The shift I saw in my supplier after insisting on a factory tour

I had been sourcing bamboo cutting boards from this company in Vietnam for about 8 months. They seemed fine on paper, good prices, decent communication. But I kept getting inconsistent thickness on the boards, like 0.5mm off here and there. I finally told them I wanted to visit their factory before placing another order. They tried to talk me out of it, said they were too busy. I pushed anyway and went last month. The difference was night and day. Their workshop was just three guys in a garage with one belt sander, not the facility they claimed in their catalog. I switched to a different supplier that actually runs a proper workshop with 12 workers and quality checks. Has anyone else had a supplier go quiet when you ask for a tour?

2 comments

2 Comments

wright.michael3d ago

Kinda makes you wonder if those online catalogs with the fancy workshop photos are just stock images from somewhere else. Did you notice if the address they gave you matched up with a real industrial zone or was it some random residential street? A buddy of mine had a similar thing with a textile supplier in India, turned out their "factory" was just a rented room with a single sewing machine.

jamiegreen3d ago

OH COME ON. I think people get WAY too dramatic about this whole supplier tour thing. You went there, found out they had three guys in a garage, big deal. That's like 90% of small businesses in Vietnam anyway. The boards were 0.5mm off, not like they were splitting in half or giving you splinters. Half a millimeter is nothing, you can sand that down or adjust your production line a tiny bit. I've had suppliers with the nicest looking workshops turn out garbage products, and I've had guys working out of their kitchen make the best stuff I've ever sold. The real question is whether the product works for YOUR customers, not whether they have a fancy catalog photo. You probably overpaid for the new supplier just because they had a bigger room.