Supplier diversification
Moving production or adding a second source
Tariffs, rising labor costs, and one-factory risk have many companies looking past China. Some products move easily. Others depend on tooling, materials, or supplier know-how that is hard to reproduce elsewhere.
Single-country exposure, unstable suppliers, tariff pressure, capacity constraints, or a board-level risk reduction plan.
What the diversification plan covers
- Where the current supply can fail
- Which products should move first
- Supplier and country options
- The cost of qualifying the alternative
- Inventory needed during the change
- A staged volume plan
- The reasons to stay put when moving doesn’t make sense
Where you’re exposed
I trace the materials, tooling, subcontracted work, and capacity that could still tie two factories to the same point of failure.
Which products move well
The product and process decide which countries belong in the comparison. Capability, material access, order size, and qualification work matter as much as wage rates.
Comparing the new option with what you have
I compare landed cost, duplicated tooling, inspection, freight, duty, payment terms, inventory, and the cost of protecting the transition.
Making the second source usable
In 2019 I helped move a garment program from China to Pakistan. The work included supplier search, multiple factory visits, samples, first orders, and a landed cost about 30% below the previous program.