TLSourcing
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Process

From enquiry to loading.

Six steps, in this order. The timeframes are typical for a product of moderate complexity; they shift when tooling has to be built or certificates obtained. We would rather quote an honest timeline than an optimistic one.

Timeline of a sourcing project Bar chart across 20 weeks: brief one week, search and pre-selection two weeks, quotations and comparison one week, samples four weeks, production around 30 days, inspection and loading one to two days, sea freight around 45 days. Around three months to loading, around four and a half to arrival. Start 4 weeks 8 12 16 20 Brief 1 week Search & pre-selection 2 weeks Quotations & comparison 1 week Samples 2–5 weeks, often two rounds Production approx. 30 days from order Inspection & loading 1–2 days Sea freight to Europe approx. 45 days Loading after about 3 months Arrival after about 4½
The durations add up; they do not run alongside each other. Purple is what we control, light purple the production inside the factory, grey the freight. Figures for a product of moderate complexity without dedicated tooling — holidays in Asia and a third sample round push the picture noticeably to the right.
01

Brief

We establish what the product must do and how it will be judged: function, dimensions, material, quantity for the first order, target price, deadline and the market it is sold into. Whatever you have — a drawing, a photograph, a competitor's product, a sample — helps. None of it is a precondition.

One or two conversations.
Result: a written specification both sides would sign.
02

Search and pre-selection

We identify manufacturers, approach them directly and sort them out: who produces in-house, who only trades? Who has export experience into the EU? Who gives a usable answer at all? A large share drops out at this stage, before you see a single name.

Roughly one to two weeks, depending on product and region.
03

Quotations and comparison

Quotations are brought onto the same basis — same specification, same quantity, same trade term. Only then are prices comparable. You receive the overview with price breaks, MOQ, lead time and payment terms, plus our notes and a recommendation.

About a week after quotations come in.
Result: a decision on who makes samples.
04

Samples

Samples are requested, checked and assessed. Deviations go back in writing and with photographs; the factory confirms the change before anything moves on. A second round if needed. The approved sample stays with us as the reference for mass production.

Two to five weeks including shipping.
Considerably longer with dedicated tooling.
05

Order

Specification, quantity, price, trade term, dates, packaging and inspection criteria are fixed in a document you can rely on later. Payment goes directly from you to the manufacturer; we do not hold client funds.

Production typically 30 to 60 days from confirmed order.
06

Inspection and loading

Inspection during production and before loading, to the agreed plan. You receive the report with photographs and a recommendation: accept, rework or stop. Then handover to your freight forwarder, or to a partner if you do not have one yet.

Inspection one to two days.
Sea freight Asia – Europe typically 30 to 45 days.

Plan for this

What actually breaks the schedule.

Not to lower expectations, but so you can plan around it. Almost every delay comes from one of these four corners.

Holidays

Chinese New Year stops production for two to four weeks; before it everything is overbooked, after it staff are missing. Tết in Vietnam falls in the same window. An order placed in January does not ship in February.

Sample rounds

A second or third round is normal, not an exception. Plan for it and you lose nothing; argue it away and you get it anyway — later and at higher cost.

Certificates and testing

Test reports for the European market take time and require a finished production sample. That cannot be run in parallel with production.

Freight

Space and rates swing sharply with the season. A finished order waiting two weeks for a slot is not unusual.

Where are you right now?

Product idea or finished drawing — twenty minutes on a call is enough to work out what the sensible next step is.

Arrange a call