Toys is an greatly important textbook for childhood.
When it comes to the educational toys supplier, it is a tool for children to understand the world and an important partner in their development. Children are naturally playful and through play they can sense things, perceive the world and develop their talents.
In terms of healthy development, children are more likely to recognize objects and pictures before they learn words and language, and parents can use toys to improve their children’s physical co-ordination and perception of things, thereby improving their physical fitness and muscle strength.
In terms of training children’s abilities, toys foster creativity, imagination and thinking skills so that children can become more agile in their minds through repetitive brain training and plant the seeds of scientific knowledge for children to discover the truth.
At the spiritual level, children are able to broaden their horizons, cultivate their temperament and build aesthetic values through the joy of toys, thus developing good habits and moral qualities.
Educational toys are leading the way in children’s education.
There is currently a high level of emphasis on science education toys at home and abroad, with many professionals wanting to present complex scientific knowledge through toys to show the principles behind the science. There are special institutions at home and abroad that have studied attempts to apply toys to the teaching of chemistry and physics.
In China, Professor Liu Bingsheng of Nanjing Normal University published an article entitled ‘Developing the teaching function of physics toys’, in which he proposed a link between science toys and physics education, which helps students to have fun in the process of exploring their knowledge of physics.
Overseas, Beekman’s science education film and television work, Beekman’s World of Science, basically contains all the basic knowledge of natural science for primary and secondary education, and is an educational material that is both scientific and fun.
In addition, the book Toys and Science by Professor Takao Sakai of Tohoku University in Japan describes how classic science toys work and uses scientific knowledge to explain interesting natural phenomena.
Nowadays, the largest consumer group of toys is the family, and education is becoming more and more important in people’s minds.
The development of society has prompted parents to pay more and more attention to the upbringing of children, and whether toys meet and promote the physical and mental development needs of children has become a major concern for educators and parents, which is one of the main reasons why science toys are becoming more and more popular.
With the demand for science toys increasing day by day and the standards and demands parents place on them, toy suppliers are playing an extremely important role.
While the choice of toys and how they guide children’s curiosity through play can have an immensely profound impact on children’s learning abilities and even personality habits, parents are challenged to find good quality, age-appropriate and affordable toys that often have the core value of ‘knowledge + fun’.
The core concern for parents is how to get the most out of a toy that is educational and at the same time stimulates the child’s emotions so that they can enjoy it from the heart. Choosing a quality supplier is therefore an issue of great concern.
Essentially, suppliers are commercial intermediaries, acting between manufacturers and retailers to ensure that communication is smooth and stocks are adequate.
Suppliers play a vital role in the product lifecycle, and companies need to source raw materials in order to be able to speed up production and find better quality raw materials in a saturated market. Therefore, companies need to build strong relationships with their suppliers in order to create better products and serve consumers well.
The long-term criteria for selecting suppliers lie mainly in assessing whether the supplier can provide a long-term and stable supply, whether its production capacity can expand relatively in line with the growth of the toy business, whether the toy supplier has a sound corporate system and similar business philosophy, and other different aspects, all of which are important aspects that can have a direct impact on the quality and cost of procurement.
In the age of the Internet, information is flooding in, and very often procurement staff are too many choices and do not know how to choose, so how should procurement staff quickly and accurately find the right supplier for them?
There are 4 main methods:
- Intuitive Judgment
The intuitive judgment method refers to a method of selecting toy suppliers through investigation, consultation, comprehensive analysis and judgment, and is a highly subjective method of judgment, mainly by listening to and adopting the views of experienced buyers, or directly by buyers making judgments based on experience.
The quality of this method depends on the accuracy and completeness of the toy supplier information and the analytical judgment and experience of the decision maker. This method is simple and fast, but it lacks scientific accuracy and is limited by the level of detail of information available, and is often used to select toy suppliers for non-major raw materials.
- Appraisal and selection method
On the basis of a full investigation and understanding of the supplier, and then carefully assess, analyze and compare the toy supplier selection method. Supplier survey can be divided into preliminary supplier survey and in-depth supplier survey. Each stage of the survey object has a toy supplier selection problem, and the purpose and basis of selection is different.
Preliminary supplier survey target selection is very simple, the basic basis is the variety of toy products specifications, quality and price levels, production capacity, transport conditions and so on. In these conditions suitable for the toy suppliers selected out of several, is the object of preliminary supplier survey.
In-depth supplier survey target selection is based on the impact of the key products, important product suppliers. These suppliers to conduct an in-depth study to examine the assessment, the selection criteria are mainly the strength of the enterprise, the production capacity of the product, the level of technology, quality assurance system and management level.
- Tender selection method
When the procurement quantity is large and the competition in the supply market is fierce, the bidding method can be used to select toy suppliers. The purchaser, as the bidder, first needs to put forward the conditions and requirements for the procurement of toy products, invite many toy supplier enterprises to participate in the tender.
And then the purchaser selects the object of the transaction in accordance with the prescribed procedures and criteria on a one-off basis, and proposes the most favorable conditions for the bidding party to sign the agreement and other processes. Note that the whole process requires openness, fairness and meritocracy.
- Negotiated selection
When there are more toy suppliers to choose from and it is difficult for the purchasing unit to choose, a consultative selection method can also be used, whereby the purchasing unit selects a few toy suppliers with more favorable supply conditions, negotiates with them separately and then determines the appropriate supplier.
Compared with the tender selection method, the consultation selection method because the two sides can fully negotiate, and therefore in the quality of goods, delivery dates and after-sales service and other aspects of the guarantee, but because of the limited choice, may not be the cheapest, the most favorable supply conditions of the toy suppliers.
When the procurement time is more urgent, fewer bidding units, suppliers are not competitive, and the specifications and technical conditions of the ordered materials are more complex, the consultative selection method is more appropriate than the tender selection method
Really important factors influencing the choice of supplier
The science and education toy industry has its unique aspects, on the one hand, it is educational and fun, on the other hand, it has strong integration with new technology fields, high quality requirements and innovation requirements for products, high technological content and high added value of products.
There are huge investment opportunities in the industry chain, including upstream content IP, creative design and product development, as well as midstream foundry production and downstream sales. This shows that suppliers need to take into account not only a series of explicit issues such as product safety and property rights, but also implicit thinking such as product content and innovative design.
Relevant enterprises choose toy suppliers, first of all toys to the market supplier to provide the product to choose. As the material to meet certain product functional requirements is not unique, it has a variety of alternatives, therefore, in the comparison of many options, according to the functional cost analysis, it must be possible to obtain a solution that can meet the functional requirements, but also achieve a smaller cost.
We can use the product splitting method to select materials and then make a selection of toy suppliers who can provide the right materials for their product needs. It is also possible to avoid purchasing materials that are over-functional and paying extra for unnecessary features.
Of course, there are other factors to consider when choosing a toy supplier, such as product quality, supply capacity, price, delivery time, reputation, supplier strength, after-sales service and other factors. Ensure that you choose a supplier that really suits your needs, establish a relatively stable supply and demand relationship and ensure that the interests of your business are maximized.
- Product quality
The quality of the raw materials provided by toy suppliers and their corresponding technical level are important factors in the purchaser’s choice. As a supplier of raw materials for toys, you must have good and stable processes and standards for the production of goods, and configure a quality control system to ensure their continuity.
- Supply capacity (output, transport)
Supply capacity, i.e. the potential supplier’s equipment and production capacity, technical strength, management and organizational capabilities and operational controls (e.g. quotas for plastic toys held by the supplier, etc.), etc. These factors are intended to take into account the supplier’s ability to supply the quality and quantity of materials required and the supplier’s ability to provide the relevant services on a consistent and stable basis.
- Corporate reputation and historical performance
Reputation is the image that a supplier presents when performing business. It includes the toy product itself, business style, management level, reputation, etc. A satisfactory toy supplier should be selected to ensure a solid foundation for the completion of the procurement task.
- Quality assurance and compensation policy
When raw material products are inspected, it is often difficult to detect problems due to unscientific sampling or problems with inspection techniques and methods. In the production process, if serious problems are found with the toy raw materials, they are often returned and compensation is demanded. At this point, it is necessary to consider the other party’s quality assurance strategy and compensation policy.
- Product price
The price of raw materials affects the cost of the final toy product and it is a major, but not the most important factor in choosing a toy supplier. On balance, quality, reliability and the associated costs are more important. One of the aims of sourcing is to obtain satisfaction at an appropriate cost, but price is not necessarily the lower the better.
- Technical Strength
The technical strength of the toy supplier is also a factor to be considered, especially for large toy manufacturers. If a toy supplier is able to update product technology and develop new technologies, the purchaser will benefit from this. Also, toy suppliers who are willing and able to respond to changes in demand and accept design changes should be given priority consideration.
- Financial situation
Generally speaking, raw material purchases are relatively large in terms of capital and are not paid for on delivery. If a supplier has financial problems, they are likely to request early payment or stop production. This would be detrimental to long-term purchasing.
- Internal organization and management of toy suppliers
The internal organization and management of the supplier is related to the quality of the supplier’s service in the future. If the internal organization of a toy supplier is set up in a chaotic manner, it will directly affect the efficiency of procurement and its quality, or even the ability to complete supply activities in a timely and high-quality manner due to conflicts between toy supplier departments.
In addition, whether the toy supplier’s senior executives consider the purchasing unit as a major customer is also an important factor affecting the quality of supply, otherwise when faced with some unexpected events, they will not be able to obtain the opportunity to deal with them on a priority basis.
- Location of suppliers
Geographical location is a direct factor in the cost of procurement. The location of a toy supplier has an impact on delivery times, transportation costs, response times for urgent orders and expedited services, etc. In addition, from a supply chain and zero stock perspective, it is important to choose a toy supplier that is as close as possible, all things being equal.
- After-sales service
After-sales service is a continuation of the procurement process and is an important aspect of ensuring continuity in toy procurement. General after-sales service includes the provision of product parts, product consultation, product descriptions, etc. If after-sales service is only a formality, then the chosen toy supplier can only cooperate and collaborate for a short period of time, and cannot become a strategic partnership.
In summary, since toys have been popular around the world for such a long time, they are bound to have an irreplaceable role to play. So, while parents are giving their children early education, they should not forget those science toys. When parents choose science toys for their children they also need to be careful to choose toys that are safe, reliable and educational.
