The debate continues to rage in production and manufacturing circles over whether a local partner or a global partner is better for your business, with each side unsurprisingly championing whatever their designation happens to be. Really, what is best is usually apparent given the context of your desires and business plans.
Local Partners
Local partners are often tempting as they have some obvious benefits that will appeal to innate human nature – they’re closer to you, and the people who work at these companies will often look like you, speak the same language, have the same opinions, and like the same sports teams. In short, these companies are familiar, and working with one of them can be very satisfying, particularly if you want a quick turn-around and communication in the same time-zone. Depending on where you live, there are also probably some government incentives to a same-country partnership.
However, a friendly relationship at the beginning will quickly turn sour if you overlooked productivity and efficiency in the name of patriotic job creation. While there is generally better communication, more effective logistics, and streamlined management with local partners, you must weigh these benefits with a comparatively smaller market. If you have modest local or national goals for your medical products, then local may well work for you. However, if you have any aspirations of taking your products internationally, then choosing a local partner might be limited by their connections to global networks.
Global Partners
Probably the most positive aspect of global partners is their efficiency. These companies cannot become successful in international manufacturing without creating and refining systems to make sure that they can be productive, efficient, and profitable. Partnering with a global manufacturer will often also mean that you are getting more of an ‘all-in-one’ package: many global companies have their own supply chains and will monitor the entire production of your product – from material sourcing to distribution logistics. This often turns out to be cost-effective and much less of a hassle than having to deal with a dozen companies, each one in charge of a different aspect of production. The global partner also opens up a wider market for your product and can better handle large-scale projects.
However, it must be noted that if you put your project in the hands of a global company with pre-established systems and entrenched networks, you are going to be ceding a whole lot of control over to them. Don’t necessarily like the quality of adhesive going onto your product? Too bad – they’ve worked with this adhesive for years and that’s what they will use. There is also the potentially negative aspect of being lost in the ‘bigness’ of it all – can you count on a multi-national manufacturer to give your product the care and attention it deserves? A local producer might have a bit more of a ‘boutique’ feel to it – being able to focus on a dozen projects with great care rather than having to compete for attention with hundreds (if not thousands) of others when you’re with a global partner.
So ask yourself: are you going to market locally or internationally? How big is your project? Do you want to be hands-on or leave it in the partner’s hands? In short, your first decision is to figure out exactly what you want from your product before narrowing down what kind of manufacturing partner you would prefer to have.
For the previous blog in this mini-series, which looks into how to vet a potential medical manufacturing partner, please CLICK HERE.
To see our next blog in this mini-series, which looks into which Medical Manufacturing Services are right for you, please CLICK HERE.