Why I chose the Orient for our Plants Pt. 2!
My second visit to Sisoul in Qingdao within 12 months simply reinforced my initial opinion formed in January 2019. Happily, I can report that:
1. The pricing structure is lower due to their low-cost manufacturing base. This is not to say the plants are cheap, as with Sisoul, ISO 9000 certification means that we pay a premium over some of the really cheap plants but, you only get what you pay for and with cheap manufacture, you will definitely pay for what you get!
2. The time difference is 2 hours behind EST winter and 3 hours summer time, which means we can often have a reply for a customer the next day and as they also tend to work on Saturdays, Friday questions here often result in a Saturday evening or Monday morning reply.
3. With manufacturing standards, Chinese companies will always give you Chinese standards unless you request something different. We specify AS 1657, 1755, 3000 etc. and whilst we do pay a bit more for this, the cost is not outrageous and our customers do not have to outlay any money to bring equipment up to AS requirements.
4. Freight costs and shipping time.
4a. Shipping time averages around 21 days compared to 6-8 weeks from even Italy
4b. Container costs are around 3 times less for a 40′ container, i.e. $2000 vs 6,000.
multiply the difference by even 4 containers and you have already a significant price
advantage.
5. By supplying our Chinese colleagues with not just our standards, but actual detailed drawings of the various needs of platforms, ladders, safety guards and electrical colour coding, switches contactors etc., we ensure that we really do get what we pay for.
A relationship building dinner with Sisoul’s President and his lady department managers.
Good quality equipment, well constructed is available at a significant saving over European manufacture. The important point I make is that you should deal with an established Australian company – Bulk Handling Equipment Pty. Ltd., as we have laid the foundations for successful co-operation and our supplier knows what we require. If you deal directly with Chinese Companies and you are not specific in your requirements, then you will receive what they would normally supply, which is quite reasonable under the circumstances but it will not conform to AS requirements. That will be your fault for not being specific and not their fault for being unable to read your mind. It will also definitely be your problem later during Installation.