--How did you get started in China?
We had some experience in that when we had a distribution center for the company we were distributing for [prior to launching Tifosi], but really for our product category there is no domestic production for sunglasses. Whether they are $200 or $5, they are all made in China. It really wasn’t that much of a discussion for us. There is some production in Europe, but the quality isn’t good.
Frankly, we had a price point we wanted to hit at retail, but we had to start in China. It was not really an option to do them there.
--Do you own the facility or do you just partner with/buy from a manufacturer there?
There are multiple facilities that we work with, as many as five different factories that make product for us. Each facility might have multiple lines, so why they are injecting frames in one area, they might be boxing products, cutting lenses, etc. in other parts. They are likely working on 20-30 sunglass company products at a time. We really don’t have any financial interest in our factories, we don’t own any part of it. We say ‘hey these are the specs, the mold finish, these are the colors.’ On some products we supply the lenses from Europe.
We have a certain contact within each company, essentially an inside sales person. For the most part you deal with the factory, and their English is not perfect, but as long as you are communicating through e-mail, it works. I’ve been at trade shows in Europe and Asia and you have people talking to each other in English – it is the common language for business. Most communication is done via e-mail, but it has gotten easier with Skype, which is a free, web based program.”
--How did you go about finding a manufacturing partner in China?
We got on line and started looking. I also went over for a large optical trade show, and met with 300 different optical companies while I was there. On that trip we found three or four companies that could do what we were looking for. They all say they can do what you want, but getting the level of quality you want at the end of the day is harder to achieve. You can’t leave a lot up to interpretation.
--How do you approach the logistical challenges (shipping, etc.) of manufacturing your product internationally?
One person here who does all of that. I used to do all of the ordering. We have one woman, and her whole job is inventory control, communicating with vendors, etc. Our lead time can go from as few as 60 days to as much as 120 and 150 days -- we basically have so much coming, we get weekly updates and decide how to ship them. Managing our inventory has become a bigger challenge as we have grown. We have to plan very far out – for example, we know in Jan. or Feb. what we’ll discontinue for the next year and plan for the inventory.
--How often do you or one of your senior staffers visit China?
On average once a year. We meet with our vendors more often than that at shows in the U.S. or Europe, that way we can fly 7-8 hours vs. the 20 hours to meet with them on development stuff. The main reason we meet with them is for new product development which can’t be done over phone or e-mail.
--How has working with China benefitted your company and the local economy?
We started in April of 2003 and while yes our frames are injected in China (there is no way we can do that here), this was critical for our business model. But if you count full and part time jobs, we have created 16 and 17 jobs at Tifosi in a five year span. Did we take those jobs away from an American manufacturer? I don’t think so. But did we add to the local economy? Sure. This is a pretty good area to live in, good area to hire employees, and we get good people because of that. We have people move here from California and other places, so from that side, we have certainly helped the local economy.
--Do you see much in common between Athens (or Atlanta) and the places you have visited in China?
We do a lot of our manufacturing in a “small town” of 4 ½ million people, and four of [our factories] are in that area. What surprised me is that when you went there, it was a lot more spread out than I expected, it was spread out like Atlanta – it was not like Hong Kong. Driving is the scariest thing. In maybe seven miles from the airport, we saw three accidents. And I mean we either saw them happen or arrived just after they occurred. Basically they get out and check the cars and if they are okay they keep driving. Culturally it is as foreign to here as any place I have been from food to customs to decorations. To me there’s not a lot in common there.
--What has been your biggest "lesson learned" from doing business internationally?
Well, we learned a lot about patents. But one of the biggest things we learned goes back to the communication thing – We’ve had products come in and not be what we expected them to be in production. The bottom line is you have to be very detailed when dealing with Asian production. Every little thing needs to be spelled out, every finite little detail, with absolutely no room for interpretation, especially from an artistic standpoint. The look and cosmetics of things is critical for our product and the judgment of our partners is not the same as an American consumer’s judgment. You can’t leave anything up to chance when specifying things. They can make things as nice as you absolutely want, but if you’re not detailed enough they’ll make a thousand of them, it’ll be the same every time.
--Do you think a UGA-China relationship could benefit your business?
