Strategic Sourcing
A dedicated division of Desoto & Company for cross-border supplier qualification, supply network design, and procurement transformation across the United States, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, and the broader APAC region.
Tariffs, geopolitical risk, rising labor costs in China, and the maturation of manufacturing across Southeast Asia have turned what used to be a procurement function into a board-level question. Companies that once ran sourcing as a back-office cost center are now treating it as a primary lever for margin expansion, resilience, and competitive positioning.
Desoto & Company built this practice for that reality. We work with management teams, private equity firms, and growth-stage companies to identify, qualify, and integrate supplier networks that deliver cost reduction, quality consistency, and strategic flexibility.
You are a private equity firm or family office with portfolio companies that need operational excellence attention, sourcing transformation, or in-region executive support. We work across one or several investments at a time.
You have existing production sitting with a single supplier or in a single country, and you want to consolidate, diversify, or upgrade to a more capable, cost-effective partner network.
You are pivoting production out of China to Vietnam, Thailand, or another ASEAN market and need experienced operators on the ground to manage the transition without disrupting deliveries or quality.
You have a product in development and need a partner to manage prototyping, supplier qualification, small-batch production, and ramp-up to scale across an experienced manufacturing network.
Most sourcing firms hand clients a list of contacts. We do something different. Our team visits factories, inspects equipment, reviews quality management systems, assesses financial stability, and runs trial production before committing to volume. For products involving plastic injection molding, metal fabrication, CNC machining, powder coating, or industrial textiles, we evaluate capabilities at the process level, not just the company level.
This takes time upfront. It also eliminates the far more expensive problems that surface when a supplier cannot deliver at scale.
End-to-end supplier discovery, vetting, and onboarding across our partner network. Hands-on evaluation of equipment, capabilities, quality systems, and financial stability.
Multi-supplier strategy, regional diversification, and risk-balanced network architecture. We build resilient supply networks that perform under stress, not single-source structures that fail when conditions change. We also assist with logistics, customs, and cross-border delivery coordination through our partnership with one of the world's largest freight forwarders, having managed shipment of over 500 containers from APAC to the United States in a single year for one client alone.
Rate negotiation, contract structuring, and ongoing performance management. We have driven client COGS down meaningfully through supplier renegotiation, network redesign, and process-level cost engineering.
Full production transfers from China to Vietnam, Thailand, and other ASEAN markets. We have moved production across vetted supplier networks with zero downtime and 30% lead time reduction within the first year.
Our sourcing work is backed by deep technical knowledge across a full range of manufacturing processes. We don't just find suppliers. We evaluate their equipment, assess their capabilities, and manage quality at the process level, all delivered through our partner network. With access to engineering teams in Vietnam for product development and design, we support the full product lifecycle, from initial concept and prototyping through production ramp-up and large-scale manufacturing.
Over 500 injection mold machines in our network, ranging from 15 Ton to 3000 Ton. Fast turnaround on mold design with DFM, CAD/CAM software, and mold flow analysis. Mold making at all sizes with test injection runs leading to mass production. Backed by a large network of mold manufacturers and Makino high-speed milling machines, with full final product testing, quality control, sign-off, and assembly to finished goods.
Stamping of aluminum, steel, and other metals. Metal bending, forming, welding, and assembly. Metal stamping and mold fabrication. MIG, TIG, and laser welding alongside laser cutting. Electroplating, powder coating, and other finishes. CNC turning, milling, and wire cutting. Flat grinding, custom fastener manufacturing, and finished part assembly.
CAD pattern making and CLO3D modeling. Turnkey design through prototyping to mass production. Materials including ballistic nylon, polyester, canvas, industrial cargo netting, and PVC-coated fabrics. Large-scale industrial sewing and stitching across a network of over 5,000 sewing machines, with SMART factories and automated sewing capability. Fabric strength, color fade, and fatigue testing. Autoglue and autofolding machines, laser cutting, final assembly, quality control, and delivery.
Fabric cutting, dyeing, and sewing. Ballistic nylon, PVC, and industrial fabric production. Metal forming, welding, and assembly. Plastic injection molding. Light and medium duty assembly. Tube bending and metal forming. Steel and aluminum hardware manufacturing. Motor and part assembly. Mold design and manufacturing. MIG/TIG, laser welding, and laser cutting. Aluminum extrusion (60XX through 70XX series).
Each ASEAN economy has developed distinct industrial strengths. Vietnam leads in electronics assembly, textiles, footwear, furniture, and consumer goods manufacturing. Thailand is the region's most mature manufacturing base, with deep expertise in automotive, electronics, plastics, and food processing. Japan offers precision components and high-quality engineering. The United States provides domestic manufacturing capability for products requiring local production.
We help clients design sourcing strategies that match each product to the right country and the right partner. The result is supply networks that outperform single-country approaches on cost, quality, and resilience.
Built a resilient APAC supplier network for a US industrial manufacturer scaling cross-border production for the first time. Cost and operational improvements drove margin expansion ahead of plan.
Profit margin from 9% to 33%
Relocated manufacturing from China to Vietnam across a vast network of vetted suppliers with zero production downtime. Lead times reduced by 30% within the first year.
0 days downtime, 30% lead time reduction
Built a production operation from scratch for a founder-led US consumer goods company, scaling from lab to full manufacturing across APAC and shipping over 500 containers in year one.
$60M year-one revenue
A defined scope of sourcing work: spend diagnostic, category sourcing, supplier qualification, manufacturing transfer, or China-plus-one transition. Each combines technical evaluation with execution to deliver a qualified network and a working production flow.
Multi-month engagement where Desoto operates as the sourcing arm of the client. Hands-on supplier management, ongoing performance, continuous improvement. Or fractional COO, CSCO, or CPO when the company needs senior procurement leadership but is not ready for a full-time hire.
For private equity firms and family offices with portfolio companies that have manufacturing and sourcing exposure in Asia-Pacific. Independent supply chain diligence, sourcing transformation across portcos, and value creation execution.
Diversifying away from China, qualifying a new supplier network, or chasing margin expansion through procurement transformation. Each starts with a conversation about what you're trying to achieve.
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