How to Avoid Common Pitfalls in Offshore Manufacturing

Offshore manufacturing can be convenient for businesses looking to decrease costs without having to entirely outsource work. Choosing the right offshore manufacturing solutions can open your business up to the full benefits of this model.

What Is Offshore Manufacturing?

Offshore manufacturing entails leaving manufacturing and production processes to facilities located outside of the country. Through offshore manufacturing, businesses can save money while ensuring operations remain efficacious and profitable. 

The main difference between outsourcing and offshoring comes down to how you want to manage key processes. While outsourcing limits your control over operations, offshore manufacturing can give you direct control for more consistent results.

How to Avoid Common Pitfalls in Offshore Manufacturing

If you’re considering offshore manufacturing for your organization, there are some potential pitfalls you’ll want to avoid. Below are some common challenges to consider before choosing your approach.

Disconnect Between Offshore Team and Head Office

Unreliable offshoring operations could lead to a disconnect in your larger team. Over time, poor communication between departments can decrease productivity and hurt operations. You’ll want to work with an offshoring partner who can maintain consistent communications and facilitate integration across the company, treating partner functions as an extension of your team rather than a separate entity. 

Inadequate Offshore Team Management

Choosing an offshoring partner with poor management can negatively impact operations. Look for an offshore provider with effective senior management skills or a local middle management-level professional. The right individual will actively manage relationships between your organization and the offshore provider, fostering a healthy connection that aligns teams across operations.

Lack of Control

Some companies may be reluctant to use offshore manufacturing and hand over manufacturing work to a third party. However, working with a third party doesn’t mean you will lose control over key processes. 

You can ensure accountability across every element of your business with the right offshoring partner. Your partner should empower you to train, hire, and otherwise manage manufacturing operations as needed. The key is finding a partner who respects the core values of your business and can properly integrate them into their processes.

Quality of Job Candidates

There’s also the risk of having low-quality work and unqualified members of your offshore workforce with the wrong partner. The right offshore manufacturing company will give you access to the most qualified candidates located abroad, whether your operations take place in India, the Philippines, or another country. 

Look for a partner who is eager to balance any strategic weak points you have, rather than compromise quality in favor of lower costs.

Quality of Collaboration

Your offshore manufacturing processes should benefit from good, effective collaboration that helps drive your company forward. While layoffs and a degree of demotivation among staff are inevitable, recognizing the scale of the tasks at hand and discussing your approach with your partner can help you maintain a positive working environment.

As the workforce adjusts and fluctuates, you can take additional steps to maintain effective operations and ensure that your workforce remains productive and efficient, whether at home or abroad. If you incentivize and reward collaboration, you will see your team’s efforts and overall productivity grow.

Learn more about “How to Find and Maintain a Good Offshore Manufacturing Partnership” in our eBook here! 

Get the Right Offshore Manufacturing Services at Source International

If you need to outsource your manufacturing processes, Source International can help. We work to ensure your business never suffers from unreliable or low-quality offshoring. Our contract manufacturing outsourcing solutions can help you cut down on costs and strategically grow your team.

We have spent decades growing our professional base. Our U.S. headquarters are in Louisville, Kentucky with overseas operational offices in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, and Xiamen, China. Our services remain transparent and collaborative to give you access to highly skilled teams while maintaining control over manufacturing.

Contact us today for more information about our offshore manufacturing solutions or to request a quote.