A well-known hosiery manufacturer with market leadership wanted to enhance their product sourcing process for items with a $965,741 annual spend. The company operated with 13 distinct product categories which included compression sleeves alongside fuzzy socks at a yearly production level of 1.35 million pairs.
Challenge: The client required help finding dependable manufacturing sources in China, India, Vietnam, Turkey, Mexico and Korea with cost reduction goals. The project demanded intricate products that needed to meet requirements such as compression levels between 15-20mmHg to 20-30mmHg in combination with different knitting parameters.
Solution: Dragon Sourcing implemented a comprehensive 11-week sourcing strategy:
- Screened 244 potential suppliers across 6 countries
- Conducted detailed RFI/RFQ process with 133 qualified manufacturers (screening over the phone)
- Evaluated suppliers using a 100-point scorecard system weighted across 5 key areas:
- Business Information (40%)
- Production Management (20%)
- Quality Control Management (20%)
- Social Responsibility (10%)
- Cooperation Willingness (10%)
Results:
- Identified 11 recommended suppliers, all from China
- Achieved potential savings of $467,077 (48% of total spend)
- The top performer (CHN11) scored 78/100 on the evaluation matrix
- Successful suppliers demonstrated strong credentials:
- 8-29 years of industry experience
- Annual turnover ranging from $1M to $15M
- Export experience to North America (21-65%) and Europe (3-45%)
- Factory sizes from 3,500 to 20,000 square meters
The project successfully identified qualified suppliers while maintaining quality standards and compliance requirements, including ISO9001 and BSCI certifications.