There are a number of challenges to overcome in international procurement, such as cultural and language barriers, lack of customer knowledge about suppliers, insufficient communication and contact with suppliers, and lack of professional staff for process audits. Process and product audits are performed to assess the quality capability of a product/product group and its processes, during product development or serial production development or service implementation. Unlike a system audit, which evaluates the completeness and effectiveness of the basic requirements of the quality management system, the product audit is used to evaluate the quality characteristics of product.

Sourcing from abroad can have many advantages, e.g., you can achieve higher cost-efficiency and enlarge the product portfolio. However, due to the geographic and cultural distance, communication and processes can be non-transparent. When small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in Europe source from China, with more than 8.000 km between them, especially when customer capacity is limited, the challenge can become highly complex. In the following, we will share five kinds of challenges we faced in the course of our long-time experience of international sourcing and our advice to overcome them.

Introduction: The German (Federal) Parliament approved the “Supply Chain Due Diligence Act” (hereinafter referred to as the "Supply Chain Act") on June 11, 2021. The „Supply Chain Act” will come into force on January 1, 2023. This article will analyze the impact of the “Supply Chain Act” on German companies’ sourcing in China.

Sourcing from abroad can be an attractive option for many industrial companies to achieve further cost advantages and innovative solutions. However, when customers and suppliers are located in different countries, language, time, and cultural differences can cause non-transparencies in project management. Not every company can manage project management efficiently, which is a foundation for a successful business.