Context
A third-generation French fastener manufacturer had closed its Lyon production facility after Chinese competition eroded volumes by over 60%. The company retained its brand, customer relationships, and distribution network but was sourcing from a rotating roster of Chinese manufacturers with inconsistent quality, no control over packaging, and suppliers who dropped orders during peak periods.
Our Mission
Establish a wholly owned foreign enterprise (WFOE) in China with two functions: manufacturing plastic fixings and wall plugs in-house, and sourcing, assembling, and packaging metal fasteners from qualified Chinese suppliers into finished retail-ready product. All output for export to France initially, with European and North African expansion as a medium-term objective.
Our Approach
MAXAM Group identified Ningbo, Zhejiang Province as the optimal location — combining direct port access, a mature hardware and plastics manufacturing ecosystem, proximity to the fastener clusters of Haiyan and Jiaxing, and supportive local government. The team managed WFOE legal incorporation, equipment procurement for a 5-machine plastic injection moulding shop with 34 mould sets, and conducted structured audits of 17 candidate metal fastener suppliers — qualifying 5 primary sources and 3 alternates. A resident project coordinator managed the first six months of ramp-up, resolving early-stage issues including colour consistency for retail compliance and packaging translation errors caught before shipment. The operation later expanded into a full logistics platform consolidating goods from 11 suppliers across broader catalogue categories, with direct export to 5 markets including Germany (requiring DIN-standard certification) and Morocco (structured via letter-of-credit framework).
Before & After Results
| Metric | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Annual Revenue | €18M | €34M |
| Export Markets | 1 (France) | 5 (FR, DE, Benelux, ES, Morocco) |
| Annual Container Shipments | ~15 (fragmented) | 38 (consolidated) |
| Qualified Chinese Suppliers | Rotating, unaudited | 11 qualified, monitored |
"We did not need someone who knew China in general. We needed someone who knew Ningbo specifically, who could walk into a factory in Haiyan and know within thirty minutes whether the quality system was real or cosmetic, and who understood the difference between what a supplier promises in a meeting and what appears in a container three months later."
Éric Leblanc
Director — Fixations Leblanc & Fils