Parkas & Windbreakers Report — Supplier Profile — Sample Pages: Sourcing Parkas & Windbreakers from China

Supplier Profile: China National Group Co. Ltd

China National Group Co. Ltd is a Japan-invested supplier of parkas and windbreakers based in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, whose 500-worker factory focuses on high-volume production of midrange and high-end jackets primarily for the Japan market. OEM orders account for 60 percent of exports and ODM 30 percent, and the company also markets products under its in-house cnclady brand. A new factory was being built in Yixing, about 100 km from the current site, with a total area of 30,000 square metres; the first phase, covering 12,000 square metres, entered operation in October 2005. Apart from jackets, the company makes shirts and sweaters for export.

Windbreakers, down jackets and parkas account for more than one-third of output, priced at around US$20 each, mainly with micro suede or polyester taffeta shells and down padding, using zippers, snaps, buttons and toggles for closure, and without hoods. Materials are sourced from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, or imported from Japan, South Korea and Taiwan at buyers' request. The 30-member R&D team releases 20 to 30 new styles for the autumn/winter and spring/summer seasons, with counter samples in three to five days when raw materials are in stock; new releases include jackets with shirt-style sleeve cuffs and models sold with a matching sweater. Because of higher labor costs — government requirements for better benefits and insurance alone raise labor costs by about 10 percent — prices were to rise 10 to 15 percent. In manufacturing, the cutting workshop plans layouts to maximize usage, reaching a 90 percent fabric utilization rate for jackets, with each cut piece examined for stains, oil, grease or holes; two sewing workshops run local and imported mechanical and computerized machines, embroidery and crochet work go to subcontractors, and all finished garments are visually inspected before packing.

What a Full Profile Adds

The sample shows the profile template at work: company background and markets first, then products with price ranges, then manufacturing and research capability, then outlook. Across all 87 profiles that single template is the point — every manufacturer is examined on the same points, so a buyer can line profiles up and compare export shares, OEM and ODM mix, design capacity, quality systems and price positioning without translating between formats. Details such as a production checklist — lines, research and quality control staff, machinery and processes — turn a profile from a description into an audit summary.

Profiles also connect back to the rest of the report. A supplier's prices can be checked against the product gallery's 174 models and the industry overview's price trends, and its outlook against the supplier survey. When the three agree, a buyer has a supplier worth sampling; when they disagree, the profile has done its other job — showing where to ask harder questions before an order is placed.

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