5 Benefits to Manufacturing in India and Southeast Asia

Manufacturing Partners in India Offer Impressive Quality, Collaboration, and Transparency

Supply chain issues continue to cause shortages, price volatility, and transportation uncertainty long after the pandemic.

While most North American manufacturers can’t overlook China, they can certainly look beyond it—and our relationships with manufacturing partners in India, Vietnam, and Malaysia prove that you don’t have to sacrifice quality, specialization, or even cost when moving into new markets.

India: The New Frontier of Manufacturing

Already well-known for its achievements in software development, computer sciences, and CNC machining, India has also become a rising star in manufacturing. According to 2022 global trade data, India saw a 23 percent increase in imports from 2021 to 2022.

The country is also set to surpass China this year as the world’s most populous country, according to the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs. 

There’s a sense of optimism in the manufacturing sector owing to a robust, young, talented workforce and an influx of global investments. According to Business Today, the sector is expected to grow by 9 percent over the next five years. 

The Advantages of Manufacturing in India

The manufacturing industry in this region distinguishes itself with several key benefits:

1. Specialized plants

India has a high concentration of highly focused and specialized factories, complete with newer, bigger, and better machinery. This allows us a wider range of product and manufacturing capabilities. 

2. High standards of integrity

Thanks to integrated process controls—and a team of people committed to quality—our manufacturing partners in India catch defective and inconsistent parts before thousands of parts and dollars are wasted. The end result is an equal investment in the quality of the end product.

3. Strong sub-supplier network

Our manufacturing partners in India take responsibility for every aspect of their production. When they need to outsource the manufacturing of a product assembly, they’ll invite an audit of the sub-supplier to adhere to consistent quality and transparency.

4. Pricing

We’ve found factories in India and Southeast Asia to be quite cost-effective, especially regarding technical and complex parts. 

5. Transparency in communication

India boasts the second-largest English-speaking population (after the U.S.). Compared to other international partners, this fluency has opened the lines of problem-solving, efficiency, communication, and understanding—and allows us to achieve a true level of partnership with these manufacturing facilities. 

Better Partners. Better Products.

As part of our commitment to quality for our clients, The Federal Group employs on-site Supplier Quality Engineers who tour factories, audit facilities, and match capabilities with upcoming projects. 

All of our partner factories are ISO-certified, and we also seek out factories with IATF automotive manufacturing certification. At milestone markers, such as when raw materials are received and when the first parts are made, supplier quality engineers, or SQEs, pop into the factories to inspect and ensure no defective parts are getting through the system.

Thanks to technology like CRM software, vision sorting equipment, 3D printing, ioT sensors, robotic automation, and SPC, we can continue to monitor and adhere to high standards of quality controls, audit documents, and best practices from anywhere in the world.

Trade wars and the COVID pandemic have illustrated the risk of relying on one country for manufacturing needs. Outsourcing manufacturing to other countries has become an integral approach for companies like The Federal Group that want to stay ahead of supply chain disruptions—and the competition.