Client background: American high-end ladies’ bags are retailed in shops, e-commerce, and social media. Their finished products and raw materials were previously sourced in Mexico and Europe, but due to quality control and production lead time issues, the client began to turn to China for sourcing.

Client brand: Zendira

The client gave the twist lock product request by email: ***pcs (***sets).

1. Hallosourcing gave the client a quotation for the product and a pro forma invoice. The client arranged payment for the order on 2022-09-05.

2. The production lead time was 15 days, i.e. the delivery time was on 2022-09-20.

• The factory is short of copper accessories

The supplier informed us that there was a very small copper fitting inside of the twist lock and that the previous copper fitting supplier did not make it anymore and it did not have enough stock for the order quantity. Therefore, the supplier had to find a new accessory factory. However, as this twist lock is a patented product of the supplier, it is difficult to find the same product and it will take some extra time to find a supplier to make this product. Fewer suppliers in the market can do this type of twist lock, and even fewer can meet this plating process.

The client’s order quantity is small, only *** pieces, and the new supplier makes this product with 1000pcs MOQ. It will also incur a mold fee ranging from $280 to $460. After communicating with the client, the client confirmed that he needed the shipment to be completed in October, so we got some extra time and the supplier could try to find some more suppliers for comparison and finalization.References to commercially available climbing buckles are as follows:

1. We sent an e-mail to inform the client of the reason for the extension of the order and the progress of the order.

2. The supplier found another supplier and arranged for samples, informing the client that we would follow up on the progress of the samples.

1. The samples were received and compared with the original samples as follows.

	Picture	Height	Diameter	Colour	Pattern
Original  Twist Lock		6cm	4.5mm	Light Gold	Stripe
New Sample		6.2cm	5mm	Gold	Stagger Cross Grain

2. The plating seal oil was sticking and the twist lock could not spring back in the pressed position.We communicated with the client about the problem and confirmed that the color difference would be solved during mass production and that the colors would be as consistent as possible.

We communicated with the supplier to reduce the amount of fuel injection at the lock hole, that is, to solve the problem that the lock press could not rebound.

and the client confirmed that mass production could be arranged.

The production time was about 10 days and delivery was tentatively scheduled for 2022-10-15 due to the National Day holiday. Delivery time was slightly delayed due to the local epidemic.

The client received a large shipment of *** twist locks and the color differs somewhat from the sample color, but the color is more premium than that of the sample. The springback issue had improved.

Hallosourcing counted the quantity and checked the quality of the twist locks one by one, packed them as shown, then arranged for a large shipment to be delivered to the client’s address. The order ended.

Summary:

1. This order should have gone smoothly because the client had already purchased the Monday Bag product from us and the twist lock was a Monday Bag twist lock. However, due to special reasons, the accessory supplier no longer produces the parts, and there are patent issues with the product parts, so this twist lock is difficult to buy in the market. In addition, due to the small number of orders, it is difficult to restore 100% of the product, and there is a basic order quantity and molding cost involved.

2. Twist lock hardware is functional hardware. In this industry, the scrap rate is relatively high, normally 20-30%, from embryo making to plating to assembly. The twist lock structure of our order is even more special, with a scrap rate of up to 50%. This is the reason why twist locks are generally more expensive than other hardware. Due to our lack of understanding of the market, we did not arrange for the factory to make more spares in advance, resulting in this order having the same quantity as the order itself and no spare spares. Before placing subsequent orders, we need to learn from experience and understand the market situation before placing orders with suppliers to prepare the appropriate proportion of spare parts.