Where should you be?

I've written a number of times about Inland Western China vs. Eastern Coastal China and the advantage and disadvantages of each and how to decide where to locate.  There are certainly hundreds of other city and country specific comparison pieces online too.  Some of the best are at the All Roads Lead to China blog, in particular the reports on China's Other Cities.  This last week, once again, Richard Brubaker at the All Roads Lead to China blog has listed out some great questions and comparisons between China and Vietnam.  Read the full post here.  Dan at (China Law Blog) beat me to commenting on this.  His post is here.We regularly get requests for info and pricing/production options for factories in Vietnam and other SEA destinations; we have an office in Thailand to take advantage of these very opportunities.  In the last couple of years we've done work with factories in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia (as well as China, Taiwan and South Korea).  Each project not done in China had a specific reason: some for tax/tariff issues, some for publicity, some for price and availability of materials, some for quality concerns and some because of existing relationships.Regardless of the product though, the process of supplier (and city, country) selection is one of the most important things you can invest in pre-production.  Oddly enough, I find that it's often a secondary thought for folks coming to Asia for the first time.  Often times visiting a trade-show is given more time than selecting the correct local for manufacturing.  I can't stress enough how important the location you select can be--it will affect everything from price to how you negotiate that price; from what materials you use and their quality to the quality and experence of managment and labor.  This decission should be investigated and invested in (yes, spend $ on chosing your supplier) as a major priority in the production process.Brubaker asks several great questions of those considering a move:1. What's your China platform?  This is a serious question and the one that most people get wrong.  Honestly, are you here for a single production run, to buy stock items, or to set up a manufacturing base/logistics and sourcing center.  More than one of the "fix it for us" projects we've done is because someone that should have a presence here is using a HK trading company to manufacture custom product.2. Where is your market?3. Where are your competitors?4. Where are your suppliers?  News flash--moving to an ASEAN country is not going to get you away from Chinese suppliers.  In fact, the Chinese are probably both the suppliers to and the largest investors in your ASEAN factory.5. Is your product high tech or high labor?6. Were you previously compliant?I would add a couple of additional questions to this list.1. Why are you considering moving?  Really.2. What are the domestic and international tax/tariff structures where you are considering moving to?3. Can you find the professional support (staff, legal, IT, translation, etc.) that you'll need?4. Are there outside factors (environment, social compliance, media) influencing your move and will these really be resolved by moving somewhere else in Asia?There are of course tons of other product specific questions that you'll need to ask (and answer) yourself.  But Brubaker's advice on the various areas within China and his comparisons in his post give you a great starting point.