Contract manufacturing is fundamentally the purchase of a product. For any product purchase, the key terms are price, quantity and delivery date. And yet many buyers treat these key term as secondary issues. As buyers focus on exciting issues like product design and "getting to market", buyers frequently fall into a trap. They assume that price, quantity and delivery terms will never be an issue. When these issues arise, as they virtually always do, the product buyer is in a situation where it has little to no room to negotiate. The overseas factory is now in control, and then it springs the price trap.

It should go without saying that international product manufacturing costs are key for nearly all companies that manufacture in or secure their products from a foreign country. Most companies that manufacture in China would love to move their manufacturing out of China. But doing so is difficult for nearly all, and impossible for many. Product manufacturing costs are a huge factor in choosing a location for product manufacturing or outsourcing.  Over the last year, I have had probably more conversations about where companies should manufacture their products than in the prior five years combined. And those conversations have reminded me that many companies have too narrow a definition of product costs.