All Roads Lead To China wondered in several recent posts what proportion of "product failure" is acceptable, and when a recall is justified. What Richard Brubaker calls "product failure" is actually an accident caused by the product … [Read more...]
Archives for August 2009
What to know before booking a quality inspection
Many small importers start buying in China, and then end up feeling a need for quality control (QC). They haven’t gotten assistance from specialized QC firms. This article outlines what buyers need to know to take full advantage of product … [Read more...]
The short term view of chinese suppliers
Foreign buyers are often shocked by the behavior of their Chinese suppliers. They are themselves often trying to grow their business by making unprofitable deals with new customers. And when they ask for some help from their supplier, they … [Read more...]
What to do with golden samples from Chinese suppliers?
The importance of samples to get new orders How do buyers select a Chinese supplier? Most often, they compare quotations and samples. Other considerations, such as reactivity or manufacturing capability, are taken into account by a … [Read more...]
Who takes the final decision to let the factory ship the products?
It is always amazing how some Chinese suppliers can take advantage of a situation, and then reject the fault on another party with a straight face. I just fell victim of it, because of a supplier that didn't wait for his customer's shipping … [Read more...]
You have special requirements? Then write your own inspection procedure!
One of my clients systematically controls every shipment upon arrival in their warehouse. So they have a lady who has been doing this full-time for more than 10 years. They have honed a procedure for her work, little by little. It is based … [Read more...]
Confirming quality when paying by irrevocable letter of credit
In my last article, I explained how an importer can confirm his product's quality while paying by bank wire. The other very widespread mode of payment is the letter of credit (L/C), or documentary credit. Generally speaking, buyers should … [Read more...]
Confirming quality when paying by bank wire (T/T)
This article will detail how an importer can confirm his product's quality while paying by bank wire (let's say the deposit is 30%). Important note: what I wrote below is relevant primarily for sea shipments. For air shipping, the … [Read more...]
Tie payments to quality acceptance, for each shipment
I'm catching up here on a good post entitled When Sourcing in China. Cash = Control on the All Roads blog. I wanted to write something about the relationship between payments and quality, but I don't think I can write it more clearly than … [Read more...]
An inappropriate example about China sourcing
Very good post, over at Evolving Excellence, entitled How Do You Like Them Apples?. Bill Waddell, a consultant with strong experience in operations management, analyzes Apple’s procurement of iPods. He tries to demonstrate that Apple … [Read more...]