Intellectual Property & Offshore Manufacturing

Protecting what you cannot see from what you cannot control is a difficult, time consuming and ever changing road. Many companies go to great lengths to protect their buildings, employees, money and product. However, few take into consideration the grave affect the theft of their ideas can have. Intellectual Property (IP) is an intangible resource that should be highly valued. IP refers to anything from ideas and designs to locations, business practices, or not so common knowledge that can give a company a competitive edge. Offshore manufacturing can be especially challenging for IP protection given the distance and the many exchanges of hands. This may allow a disconnect from the rules, procedures and business objectives a company puts into place to protect their assets. This breakdown can occur anywhere; upstream or downstream, individuals, suppliers, even government policies or lack thereof. As a smaller yet growing company TMD is aware of this particular tribulation in IP security with offshore manufacturing. Thus TMD has the opportunity to grow with the proper protection for the intellectual property that makes TMD Holdings a success.

Having suppliers in locations across the globe can prove to be difficult in preventing IP violations and leaks. TMD Holdings has a team of people centralized near the suppliers that are native to the locations culture. This is an intermediary team that communicates directly to the supplier, through the supply chain, and back to TMD Holdings. This team is highly knowledgeable in the interests, rights and the protection of IP with all parties involved. As a result TMD Holdings minimizes the risk to IP and the disconnect in practices and objective that can occur with offshore manufacturing.

Minimizing these risks also comes from a top down approach to the responsibility in producing affective and efficient policies and procedures including clear directions, practical assessments and reactions to problems. TMD Holdings not only has combined decades of experience in handling offshore manufacturing, communication techniques and software technologies but also has many long term partnerships in the supply chain. In addition, new partnerships and ideas present themselves on a regular basis. While the leadership from the top executives lays the groundwork each department through the supply chain (employees and partners) are responsible to add to the IP and to improve and streamline its protection. All ideas are encouraged, considered and often implemented in order to provide the best service across the board.