Doing business in China is tougher than you think. Not only is the culture vastly different, but China's experience in manufacturing is still developing. It will be a few years before the majority of manufacturers are up to world standards. In the meantime, quality, contract laws, schedules and logistics must be closely monitored. As a result, the things Westerners must do to be successful are far different from dealing with American or European manufacturers. The best way to quickly come up to speed on these differences and how to handle them is to learn from the experience of others.

Through over 20 extraordinary executive interviews, Rosemary Coates captured the essence of sourcing and manufacturing in China. '42 Rules for Sourcing and Manufacturing in China (2nd Edition)' is a pragmatic approach that every businessperson headed to China must read.

For business people who are experienced in doing business in China, or for first-time visitors, this book will provide valuable insights from real executives and experts. These executives offer their personal experiences and recommendations about sourcing and manufacturing in China. Going beyond simple cultural do's and don'ts, you will discover: how business is really done how you can make things happen in China the mistake westerners often make, and how to avoid them what made these executives successful

Based on her 25 years of supply chain experience, much of it spent living and working across Asia, Rosemary Coates has become an expert on doing business in China. Her own personal experiences in China are interwoven into this book.

With few exceptions, the service business is viewed as a "necessary evil." Servicing products, after they are sold and in customers' hands, is frequently overlooked and can be a source of customer dissatisfaction and profit loss. This thinking results in missed opportunities to convert customers into advocates and to generate significant business revenue.

If you are in the field service business, you should be designing solutions that benefit the customer and are profitable for your company. This includes developing a field service strategy, organizing the service business, optimizing field inventories, implementing Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and tailoring sales incentives.

Complicating field service operations in today's environment is the global nature of the installed base and where in the world your products and spares are manufactured. Sourcing global parts, managing the parts supply chain and the investment required are the things that keep managers up at night.

This book provides 42 essential rules to benchmark and develop a global service business. You will learn: How to develop a profitable field service strategy and organization How to survey customers and drive improvement in field service operations The impact of poor field service on the bottom line What to do in an emergency What to consider when developing field repair inventories What systems and tools to consider ...and much more

Rosemary Coates and Jim Reily have a combined 50+ years of global manufacturing and field service experience from companies such as Hewlett Packard and Cisco as well as the US Military. In addition they have worked on consulting engagements with a proven track record of amazing field service results. They offer insights and recommendations based on real-world experience

Since the 1980's industrial buying has gone from getting three quotes and executing a three-part carbon paper Purchase Order typed on an IBM Selectric typewriter, to a sophisticated electronic environment where information is available at the buyer's computer command. With the introduction of ERP systems buyers can now assemble historical buy information, supplier history and performance, develop RFPs, RFQs and enable reverse auctions. Electronically, buyers can exchange offers with suppliers and transmit Purchase Orders via EDI. Procurement is now taught at the undergraduate and graduate levels as part of Supply Chain Management programs at universities around the world. Students emerging from graduate programs are more strategic thinkers and have a much broader understanding of business as ecosystems. Sellers are also getting more sophisticated. By doing online research, they have a much better understanding of their competition and of their company. They can quote from your annual report and cite your CEO's direction for the near future. Through email they may be talking to many other people in the company, selling to the business and bypassing Purchasing like never before. They too, are better educated and sell value-based solutions. Gone are the days of taking buyers to lunch and expecting a purchase order in return. And finally, deals have changed. Today, deals are rarely about just one price for one product. Buyers now find themselves buying products and services that include software, maintenance agreements, training, field service, supplier-managed inventory and a host of other things. Requirements are based on tight forecasts, Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP), and Lean principles. Buys are likely to be international, whether the buyer is purchasing from a local distributor or buying directly from overseas. Internal buying is complicated by currency, culture, communications and global time zones. All of this means more complexity in every buy as well as many new opportunities for far better negotiations. This book is written by two people with 50 plus years of experience on both the buy and sell sides of deals. The benefit to readers is an understanding of holistic thinking and analysis based on multiple internal customer needs on the buy side and multiple stakeholders on the sales side.