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In 2006 Setus was introduced to a doctor based in Toronto, Canada, who had developed a growing business that involved the assembly and sales of specialty golf clubs for corporations, individuals and promotional events. Prior to being introduced to Sertus, MD Golf http://www.mdgolf.ca had been sourcing strictly from suppliers in North America but was eager to lower the cost of its existing products and broaden its product assortments in golf while expanding into other sporting goods categories.

The shift in MD Golf’s sourcing and procurement activities to China was transitioned through careful and meticulous coordination between MD management and Sertus cross-functional teams. This process involved professionals from multi-disciplinary departments including: Marketing, Industrial Design, Quality Assurance, Graphic Arts, Merchandising, Quality Control, and Logistics. Sertus provided MD Golf with specific assistance in:

1) MARKET RESEARCH: understanding end markets, existing products and future goals, and developing clear and actionable objectives.

2) DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT: review of style, function, quality and safety to help build the visual identity and final product specifications.

3) SUPPLIER SELECTION: The qualification of numerous golf suppliers throughout mainland China. This involved extensive research and product testing to find factories that offered MD Golf the best combination of cost savings, quality and reliability http://www.thechinasourcingexperts.com/sourcing-from-china-procuremen

4) PURCHASING: Placing orders and negotiating favorable terms and conditions with suppliers.

5) PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT: Sertus agrees with selected suppliers the adoption and implementation of standard operating procedures (“SOPs”) that help to ensure a smooth production process and timely delivery.

CLIENT SPOTLIGHT: A PRIVATE LABEL STORYCLIENT SPOTLIGHT: A PRIVATE LABEL STORY

PRIVATE LABEL EXPERTISE

Working with clients to develop and manage private label programs is one of Sertus’ core competencies. Combining first class in-house designers with a merchandising team that has vast and varied product experience has allowed Sertus to take on most private label assignments http://www.thechinasourcingexperts.com/sourcing-from-china-private-label-outsourcing. While our experience has historically been in big box retail, helping larger multinational retailers design and develop hardline private labels, Sertus has worked with a wide variety of clients in this space, including: manufacturers, wholesalers and even entrepreneurs.

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http://www.thechinasourcingexperts.com/sourcing-from-china-supply-chain-management

6) QUALITY CONTROL: production oversight through in-line and final inspections to ensure the integrity of the brand and quality of product. http://www.thechinasourcingexperts.com/sourcing-from-china-quality-control-expertise

The immediate cost savings that were generated from MD Golf’s first order from China allowed us to focus on product selection and expanding assortments within the golf category and to begin to explore the addition of new categories, specifically hockey.

Sertus employed the same time-tested process to help develop and deliver the product positioning statement for the label and within moths MD Golf was able to successfully launch Blue Ice Hockey http://www.blueicehockey.com

With dedicated resources to service MD Golf, Sertus has helped build a portfolio of hockey sticks that fit perfectly with MD Golf’s grass roots sales channels and its corporate philosophy. Today, Blue Ice Hockey is a provider of high quality hockey sticks at ultra-competitive price points. Blue Ice Hockey sticks are sold at the junior, intermediate and senior level to various recreational, collegiate and professional leagues as well as select retailers throughout North America and Europe.

A large part of the success can be attributed to the partnership that Sertus has enjoyed with MD Golf. By removing the concerns and resources that they were initially dedicated to its supply chain, Sertus has allowed MD Golf management to focus on sales and marketing.

MD Golf is an incredible success story, with year-over-year growth that would make even the most well recognized brands jealous. Recently, MD Golf has signed a licensing agreement with the NHL (National Hockey League) to provide golf clubs to its teams and fans and is exploring a number of other initiatives that will add great visibility to its brand. With continued close collaboration between our two companies, Sertus looks forward to a successful future with MD Golf and Blue Ice Hockey.