Indeed, setting up international procurement offices (IPOs) in low-cost country like China can bring significant up-front costs or supply risks—even in the most diligent and careful operations, such as:   Limited on-the-ground resources Limited supply management resources within local business units Lack of local sense for supplier evaluation in different regions Not in-time monitoring on-going quality and performance High-cost expatriate workers “Hit or miss” recruitment of local employees Hundreds of languages and dialects Distance and time factors Varying levels of infrastructure Varying levels of potential suppliers