Hire an AI China supply chain planner

Everything it can hand back

Your task sets the actual outputs. The specialist picks the methods that cover them.

• Each item placed in a buying group, with the approach that suits it
• A step-by-step way to qualify a new supplier and the questions to ask each candidate
• A total cost comparison of your options, with hidden costs shown
• An order split across a main supplier and backups, with the reasons
• A risk register, with a response for each risk and a continuity check
• A savings plan in short, middle and long term steps, and an action list
• One report under nine headings, in order: diagnosis, buying groups, supplier checks, total cost, order split, risk register, savings plan, actions, and open questions

How it does the job well

• Never name a real factory or supplier as a recommendation. You can list the kinds of supplier to look for and where to look.
• Contract, customs, tax, product certification and export-rule points are not for you to rule on. Mark them for a customs broker or a lawyer.
• Do not contact suppliers, place orders or sign anything. Prepare drafts and ask first.
• Work from the real catalogue, prices, stock and policies. Check variants and currencies.
• Judge changes by contribution margin, not revenue alone.
• Change one thing at a time on a live store and keep a way to roll back.
• Keep product claims consistent with supplier data and labels.

Mistakes it avoids

• Editing live products, prices or themes without approval or a backup.
• Ignoring shipping, returns and fees when judging profit.
• Copying competitor listings.

What a good result looks like

An example, not your task: You buy parts or products from Chinese factories and one supplier would hurt you badly if it stopped.

• Diagnosis. Where your supply stands today, the weak points, and any data it needed but was not given.
• Buying groups. Each item placed as strategic, volume, bottleneck or routine, with the buying approach for it.
• Supplier qualification plan. The checks, evidence and pass tests for a new supplier, from company check to full supply.
• Total cost comparison. Price plus inspection, defects, stock holding and switching cost for each option, as a table.
• Order split. How much goes to a main, backup and development supplier for each item, with reasons.
• Risk register. Each risk with likelihood, impact, response and a continuity check.

How the work is checked

• Every product fact matches the catalogue or supplier data.
• Money effects include costs, fees and returns.
• Live changes have a backup and a rollback step.
• States which checks passed, failed or could not run, and names missing inputs.

These checks have not been run against a model yet. Your AI uses them to check its own work.

Capabilities

• Diagnose the position. It reviews your suppliers, spend, stock and weak points, and marks anything it needs but was not given.
• Group each item. It places each item by size of spend and difficulty of replacing it, then sets a buying approach for each group.
• Plan supplier qualification. It lays out the path from a company check, to an audit, a trial order and full supply, with what to ask at each step.
• Compare total cost. It adds direct, indirect and hidden costs to price, using your numbers and clear assumptions.
• Split the orders. It sets a main supplier, a backup and a small development supplier, so no key item depends on one factory.
• Map the risks. It lists supply, quality, price, delivery and compliance risks, with a response and an owner for each.
• Set the savings and actions. It sorts savings ideas by how soon they pay, then lists urgent, 30-day and long-term actions.

How the role works

1. Checks your task, context and available tools.
2. Picks the methods needed and prepares a work plan.
3. Carries out supported tasks, with each method's limits and review gates.
4. Checks the real deliverables and corrects supported faults.
5. Hands back files, evidence and unresolved gaps.

Your specialist's working setup

Download the base specialist without a task form or account. README.md and SETUP.md explain how to use the folder. SOUL.md defines its scope. INTAKE.md asks missing questions inside your AI. PLAYBOOK.md, SKILLS.md, BEST_PRACTICES.md, CHECKS.md and HANDOFF.md guide the work and its checked deliverables.

Complete associated skills, supporting files and licences are included. Choose only the methods needed for the actual task. Keep context, working files and accepted feedback in your AI project.

Use this specialist through MCP or the API

Call prepare_specialist with role_id supply-chain-strategist only. No task is required to load it. Your AI asks what job you need done, what you want back and which relevant context it can use.

For task-led hiring, call find_specialist, explain the suggested specialists and let the user accept or change the team.

Complete ZIP: Download base specialist. API: GET /api/v1/specialists/supply-chain-strategist/pack. The host AI supplies its own model, tools and execution; a pack does not connect accounts or run a task.

Inputs and helpful context

The specialist starts from the task brief. Only active methods require their inputs.

For the primary method, when used

• What you buy, with the specification and your yearly volume
• Your current suppliers with 12 months of spend, late orders and rejected units, and the part specification (optional, but the diagnosis and risk register stay general without them)
• Your limits on cost, quality standard and lead time
• Where you buy now, such as China only or other countries too
• Quotes or factory answers you want weighed against each other (optional)
• Your last period's numbers if you want a report, such as spend, on-time rate and stock (optional)

Helpful context (optional)

• A list of every supplier with spend, late orders and rejected units for the last 12 months.
• The part drawings or specification you give to factories.
• Any contract terms on price, quality and delivery penalties.

Tools and access

• Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini with file upload: You can attach your supplier list and purchase history instead of retyping them.
• A spreadsheet such as Google Sheets or Excel: You can rebuild the total cost table with formulas and test one change at a time.

Functions and deliverables

• China supply chain planner: Plan how to buy from Chinese factories. Get a sourcing plan with supplier checks, total cost, an order split and a risk register with backups.
  • Each item placed in a buying group, with the approach that suits it
  • A step-by-step way to qualify a new supplier and the questions to ask each candidate
  • A total cost comparison of your options, with hidden costs shown
  • An order split across a main supplier and backups, with the reasons
  • A risk register, with a response for each risk and a continuity check
  • A savings plan in short, middle and long term steps, and an action list
  • One report under nine headings, in order: diagnosis, buying groups, supplier checks, total cost, order split, risk register, savings plan, actions, and open questions
  Source: Michael Sitarzewski and Agency Agents contributors.
• Supply chain backup plan builder: Build a supply chain backup plan: rank your top risks, get a backup for each, and see who does what when something breaks.
  • A ranked risk list
  • Scenario and stress test results
  • A mitigation plan for each top risk
  • Owners and actions for a disruption
  • A resilience score
  Source: Kishor Kukreja.
• Supplier order splitter: Share supplier quotes, limits, and demand. Get an order split with a total-cost comparison.
  • Order quantities per supplier
  • A suggested order size
  • Total cost comparison
  • A dual-sourcing split
  • The Python code used
  Source: Kishor Kukreja.
• Supplier payment terms planner: Plan your supplier payment terms. Give it your terms, lead time and cash. You get your float in days, terms to ask for and a cost split.
  • Your float in days
  • A ladder of terms to ask for, from the easiest to the hardest
  • A cost-share offer for the factory's financing cost, as a line in the cost sheet
  • Cash left each month after stock, with and without the new terms
  • A risk list: size and color mix errors, tariff swings, credit check
• Brand profile builder: Share your website. Get a reusable profile covering your products, customers, voice and approved claims, with sources.
  • A folder of eight plain files, from a start file for your AI to a claims list and a change log
  • A tag on every fact, and every claim marked approved, pending or banned
  • A two-sentence diagnosis of your biggest gap, and a list of what's missing and who can answer it
  • A short slice for your next step, if you name one

Tasks you can use it for

• You buy parts or products from Chinese factories and one supplier would hurt you badly if it stopped.
• A supplier is late or its defect rate is rising and you need a backup plan.
• You compare suppliers by price alone and want to see the full cost of each.
• You want a monthly or quarterly supply chain report in one fixed layout.

Limits to check before starting

• You already hold quotes or factory answers and want them compared or scored. Use the Supplier quote reviewer or the Supplier shortlist vetter.
• You need the message that asks factories for quotes. Use the Supplier quote request writer.
• You need to know how much to order and the cash it takes. Use the Inventory cash planner.
• You need a ruling on customs, tax, contracts or product certification. Ask a customs broker or a lawyer.

Best way to use this role

Give it one clear outcome, the actual files and a definition of done. Keep the work in one AI project so it can reuse checked context and earlier files.

• Download the pack from this page and add it to your AI as a skill. If you cannot, paste SKILL.md into a new chat, then paste references/source-agent.md after it.
• Write a short brief. Cover what you buy, your volume, your current suppliers and what worries you most. Paste a spreadsheet of suppliers and spend if you have one.
• Type "Make a sourcing plan", "Compare total cost for these options" or "Write this period's supply chain report", and paste the numbers.
• Check the risk register first. Then check each sum against your own sheet. In a plain chat the AI does the arithmetic by hand and cannot run code.
• Verify every supplier you pick through a business record check, a sample order and a factory audit. The AI contacts no one and signs nothing, and it names no real supplier. The marketplaces (such as 1688 and Alibaba) and business-record sites it points to may need an account, a login or a fee. You sign up and pay for them yourself.
• Next, turn the plan into factory messages with the Supplier quote request writer, then compare the answers with the Supplier quote comparer.

Read it as data

Read the complete role setup as JSON. Connect your AI to the AI Blocks MCP library and read aiblocks://roles/supply-chain-strategist for its role instructions and pinned sources.

This is a prepared AI role. No task has run. Your AI carries out authorized work using its available tools and reports the actual deliverables and checks.