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Offshore Manufacturing FAQ

1. What are some best practices of working with offshore die casting and manufacturing suppliers?
2. What is meant by "FOB Taiwan" on your quote? What are some common shipping arrangements when sourcing from offshore (such as from your Taiwan or China factories) and what are their costs and timelines?

Q. What are some best practices of working with offshore die casting and manufacturing suppliers?

The key to a successful offshore die casting and manufacturing project is to recognize and focus on the right success metric, the Total Cost of Manufacturing, which consists of the following:

• Tooling and per-part cost—as reflected in suppliers' quotes, this is where most offshore suppliers have a significant advantage; what are sometimes overlooked, especially by less experienced buyes, are the next two equally important factors:
• Project management overhead—mainly dictated by communication efficiency between design engineers and the supplier regarding design, specifications, manufacturability consultation, and changes. Ideally the design engineers should communicate directly with the manufacturing engineers.
• Quality of product and support.

Q. What is meant by "FOB Taiwan" on your quote? What are some common shipping arrangements when sourcing from offshore (such as from your Taiwan or China factories) and what are their costs and timelines?

We typically quote one of the following for shipping charges:

• FOB (Free On Board), as in "FOB Taiwan" - we (as seller) pay and assume risk for transportation of the goods to the port of shipping (from Taiwan in this example) and the cost of loading the goods on board the cargo ship.
• CIF (Cost Insursance & Freight) - We secure Freight and Insurance. Buyer is then responsible for all costs once the shipment reaches the port of destination.
• Door-to-Door - We arrange for Freight of the product. All the transportation fees—including Insurance and Freight—will be paid by Magic Precision.

We use one of the following shipping arrangements, depending on timing requirement:

• Express Air - About 3 days, via one of the common carries like UPS, FedEx, or DHL.
• Air - 7-10 days.
• Ocean (freight) - 1 month. This is most economical (typically at only 1-2% of part cost).