More and more companies want or need to make their supply chains more resilient and are therefore now looking for new or additional suppliers in India. A wide variety of companies have approached us with this question in the last few months - including those that are only implementing a “pilot project” in India or have an annual turnover of around one million euros, or have their own small assembly facility on site.

For all of these companies, cost savings are not the top priority of the project goals, but rather (market) proximity and independence. The tense political situation between India and China and the industrial policy of the Modi government (Atmanirbhar Bharat = “Self-Reliant India”) are further reasons to establish sustainable local suppliers in India, especially if you want to be active in sales on the subcontinent in the medium to long term. Short routes, protection from tariffs and of course greater competitiveness are the primary goals.

India is now tempting those who are thinking about setting up local manufacturing themselves with tax breaks and subsidies. These are applicable to all foreign companies that set up production facilities in India - including for export.

Every supplier search begins with exploring dozens of potential manufacturers for a defined part. Even though this screening begins with “desk research,” the process does not start from scratch. Since our research team in India has already carried out sourcing projects in all relevant industries, you can use existing lists when conducting research and contact qualified companies earlier. The customer commissions and authorizes us to do this by means of an “Authorization Letter”. We can then act on behalf of the searching company and can expect the Indian companies to be serious when we approach them when it comes to answering our questions or an RFQ (Request for Quotation). Of course, before exchanging any specifications, you must first NDA be signed.

In order to guarantee our client's property rights and copyrights, only a few components of a complete product are requested from each supplier. This can minimize the risk and prevent an Indian manufacturer from building and selling the entire product in its own name based on the specification.

At the beginning of the search process, target prices and a catalog of criteria are defined. In order to avoid any uncertainty, the same offer, payment and business conditions are used (e.g. Ex Works, without taxes, freight and packaging). The technical requirements include the equipment of the machinery, quality standards, export experience and capacities. In addition, so-called “soft” factors – such as interest and response behavior – are also included in the supplier evaluation.

With the help of a comprehensive evaluation scheme, our industry experts reduce the “Longlist“ to a few potential companies (Shortlist). We then enter into further discussions with these companies, including sample construction and supplier audits on site. At the end of the selection process, a contract is concluded with the most suitable supplier. We also support our customers in the sample delivery phase with the corresponding documentation up to the SOP (start of production).

Most of the work (research, contact and communication with the Indian manufacturers etc.) is carried out by our Indian research team. In any case, the contact person for the customer is an experienced manager with relevant industry experience in Europe, such as Bernd Meissnerwho coordinates the measures.