck.
What does switching actually cost?
New samples and approvals, new certificates and test reports, a first order that goes wrong in new ways, and the time of whoever runs it. Buyers consistently underestimate the compliance re-work.
Can I keep both suppliers?
Often the best answer, particularly for anything core. Dual sourcing costs a little in volume leverage and it removes the single point of failure entirely.
Read next.
Managing a supplier over years
Quality drifts slowly and nobody announces it. What to measure and when to add a second source.
How to verify an Indonesian supplier
Two public government registries, the cross-check between them that catches most problems before a deposit moves, and the part only a visit can answer.
Private label and OEM
Your brand on their product, or a product developed for you. Two different deals with two different risks.
Protecting a design or brand
An NDA with a workshop is worth less than buyers think. What registration does and does not do.
Sourcing from Indonesia?
Tell us the product, the quantity and the destination. We come back with what it involves before anyone talks about money.