BuyHive, the tech-enabled global-sourcing platform, has launched its expert-assisted sourcing programme (EASP) in India. The programme will enable global buyers to find and work directly with independent sourcing professionals from India, specialising in a variety of product categories. The Company is looking at taking on at least 5,000 independent sourcing professionals in the next 12 months.
BuyHive’s unique EASP will enable access to freelance sourcing experts from India for the buyers around the world. It is aimed at democratising independent sourcing from Indian manufacturers and suppliers. BuyHive has already taken on almost 500 sourcing experts specialising in the consumer goods industries in Greater China. Given the fact that India is an important sourcing destination, the B2B tech-enabled sourcing platform plans to hire over 5,000 independent sourcing professionals across the country in a year’s time. These freelancers will be picked from various areas, including apparel and textiles, home décor, handicrafts, metalware, garden & outdoor furnishing, electronics, hardware and hand tools.
Minesh Pore, co-founder and CEO, BuyHive, terms this launch as an “important milestone in our mission to reinvent global sourcing for the digital age. As the world warms up to manufacturing in India, this programme will enable global buyers to work with qualified sourcing experts and use the latter’s skills to source and procure high-quality products from Indian manufacturers.”
Hong Kong-based BuyHive plans to work closely with manufacturing associations and Export Promotion Councils, including FIEO, EPCH, AEPC, EEPC, TEXPROCIL, CoirBoard, APEDA, and HEPC among others, to hire the top sourcing professionals in each vertical. A majority of these freelancers will have over 10 years of experience in working with local manufacturers and buying goods on behalf of international buyers. BuyHive expects these freelancers to be subject-matter experts in their product category, capable of speaking the local language, business language and the manufacturing lingo, of that respective vertical.
They should have” thorough understanding of issues related to quality, compliance and the technical aspects of the manufacturing process involved,” adds Pore.
India’s manufacturing sector, which presently contributes around 17 per cent to its GDP, accounts for about 40 million jobs, that is, about 10 per cent of the country’s workforce. The ‘Make in India’ programme aims to increase this contribution to GDP to 25%.
