How do you find and validate suppliers?

Question

I need some custom steel fabrication done for a personal project. Local metal shops were way too expensive, so I tried Alibaba. I submitted an RFQ and got a couple dozen responses. Prices were anywhere from $200-$1000. They've all offered to send samples, but at a cost that makes it impractical to get more than one for my purposes.This got me wondering: in the corporate world, how are suppliers found, chosen, vetted, etc? Does it make a difference if you're operating at startup scale (say Framework) vs FAANG scale? I'm not specifically wondering about metal work; curious about electronics too.

ChumpGPT · Accepted Answer

It costs a lot of money and time to find and vet suppliers from China. One way to avoid that is to use a service like Import Genius to find a competitor who has already vetted a Chines machine shop or factory, etc. The Chinese are more than willing to make you the same product they make for your competitor.In your situation, you will probably need to get it done locally or do it yourself.