Do you often encounter this problem in your sourcing process? When you need to purchase many kinds of goods from China, but these goods are produced in different factories, and these factories may be located in different cities, how to transport these goods to the United States together in the cheapest way?
The cheapest, fastest and most trouble-free way is to use consolidation, which is the method of consolidating goods from different factories to one of the factories and then entrusting the logistics company to load the containers for transportation together.
Is consolidation easy to operate? What things need to pay attention to?
How to determine the consolidation point?
To determine the consolidation point, you need to consider three elements:
Weight and quantity of goods, for example: you purchase portable mobile power from our factory (A), headset from factory (B), smart watch from factory (C), wireless headset from factory (D); obviously the weight of our products is several times of other products, then you should consider factory (A) as your collection point.
Location of each factory: You can use the map to mark out the location of each factory and choose the factory located in the middle as the collection point.
Storage space: The factory at the collection point should have enough storage space and conditions to store your goods for a short time.
What transportation methods or logistic companies can be used to collect goods? How much do they cost?
Road transportations and railroad transportations are available for movement of cargoes between provinces and cities of China, but railroad transportations are slower in time;
Excellent logistics companies in the field of transportation of bulky cargoes are: Cross-Speed Transport, Deppon Logistics.
The transportation time across the province is usually 3~4 days, and the transportation cost per KG is between 0.176~0.25 USD.
Who will keep the goods at the collection point?
When the cargo is handed over to the collection point, it should be kept by the factory at the collection point for the safety of the cargo.
Who is responsible for the loading and handling of the containers?
The factory at the collection point is responsible for this work, which should be reflected in the product purchase contract.
What are the terms to be agreed with the factory when drawing up the procurement contract?
The purchase contract with the factory at the consolidation point should clearly define that they are responsible for the custody of the goods received and for the loading of all goods; the final cost of international transportation should be quoted separately before the goods are shipped and should not be included in the purchase price of the product
Purchase contracts with non-collection point factories should clearly define that they need to transport the goods safely to the collection point factory and handle the handover of goods with the factory; their product quotation should preferably be EXW + road transportation charges.
Who submits the bill of lading and the final packing list to you?
The factory at the collection point submits all documents.
Summarize
As much as possible, you should purchase the goods together; if the products belong to different industries, you should also try to avoid the distance between factories is too far, which will increase the cost and time of land transportation.
In the same way, you can transport goods from different factories together to any country in the world.
