Industry · Industry and mid-market
This is where you find out how to absorb your customers' price pressure inside the device. For mid-market electronics companies and machinery manufacturers sourcing in China and Asia.
AI
01 / The starting position
How do I know it is time for an audit?
The cost pressure comes down from above and there are new savings targets. How the material costs can be brought down is found in the bill of materials.
The competitor buys the same components more cheaply. Their procurement advantages can be used rather than merely feared.
There is no qualified second source, or nobody has ever looked for one. Your supplier suspects as much, and every quarter you pay the premium.
02 / Differentiation
Why Meritong and not another provider?
From prototype to series production. I examine every component for cost, dependencies and AI suitability.
Software and firmware are a decisive factor today. That is why I review them from the full assessment upwards, provided your product contains software or firmware.
I speak fluent Mandarin and read original Chinese documentation. I hold the conversations with your suppliers in Mandarin and, where needed, in English, German or Spanish.
Want to run AI on your hardware? I assess on technical grounds whether a component supports the planned AI application.
03 / The solution
What does the audit actually solve in my situation?
Three approaches, one result: the cost pressure is absorbed in the device instead of in the margin, with figures purchasing can use straight away.
Every line item is assessed with its actual landed costs. Where the room for manoeuvre lies, what a switch costs and which supplier would hold you up in an emergency is then set out in black and white.
Direct access to the manufacturer without intermediaries, in China with documentation in Chinese and follow-up questions in Mandarin. That is how second sources emerge that research through Western distributors often does not find.
When the deal is about more than price, including delivery and payment terms, quality requirements, place of jurisdiction and a dependable supplier relationship, I negotiate directly with the manufacturer in the local language. On request also on site at the supplier, whether in China, Vietnam, Thailand or elsewhere.
| Line item | Severity | Replacement cost |
|---|---|---|
| MCU · STM32H7xxPeripheral mapping in firmware | HIGH (88) | €12–18k |
| Inference runtime · SDKModel format locked in | HIGH (76) | €20k–35k |
| Sensors · single sourceCalibration data held by the manufacturer | MEDIUM (57) | €4k–7k |
04 / Client testimonials
Who has already worked with Sebastian Kirsch?
When critical components could no longer be sourced through the usual channels, Sebastian opened up alternatives for us on the Asian market: fast, structured and on site. He not only found suppliers, he also checked them for integrity and the goods for authenticity. In the end we had a clear and dependable basis for our decision.
Sebastian conducted a scalability audit of our systems and supply chain and helped us define a development and procurement roadmap aligned with our financial constraints. He identified a better-fit hardware component and supplier in China, projected to save tens of thousands of euros at scale, and supported the efficient integration into our software stack.
Sebastian combines deep technical understanding with strong system-level thinking across software, hardware, and global supply chains. He consistently demonstrated excellent analytical skills and the ability to communicate complex topics clearly across engineering and executive teams.
Sebastian led the implementation of a cloud-based platform with integrated edge devices for our municipality. He coordinated across software, hardware, and stakeholder groups and successfully delivered a system that operates reliably at scale. His ability to translate complex technical requirements into practical solutions was particularly valuable.
05 / Packages and prices
What does a BOM audit cost?
You name the type of component, for example camera sensor, optics or focus drive, and you get an order of magnitude back: how many alternative suppliers are worth considering and what saving is realistically on the table. An NDA can be signed on request. The potential check can, however, also be carried out without any confidential information.
For small bills of materials, limited budgets, or a single component where time is pressing.
For any company with its own bill of materials. In one engagement the savings identified came to 3.8 times the fee.
For clients after Package 2 for whom implementation pays off.
Supplier meetings and factory visits in China, Vietnam, Thailand and other countries, when you want to meet a supplier in person or see the factory from the inside.
I build the relationship with the manufacturer directly and negotiate in the local language on prices, delivery and payment terms, quality requirements and everything else that secures your procurement.
Quarterly reassessment, monitoring of end-of-life notices, ongoing contact with your suppliers, support with integration and advice on a resilient software and firmware architecture. Terms are discussed at the report handover.
You have found an alternative, for example from a Chinese manufacturer, but cannot reach its engineers because the documentation is only available in Chinese or your follow-up questions fail on language? I handle the technical clarification directly with the manufacturer, in their language, and in Mandarin with Chinese manufacturers.
06 / Questions
What gets asked before an engagement?
In the scanner case the same assembly cost €33.61 through the distributor and around €25 direct from the manufacturer. Buying direct requires someone to find the manufacturer, read the documentation and negotiate in the local language.
What has worked for a long time feels right. That is not necessarily the same thing. The audit quantifies what being tied to the supplier costs, and often the outcome is that everything can stay as it is.
No. The audit is not a yes-or-no decision about China but an assessment per line item. It shows where a switch pays off, where a negotiation is enough and where the best course is to change nothing.
First check what the notice actually says: NRND is not end of life, a product change notification is not a discontinuation, and allocation is not obsolescence. If it really is end of life, work a fixed solution ladder from cheapest to most expensive: existing stock and already qualified alternatives, last-time buy, a cross or replacement part, the authorised aftermarket, die banking, and only then a redesign. Do not rely on the notice period, because in 2025 621,909 part numbers went obsolete and 52 per cent of them came with no manufacturer notification at all. The full procedure is in the obsolescence playbook.
Not by exiting, but by finding where the dependency actually sits — and that is usually the firmware. Chinese module and SoC vendors ship deeply integrated SDKs; if the driver is written straight against one of them, changing supplier becomes a software project rather than a purchase order. The counter-move is interface contracts at the hardware boundary and a thin abstraction layer that is the only thing knowing the specific chip. Why procurement cannot fix this on its own is set out in Supplier Lock-In Is an Architecture Problem, Not a Procurement Problem.
A bill of materials is enough to start with, an Excel export will do, it does not have to be a maintained ERP. For the deeper levels the schematic and access to the firmware are added, above all to the driver code that is tied to specific components. Whatever is missing we clarify in the intro call, before the engagement brief is written.
A confidentiality agreement is concluded for every commissioned audit before any documents are handed over. The potential check does not require an NDA, because you only name the type of component, not your bill of materials. An NDA can, however, be signed for it on request.
Through the scope: how many line items are examined and how deeply. That produces a fixed price stated in the engagement brief — no billing by time spent and no supplementary claims. The three packages are further up this page; which one fits your case is something we discuss in the free intro call.
Yes, and usually more. Where devices have been built unchanged for years, the bill of materials has gone unexamined the longest, and often nobody in the company still holds the decisions behind it. The report names them again and delivers, per line item, the amount that purchasing and management can work with, without an engineering department of your own being needed for it.
Then it stays a finding. The audit quantifies what a change costs and what it delivers; whether it happens is your decision. In many engagements the figure itself is the leverage: anyone who knows what a replacement costs negotiates with the existing source differently from someone who does not.
07 / Articles
How deep does the technical substance go?
Under DC bias, a 10 µF MLCC often delivers only a fraction of its printed value.
The commodity code determines the duty rate, additional tariffs and applicable rules. One wrong digit gets expensive.
Whether the country of origin holds is decided by substantial transformation.
08 / The next step
How do I start?
Thirty minutes. Your situation, your product, your suppliers. At the end you have the potential check: how many alternative suppliers are worth considering and what saving is realistically on the table.
