There are benefits and disadvantages to both approaches. A company must acquire a set of basic capabilities for outsourcing, such as the expertise to evaluate a supplier’s ability to meet requirements; test preproduction prototypes; create samples; and fulfill logistic activities such as setting up a bonded warehouse. It is very common for a company to work initially with U.S.-or China-based agents until the internal staff is trained to deal directly with the Chinese suppliers. Nevertheless, if your company sources more than $100 million a year in products from China, it makes economic sense to have a unit that can go directly to the suppliers. However, certain agents are skilled at handling complex product categories, and a healthy flow of agents can provide useful information about changes in the marketplace.