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Sourcing · Hosted factory trips

Three days, the right factories, no wasted miles.

We plan and host your factory visits in India and China: pre-screened factories matched to your brief, a translator, a driver and a daily plan. USD 1,290 for three days, then USD 350 per extra day, with travel and hotels at cost.

Plan my trip Pair it with a fair
USD 1,290
for 3 hosted days
Pre-screened
factories only
Visa letters
included
Trip plan · Delhi NCR and MoradabadExample
  1. Mon Trade fair Walk the fair with our team
  2. Tue 3 factories Cluster one, one drive
  3. Wed 2 factories Cluster two
  4. Thu 2 factories Then a debrief over dinner
TranslatorHindi · English
DriverAll four days
VisaInvitation sent
Follow-up shortlistSent within a week of your return
Before you book

Our time and what we know are always free.

Free, before you fly and while you are here

Ask us anything.

The country, the culture, the languages, the food, where to stay, how business is done and how to negotiate. Ask as often as you like, whether or not you book a trip.

  • Country and culture briefings
  • Language and etiquette tips
  • Where to stay, eat and travel
  • Any question about sourcing here
What you pay for

The hosted days.

Trip planning, pre-screened factories, walking every floor beside you, and a team that handles everything as if it were your own.

USD 1,290 for 3 hosted days · USD 350 per extra day

Recent factory visits

Real trips. Real factory floors.

Recent hosted visits: wax rooms, tooling stores, test labs and sample tables, with our team beside you at every stop.

  • A group of visitors in conversation on a casting shop floor beside wax-injection presses and blue drums; all faces blurred.
    01Walking the wax room with the plant team
  • Three people on a factory floor, one holding a small metal part up to the light while the others look on; faces blurred.
    02Checking a machined part on the shop floor
  • Visitors standing in front of labelled steel racks holding injection dies and tooling blocks; faces blurred.
    03Reviewing the tooling store
  • A hand holds up a dark wax tree of small bracket patterns on a central sprue, with more wax trees in the background.
    04Checking a wax tree before shelling
  • A wax tree coated in coarse ceramic stucco, standing on a drying rack among other shelled trees.
    05Ceramic shell built up on a wax tree
  • Glowing orange ceramic moulds on the floor in front of an open furnace, with steel shields leaning beside them.
    06Moulds out of the preheat oven, ready to pour
  • Rows of white ceramic shell moulds drying on racks in an investment-casting shop.
    07Shell moulds drying on racks
  • Round white ceramic shell moulds stacked on blue steel shelving.
    08Shelled moulds racked for dewaxing
  • A large star-shaped stainless steel casting with radiating ribs and drilled holes, laid on a grey sheet.
    09First look at a finished casting
  • Stainless steel flanged valve bodies laid out on a white sheet, ready for inspection.
    10Valve bodies laid out for inspection
  • Visitors in a materials test room with a hardness tester, an impact tester and a universal testing machine; faces blurred.
    11Walking through the in-house test lab
  • Dark grey cast shift forks and levers laid out on a white foam sheet.
    12Fork castings checked for surface finish
  • A mirror-polished stainless auger standing upright among other stainless castings.
    13Reviewing a polished cast auger
  • A stainless steel casting with a toothed ring on four legs, on a white sheet.
    14Checking a cast gear bracket
  • A grey vane-ring casting seated inside a machined steel ring on a wooden table.
    15Vane-ring casting on the sample table
  • A cast turbine wheel with cupped buckets lying on a white surface.
    16Turbine-wheel casting on the sample table
  • Close-up of an aluminium housing casting with cooling fins and cast arrows, on a wooden table.
    17Finned housing casting, up close
  • Hand block-printed fabric-covered notebooks with floral and panda designs, stacked on a shelf.
    18Block-printed notebooks in the sample room
  • A four-armed aluminium spider casting on a wooden table.
    19Spider casting on the review table
  • A hand holding an oval fabric-covered tray and bowl in a blue and white block print.
    20Handling a block-printed fabric tray
  • A machined aluminium ring with a row of curved vanes standing around its rim.
    21Machined ring with cast vanes
  • Six quilted block-printed fabric coasters with striped borders laid on a white sheet.
    22Block-printed coasters laid out for review
  • A hand holding a scoop of rice husk above a large heap of husk.
    23Checking husk quality at a biomass yard

Real photos from recent factory visits by our team. Faces, company names, part markings and signage are blurred.

What you get

A trip that runs itself, so you can focus.

  • Visa invitation lettersE-Business visa invitations for India and invitation letters for China, one per traveller.
  • Pre-screened factoriesMatched to your brief and checked by phone or visit before you fly.
  • A translatorHindi, Tamil, Mandarin and more, so nothing is lost at the table.
  • A driverDoor to door, every day, on a route planned to save hours.
  • A daily planWho you meet, what to ask and what to look at on the floor.
  • A follow-up shortlistOur notes on every factory, ranked, with the next steps agreed.
Pair it with a trade fair

Fair on Monday. Factories Tuesday to Thursday.

Meet many suppliers at the fair, then see the best of them at work. We build the factory days around the fair you choose.

See the full fair calendar
How it works

From brief to boarding pass.

  1. 01

    Brief

    Tell us the products, volumes, dates and who is travelling.

    You receiveTrip outline and factory longlist
  2. 02

    Screen

    We check each factory against your brief and keep only the strongest.

    You receivePre-screened factory list
  3. 03

    Invite

    We issue or arrange the visa invitation letters for each traveller.

    You receiveVisa invitation letters
  4. 04

    Plan

    Route, timings, meeting agendas and questions for each factory.

    You receiveDaily plan
  5. 05

    Host

    Our team travels with you, with a translator and a driver.

    You receiveThree hosted days
  6. 06

    Follow up

    We rank what you saw and agree the next step with each factory.

    You receiveFollow-up shortlist
Starting price

USD 1,290for 3 hosted days, then USD 350 per extra day

Included
  • Trip planning and factory matching
  • Pre-screening of every factory
  • Visa invitation letters
  • Translator and driver
  • Daily plan and meeting agendas
  • Follow-up shortlist
Billed at cost
  • Flights and hotels
  • Local travel and meals

Extra hosted days are USD 350 each. We send a fixed quote with the trip outline.

Plan my trip
Who it is for

Built for teams like yours.

  • 01
    Buyers before a first order

    See the factory, meet the owner and check the floor before you commit.

  • 02
    Teams adding a second source

    Qualify India or China suppliers for a China + 1 plan in one trip.

  • 03
    Company delegations

    Several colleagues, one plan, one host, one set of notes.

  • 04
    Trade fair visitors

    Turn booth conversations into factory visits the same week.

Factory trip questions

Straight answers.

Anything else, ask us directly. A principal replies, not a bot.

anirudh@sourcesquid.co

Do you help with business visas?

Yes. For India we issue the invitation letter for the e-Business visa for each traveller. For China we arrange the invitation letter your visa application needs.

How many factories can we see in three days?

Usually two or three a day when the factories sit in one cluster, fewer when the drives are long. We plan the route so your time goes to factories, not traffic.

Can we combine the trip with a trade fair?

Yes, and it works well: fair on Monday, factories Tuesday to Thursday. Pick a fair from our calendar and we build the factory days around it.

What does the fee cover?

USD 1,290 covers three hosted days: trip planning, factory matching and pre-screening, visa invitation letters, a translator, a driver, a daily plan and a follow-up shortlist. Each extra day is USD 350. Flights, hotels and local travel are billed at cost.

Plan your visit

Tell us when you land. We plan the rest.

Send your products, dates and the cities you have in mind. We reply with a trip outline and a fixed quote.

Plan my tripTalk to a principal
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