In today’s supply chain industry, anything is possible: buy far or closer. But it is essential to have a local and trustworthy partner. Thanks to our business model, an opportunity for development presented itself to us and we seized it: we opened a sourcing office in Tunisia.
North Africa as an alternative to Asia!
Every day, we receive new requests and expectations from our customers. Especially since the Covid-19 pandemic has led many companies to question the reorganization of their production value chains.
Their objective? To be less dependent on offshore in Asia.
And it’s a good thing, because, on the other side of the Mediterranean, Tunisia and Morocco offer this opportunity of Nearshore sourcing of manufactured products. Thus, with a shortened supply chain, we can better meet the needs and expectations of our customers.
The benefits of a shorter supply chain
We believe there are three factors that explain the growing popularity of near-sourcing:
- Smaller production capacity: Until now, when sourcing globally, companies had an incentive to order in large quantities to make their purchases profitable. With our suppliers located in the Maghreb, we can now organize smaller deliveries to meet changing needs and speed up time-to-market.
- Fast delivery in Europe: when our manufacturers and suppliers are located in Tunisia, the transit time is considerably reduced for our European customers. In order to provide them with a quick response to their needs, we require shorter shipping times.
- A certain agility in the adaptation of manufacturing or the design of specific models. With the new means at our disposal, our customers can now manage their purchases with more flexibility, better control and more autonomy
Eastwise now present in 7 countries
Eastwise has been present in Asia for 15 years and supports its customers in all the tasks of a sourcing office, from the identification and management of suppliers to shipping, including the definition of technical standards and quality control.
When one of our historical customers asked us to accompany him in Tunisia to manage one of his suppliers, to set up the quality protocol in force within his Asian factories and a quality control before shipping, we immediately said yes!
Then, in just three months, we recruited a quality engineer on site, in Tunis, and we trained her in our internal processes, so that she could visit the factory site frequently.
After one year, and despite the constraints linked to the Covid pandemic, our client renewed our mission, validating at the same time the quality of the Tunisian know-how. Eastwise is now officially present in 7 countries!
Setting up a near sourcing with the Maghreb allows our clients to increase their resilience while diversifying their sources and observing the industrial evolutions in these fields. In the coming years, more and more products could be relocated closer to their consumer markets. Eastwise has simply chosen to anticipate this trend by opening an office in Tunisia today and relocating part of its senior management to Europe!
