Gary Supeau is a sourcing professional with many tricks and tips of the trade that he has picked up through the years, as an international business expert and experienced world traveler. For over a decade, he worked for Cooper Instrument Corp, where the company’s imports included a variety of electrical components. “My job was to help maximize profitability, and the goods I imported were valued anywhere from $600,000 to $1 million a year,” says Gary Supeau.

Gary Supeau continues to travel abroad as needed, but during his years of constant traveling, he noticed a changing trend in imports. In the mid-1990s, Gary Supeau’s international trips increased dramatically. “Prior to 1989, I had never traveled to the Far East. Once importing picked up, I started traveling more often. I often went on trips twice a year,” says Gary Supeau. Most of his trips focused on sources in Korea, Taiwan, China, and Hong Kong.

As a sourcing expert, Gary Supeau recognized quality sources to keep in addition to source locations to avoid. “I had quality problems with China, although the pricing was favorable. Taiwan had the quality but did not have the same pricing,” says sourcing professional Gary Supeau. The country that competed best with China in terms of quality and pricing, according to Gary Supeau, was South Korea.

While working as a purchasing manager, Gary Supeau recognized that samples supplied by Asian manufactures were not representative of the entire company. “Components sent for samples were hand-picked. This meant that when components were mass produced, the quality would fall short of the samples originally sent,” says Gary Supeau.

With such an important position, Gary Supeau had to ensure the component quality he needed was strictly met. “The ideal source would have strict quality management in place. I looked for sources with qualified engineers on staff and, preferably, a company that was a little more bilingual,” says Gary Supeau.

Gary Supeau regularly worked with 12 to 15 sources. Many sources he found simply by keeping an ear out. “You can pick up a lot of sources by word-of-mouth,” says Gary Supeau. Many of the sources he picked up at airports or when clearing customs. Gary Supeau admits that when meeting a potential source, he would meet informally first, in the hotel lobby, and would then go to their office and factory if the business transaction were to continue.