Advertorial: A Breath of Fresh Air

Since then, Advantage Air has also engaged another of the Hong Kong companies recommended through Premier Connect. "The other company was given the job of producing a little wireless temperature sensor for our GenIII system, and they’re in the process of making the first production of those for us. So we got two out of three, which is good," says Kimble.

Key Benefits

The HKTDC’s Premier Connect service saved Kimble time and introduced him to reputable companies. "We were put in contact with companies that had experience, that were already manufacturing for some pretty big names. It gave us comfort knowing that they had good quality standards."

Protecting his company's intellectual property was equally important. "Both of the companies we’ve gone with went to great lengths to show us their procedures on the protection of IP, and how they protect it internally in their own company."

Kimble says he’s gotten his money back for the Premier Connect service many times over. "When you do lots of trips to China—three years ago we were going there every six weeks for a week—it adds up, so it’s quite nice to be able to shortcut that whole process."

Production began in August, and Kimble says this is just the beginning of a long relationship he hopes to have with the two recommended suppliers. "The first manufacturer has already quoted on two or three other products for us. That was one of the reasons we chose to spread the work across the two companies. We wanted to build relationships with two companies to find out their strengths and weaknesses, so that when we’re looking for a supplier we can give the appropriate job to the appropriate supplier."

Asked if he would use the Premier Connect service again, Kimble says "absolutely". In fact, he recently recommended the service to a relative planning on travelling through China next year to source suppliers. "I said, ‘Don’t waste your time. I’ll give you the HKTDC’s phone number’."

For more information about Premier Connect, visit www.premierconnect.tdctrade.com or contact the HKTDC office on (02) 9261 8911, or email This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it