Ningbo FOTILE Kitchen Ware Co., Ltd.: Multi-operating links to support suppliers and realize win-win cooperation

Company Profile
Ningbo FOTILE Kitchen Ware Co., Ltd. (“FOTILE” in short below)  was found in 1996, and its business covers kitchen appliances, integrated kitchen and overseas business. FOTILE brand focuses on built-in kitchen appliances business with seven product lines, namely range hood, built-in Sterilizer, built-in cooker, built-in oven, built-in microwave, built-in steam box and water heater. It has become the first brand of high-end kitchen electricity in China.
Challenges
 For a long time, the enterprises in kitchen utensils industry chain in China have developed rapidly, but the production of equipment and materials in the upstream is not standardized and, enterprise competitiveness is weak. as one of leading enterprises, how to establish an effective mechanism to help the upstream enterprises standardize their development to further enhance the competitiveness, and help itself to realize collaborative innovation, improve the quality, reliability and safety of the product under the "integrated kitchenware” industry development trend, is a challenge that FOTILE has to face.
Solutions
FOTILE sets "common progress and mutual win-win" as one of its sustainable development strategies, and set up supplier management and cooperation system consistent with the design, production, sales, service, and many other operating links
Systematic management support 
For partner selection, FOTILE will send procurement, quality and technology executive team to make on-the-spot investigation and evaluation on suppliers, ans approve the basic qualified suppliers. For some suppliers who fall short in quality, environment and safety management system, FOTILE will select some of them to launch “Black Soil” program each year to provide technical training, on-site guidance, the second-party audit for suppliers to help them improve quality level and management ability. Meanwhile, FOTILE also promotes its corporate culture to the supplier employees, outputs the enterprise culture management experience and invite consulting companies to provide improved program for strategic supplier to enhance the overall management level of the supplier partners.
The technology development and cooperation based on assessment and incentives 
FOTILE uses the "supplier performance balanced scorecard" (in terms of quality management, cost control, delivery ability, technical cooperation, honest and reliability, technological innovation, improvement, Solidarity, outstanding contributions) to make monthly evaluation and rewards & punishments, guiding suppliers to implement the balanced scorecard and develop themselves according to the requirement of FOTILE. it is worth  to note that according to the above nine aspects, FOTILE set up nine awards to encourage suppliers to keep common development with FOTILE.
CSR Commitment and Risk Control
 FOTILE provided supplier CSR principles for its suppliers, and signed  letter of commitment on corporate social responsibility with the suppliers, and conducted different forms of risk control audit regularly in every month. The audit focused on  the clauses that ISO14001and ISO18001 make  special requirement ,which provided   reminder and risk control for the potential risks.
The two-way communication with equality position and mutual benefit 
Through the annual supplier conference, the joint conference on quality, the quality improvement meeting, purchasing information query platform for suppliers, FOTILE and its suppliers make technology and management communication. At the same time, it also carries out the supplier satisfaction survey every year. For the unsatisfied aspects, FOTILE will make special improvement to achieve a win-win business cooperation.
Achievements
Social benefits
 After using FOTILE supplier management system, a total of more than 20 suppliers have improved their cost control ability in 2012, especially Ningbo Matt Welding Co., LtD. The company improved the production efficiency and reduced the labor costs by importing automatic robot welding equipment.9 suppliers successfully joined the FOTILE "Black Soil" sponsorship program. Ningbo Yin Qiu Hardware Manufacturing Co., LTD., in particular, increased its balance rate of sterilizer production line from 62.55% to76.5%, and the production efficiency increased by 23.35% after joining the program. the product quality indexes all reached the annual target.
 
Economic benefits 
For FOTILE, setting to be the world first-class enterprise as the development goals, leading industry development, and standardizing the industry development has become an important direction to build its own core competitiveness. by suppliers support, FOTILE not only standardized its own business process and improved the operation efficiency and product qualty, but also improved itsinnovation ability by working with suppliers to develop and design products. Now it has had more than 400 patents, including 58 invention patents, which laid a solid foundation for it to create and promote Chinese native brand and has set a good example.
Prospect
Supplier management, support and mutual promotion will become an important strategy for FOTILE to continue to deepen and expand.