I speak and advise on building manufacturing businesses in China for retail brands and the companies that serve them. Everything I talk about comes from doing it: opening a factory, scaling operations, and running development across the US and Asia.
Speaking topics
Starting a manufacturing business in China
What it really takes to go from an empty building to shipping product. Entity setup, first hires, building a supplier base, and the mistakes that cost the most time.
Scaling operations across borders
The quality systems, engineering, and team structures that hold up as volume grows, and how to keep teams in the US and China working as one operation instead of two.
China plus one
What it takes to stand up a second country today, where it makes sense, and where China is still the right answer.
Designing for manufacturing
Why retail programs fall apart between design and production, and how to close that gap before it gets expensive.
Advisory
I work with a small number of companies at a time, usually on questions like whether to build, buy, or outsource manufacturing in Asia, how to set up or restructure a China operation, and how to approach quality and supplier strategy.
I don’t take on work that competes with my role at Outform.
Past engagements and writing
South By Southwest Interactive, Future15 session (2011).
Columns in ARE Magazine (2011 to 2014), including Lessons Learned in International Sourcing, The Lines That Divide Us, Traveling Executives: Strangers in a Strange Land, and There Is Nothing Like Being There.
Slides and full articles are in the archive.
Get in touch
For speaking requests, include the event, date, audience, and the topic you have in mind. For advisory, a few lines on the company and the problem is plenty.
Michael Diliberto 