Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) 

Medustar Sourcing Solutions enable our customers to achieve competitive advantage by working directly with Chinese medical suppliers. We are your independent and transparent sourcing project officers. We are your virtual China sourcing office and are involved in every phase of your order, from pre-production sampling, production inspections, factory audits, quality control inspections, product testing and labelling, to shipping the product direct to your warehouse.

Medustar Export Services is able to assist you with strategic business development advice about sales and marketing, distributor selection, business development and operations, and medical regulatory strategies in the Chinese markets.

If you are interested in having your product sourced from China or Taiwan, you would do best in collecting the following information as a basis to start a product search request with us:

l  Drawings/blueprints or samples

l  Technical specification including details of the materials 

l  Time requirement and term of shipments

l  Quality inspection requirements

l  Packaging requirements

l  Current product price and target cost

The more accurate your information, the better we will be to negotiate the lowest price possible. Remember we're working directly for you as your sourcing project manager in China, and hope to do so for a long time to come. China is the manufacturing hub of the world. If you can dream it, we can probably source it.

2. What is a key step in the sourcing process?

Choosing the right factory is a key step in the sourcing process. AMS has more than 30,000 manufacturers' databases that are in accordance with our selection procedure and to find suitable potential suppliers for you:

Any information provided by our clients will be treated in strictest confidentiality. Should the project require it, we can work out a Non Disclosure Agreement. In any event, please inform us about especially sensitive information that we can take sufficient precaution.

4. Can quality standards be reached?

Manufacturers in China and Taiwan are making great strides in improving their products and service quality. In many fields they are already capable of meeting world-class quality standards such as CE mark, ISO13485, ISO9001, etc. But it is still not perfect. So it’s important to have quality assured from sampling to the final product by someone who can be on site and understands the clients’ quality requirements.

5. What minimum quantities are required?

Quantity depends on the product including product value, type of product, product dimensions, frequency of purchase, etc. The minimum quantities we normally advice would be at least AUD200,000 per year.

6. How long does the process take?

For a product search, it greatly depends on how complex your product is and whether we have already a good supplier relationship to build upon. We can normally produce a quote for you within 2-3 weeks.The completion of the production process also depends on the product complexity and the capacity of the suppliers. On average production may take 4-8 weeks.

The shipping of the goods from China to Australia takes about 3 weeks by sea. Taking unexpected delaying factors into account, the whole process can be a fairly lengthy. Therefore, China sourcing is typically considered as long-term strategic decisions.

7. Are there any up-front fees?

If you provide a concrete product request and an order contract, we can offer you a product sourcing project with an all-inclusive FOB/CIF price, where you don’t have to pay up-front fees.

However, if your product search is more of an explorative kind, for instance, to search quotes for your own benchmarking or to set-up a new product with unknown demand, we would offer you consulting services fees such as design services, accompanied site visits, quality inspection, customs clearance and delivery fee, which are always agreed with the client beforehand.

8. How do I pay?

We mostly quote in FOB China. Factory in China typically work with T/T payments or L/C (Irrevocable Letter of Credits).

9. Why shouldn’t I just use a Chinese agent that will source products for 5% commission?

On the internet, you can find agents who will source your products for a commission of around 5%. However, most of these agents are profit-driven and they may also receive a commission from the manufacturer or trading company who supplies your products. Also they may refer your business to the supplier which offers them the highest commission, even if these products are not the most suitable products for you.

10. How much money can be saved?

The exact total saving depends greatly on the products and services you require. Compared with manufacturing in Australia, savings of 30%-50% of total cost would normally be expected. Please contact us to find out how much savings you can make through us. 

To arrange a no-obligation, no-cost first meeting, or to talk over a project, please call us on 02-8850 1681 or email us on info@medustar.com.au

   Tel:+61 2 8850 1681       Fax:+61 2 9680 4568     

Postal address: PO Box 2008, Castle Hill, NSW 1765      Email: info@medustar.com.au

MeduStar Healthcare