Disruption of supply chain has been a constant concern in the recent years. It's been a while when price and quality were the major factors in vendor selection. A whole new set of variables and factors have pulled companies to develop new ways to bring products to their market, emphasizing efficiency and reliability in the supply chain.
One of the biggest concerns for customers developing products or new lines of business is who to rely on, especially now with so many new suppliers, factories, trading companies popping out everyday, is getting harder and harder to identify professional suppliers from trading companies or low grade manufacturers. Some companies directly decide to set up sourcing offices and Quality inspection teams close to their suppliers to monitor production and have more objective information towards the vendor evaluation.
In the case of Bathroom furniture, especially when focusing on disruptive products such as Smart Mirrors, Led Mirrors or Smart furniture of any kind, choosing wisely is far more crucial due to the high complexity of this products which can often be overseen.
From our experience as Professional Manufacturers, there are couple of ways which companies can easily differentiate between Competent suppliers and Professional suppliers.
Look for Certified Suppliers
Real certified suppliers are hard to find, especially in China, some certifications like ISO and CE are not representative of the suppliers quality and process management anymore, especially due to the ease of obtaining this certifications these days.
Nevertheless, some certifications such as UL (Underwriters Laboratories) may serve as a better reference, for instance, ONLY manufacturers can obtain UL certification. The quality inspection standards and costs of obtaining this are among the highest in the industry and it is considered to be one of the most strict quality testing processes out there.
UL Certified suppliers can only use a selected range of high quality approved components to manufacture their products, and inspections are made every season to ensure manufacturers stick to the standards made to obtain this certification, therefore quality supplied becomes much more stable as long as the supplier maintains their certificate.
UL has an updated database online of all manufacturers that comply with their certification standards, you can revise your current supplier here.
Although this certification is not flawless, in some cases, unreliable suppliers will promote themselves as UL certified without being, using only the supply of UL certified components as proof of being compliant, which is not the same, is always advisable to ask for certification of the complete product and double check the supplier registration on UL database to make sure the manufacturer is constantly audited by Underwriters Laboratories.
Up to date Compliance
Regulations on different markets change often. Reliable suppliers have the capability of staying up to date and promptly deliver solutions for customers to avoid the potential legal risks. Also this is an indicator of the suppliers constant involvement in the market. As a distributor you always want to rely on a supplier that has proven experience and knows very well the needs of consumers for their products.
Constant Innovation
Innovation is the fuel that keeps a company growing, the capacity of improving products, processes and create new ideas to satisfy consumers needs are crucial to differentiate a dying business partner from a flourishing one and keep yourself with an edge over competitors.
Companies that have an innovative and a consistent offer of new products display a highly involved management and synergy. Also an efficient team of engineers and designers developing this products, which makes them much more reliable to supply the means to satisfy consumer needs .
Find the perfect balance in your supplier
Besides finding a very capable supplier, you want your manufacturer to be able to provide rates that are competitive for products to be attractive in the market .This can be hard to achieve since the very few top tier professional suppliers that lead the industry are usually overwhelmed by demand, nevertheless, you may still find Professional suppliers that can extend competitive rates, it all depends on how much you look out.
Attention to detail when comparing
When comparing quotes, not only focus on price but on the details and specs that this prices represent, fairly enough most suppliers will be trying to give fair prices to acquire your business, so differences in prices are always contrast in specifications and product design. For highly demanded markets, stick to certified products with good warranty policies and outstanding materials in their built., some differences you may find are:
- Glass: may it be Copper free mirror or Silver Mirror, usually the latter is not suitable for long term use on Bathrooms zone 2.
- Led Strip lifespan: ranging from 20,000 to 50,000 or more hours, which is quite a difference, this may also be reflected on a small fraction of price, but once compared with twice the lifespan you could get for it, usually higher lifespan Led Strips are worth the price gap.
- Higher brightness strips: you may compare CRI rates or lumens depending on the consumers perspective you are targeting, this parameters can make a huge difference on the mirrors performance and impact your sales, after all, Led Mirrors are chosen to light.
- Overall features: built-in functions such as dimming, multiple lighting tones and smart functions may add up in value to your customers and if correctly certified this functions may grant higher customer satisfaction at fair prices.
We dig deeper into the different Led components selected by different suppliers in our article Led Mirrors: Selecting the right components
Yoway Electric Technology Co. Ltd is a Professional Mirror UL Certified manufacturing company based in Tengzhou city, Shandong province.
We have been manufacturing and supplying Mirrors with LED Technology for the past 10 years to top distributors and importers worldwide.
For more information on what we do visit our website www.yowaymirror.com or drop an email at info@yowaymirror.com.
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