Services
Procurement capability, bought by the assignment.
Eight services covering the full path from product idea to cleared shipment. Commission one, or run the entire sequence under a single accountable contact.
01 · Product sourcing & supplier discovery
Find the factory, not the façade
We begin with a written category brief: specification, target landed cost, order volume, certification requirements and the date the goods must be on shelf. That brief drives the search, and it becomes the benchmark every supplier is measured against.
Discovery is cluster-based. China’s manufacturing is geographically specialised, so we search the towns and industrial parks that actually produce your category rather than the first page of a B2B directory. Trading companies are identified and separated from factories — both can be valid, but you should know which one is quoting you.
Every shortlisted supplier submits a factory profile with licence details, floor area, machinery list, workforce, main export markets and indicative FOB pricing. You receive a comparison table, not a forwarded catalogue.
02 · Factory audits & quality control
Evidence before money moves
Inspection is not a courtesy visit. It is the last point at which you still have leverage over the supplier’s balance payment. We run three distinct gates, each with a written report and photographic evidence, and each capable of stopping the order.
Pre-production
In-production
Pre-shipment
Audit scope
- Legal entity, business licence and export rights
- Factory floor, machinery and installed capacity
- Workforce size, line organisation and shift pattern
- Sub-contracting exposure and process outsourcing
- Quality system, calibration and in-line records
- Social and environmental red flags
Report standard
- Defect classification: critical, major, minor
- Sampling plan, lot size and accept/reject thresholds
- Dated photographs and video walk-through
- Corrective-action list with owner and deadline
- Re-inspection outcome after rework
- Third-party lab testing coordinated on request
Inspection is sampling, not a 100% guarantee. Where a zero-defect outcome is commercially essential, we specify full inspection or a third-party lab protocol and quote it separately.
03 · Negotiation & contracting
Price is a structure, not a number
A single unit price hides material grade, labour content, tooling amortisation, packaging and payment risk. We open the structure, then negotiate each line.
Cost breakdown
Mandarin negotiation
Terms that hold
Payment protection
Quote normalisation
Existing supplier review
Contracts are prepared for your legal review. We are sourcing agents, not your lawyers, and we say so in writing before drafting begins.
04 · Sampling & prototyping
Approve the sample that production will copy
Most quality disputes trace back to an ambiguous sample. We turn the sample into a specification with measurable acceptance criteria.
Sampling runs in rounds: concept sample, revision sample, golden sample. Each round is measured against the written specification — dimensions, materials, colour references, tolerances, packaging and labelling — and each revision is documented so you can see exactly what changed and why.
The approved golden sample is signed, dated and retained by both parties. It becomes the physical reference for pre-production and pre-shipment inspection, which is what makes an inspection opinion defensible rather than subjective.
For tooling projects we agree mould ownership, amortisation and transfer conditions before the tool is cut — the point at which you still have negotiating leverage.
05 · Logistics & freight forwarding
One schedule, from loading bay to your door
Freight is where a good purchase order quietly becomes a bad one. We coordinate booking, consolidation, documentation and delivery as a single plan.
FCL & LCL
Air freight
Documentation
Delivery coordination
How we quote freight
Freight is quoted as a range against a named origin, destination and Incoterm, valid for a stated period. Carrier surcharges, port congestion and seasonal rate spikes are passed through at cost with the carrier invoice attached. We do not mark up freight silently.
What we do not do
We are not a licensed customs broker in your jurisdiction. Import declaration, duty calculation and market compliance remain with you and your broker unless a DDP scope is agreed in writing with a qualified partner.
06 · Incoterms guidance
Choose the term that matches your risk appetite
FOB, CIF, DDP and EXW allocate cost and risk differently. We explain the trade-off in your commercial terms, then quote each option so the decision is arithmetic.
| Incoterm | Seller pays | Buyer pays | Risk passes |
|---|---|---|---|
| EXW | Goods made available at the factory; no loading duty. | Loading, inland transport, export clearance, freight, insurance, duty, delivery. | At the factory, on availability. |
| FOB | Origin inland transport, export clearance, loading on board. | Main carriage, insurance, import clearance, duty, delivery. | On board at the origin port. |
| CIF | Export clearance, freight to destination port, minimum insurance. | Unloading, import clearance, duty, inland delivery. | On board at the origin port — not at destination. |
| DDP | All costs to the named place, including duty and taxes. | Unloading unless agreed otherwise; recoverable VAT. | At the named destination, ready for unloading. |
07 · End-to-end order management
One contact, one version of the truth
Your order is tracked as a schedule, not a chat thread: dated milestones, named owners and written exceptions.
Once the purchase order is placed, we hold the schedule. Production milestones are confirmed with dated evidence, changes are logged with their cost and schedule impact, and anything that threatens the delivery date is escalated while you can still change course.
Balance payments are timed against inspection, not against the supplier’s reminder. Shipping documents are checked for consistency with the contract before release, because a mismatched invoice at the port is an expensive way to learn about a typo.
After delivery we record supplier performance — defects, responsiveness, schedule reliability — and use it to decide whether the supplier earns the reorder.
08 · Compliance & documentation
Paperwork that clears the first time
Export documentation is checked as a set, not as individual files. The commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading, certificate of origin and test reports must agree on description, quantity, value, weights and consignee details. Disagreement is what turns a routine clearance into a storage bill.
We verify that the certification the supplier claims actually exists and covers the model you are importing — CE documentation, test reports, REACH or RoHS statements, food-contact declarations, FCC or FDA evidence where relevant. Where a claim cannot be substantiated, we say so before you ship.
Destination-market responsibilities — product labelling, registration, importer of record obligations and market surveillance — sit with you or your appointed representative. We coordinate the evidence; we do not act as a regulatory consultant in your jurisdiction.
Fees
Three ways to engage, all disclosed upfront
No supplier commissions are hidden inside your unit price. Every engagement is quoted in writing before billable work begins.
Project fee
Monthly retainer
Disclosed success fee
Third-party costs
Lab tests, inspection travel, sample courier, freight and duties are billed at cost with the third-party receipt attached. Where a supplier offers a commission, rebate or gift, it is disclosed and credited against your invoice. If the fee model cannot be explained in one page, we have not explained it properly.
Questions about terms, samples or inspection standards? Read the FAQ or email sourcing@otro.bd.