Same control as in-house. None of the overhead. Built for leaders who've outgrown trading companies and want to reduce the cost or risk associated with owning a foreign office.
For 25 years we've watched companies pour spend into platforms while the on-the-ground management of their global supply chains was left to two structurally broken options. The cracks were always there. The current environment just made them impossible to ignore.
Broker-mediated sourcing relationships built on convenience instead of transparency. No true market pricing benchmark, no qualified alternative supplier ready when you need one — just the number you were given.
Foreign offices and WFOEs that consume capital before they create value — and the cost of running them is rising faster than the markets they're meant to serve. Headcount you can't easily redeploy as priorities shift. A footprint locked into where you were sourcing five years ago, not where you need to be next year.
Senior operators absorbing tactical issues that should never reach their desk. Diversification stays on the roadmap indefinitely while concentration risk, tariff exposure, and margin pressure compound every quarter.
These aren't new problems. They're the predictable outcome of models built for a different era. Neither trading companies nor foreign offices were designed for the environment you operate in today.
Most leaders evaluating their supply chain footprint think they have two options. The Third Path keeps what works about each — and removes what doesn't.
Convenient, opaque, structurally misaligned with your interests.
Maximum control, maximum cost, minimum agility.
SCMaaS — the same control as in-house, delivered as a service.
Our embedded teams operate as an extension of yours — full-time and fractional, across China, India, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, and Malaysia. You direct the strategy. We deliver the execution.
Supplier identification, qualification, and category management across all six markets — built into the engagement from day one.
In-process and pre-shipment inspections by trained engineers — integrated directly into your quality management system.
Structured auditing of existing and prospective suppliers against your own internal criteria. Built for regulated industries.
End-to-end operational management of the in-region supply chain — from purchase order through final delivery.
Whether the work is re-sourcing, diversification, foreign office transition, or supplier development, the engagement model is the same — built to deliver early wins and compound over time.
A focused diagnostic of your supply chain — current footprint, supplier base, and pricing benchmarks. We define the priority targets, success metrics, and governance cadence before any engagement begins.
Our regional team integrates with yours and executes the scoped work — re-sourcing, diversification, audits, transitions — across our six markets. You direct the strategy. We deliver the operational lift.
Live KPIs, quarterly governance, and continuous improvement. Once the initial scope is stable, we expand into adjacent categories or geographies — and the relationship compounds rather than resets.
Margin-pressured portcos. Concentration risk on a clock. Operating partners without a credible diagnostic. We work with PE firms to deploy SCMaaS across portfolio companies — same playbook, same team, predictable results inside the hold period.
See how we work with PE firms →
Medical Products
How we replaced a decades-old broker relationship with direct, transparent sourcing — establishing a true pricing baseline and tariff resilience in under four months.
Consumer Goods
How a multinational consumer goods company closed its China foreign office — eliminating $250K in annual overhead, reducing an overstaffed team by 40%, and maintaining continuous operations across 75 suppliers throughout the transition.
Every category has its own supplier ecosystem, quality standards, and sourcing traps. We've operated long enough to know all of them.
The complete positioning thesis — why trading companies and foreign offices were both built for a different era, and what an asset-light, in-region operating model looks like in practice. Built for CFOs and COOs.
Read the Third Path Diagnostic · 5 minutesTwenty questions across four pillars — Visibility, Process, People, and Alignment. Get your score, your benchmark, and a free 30-minute review with one of our regional directors.
Take the assessmentIf your leadership is wrestling with how to diversify or make structural changes to your supply chain — that's the conversation we're built to lead. Thirty minutes with one of our regional directors and you'll know what's possible.