I had a funny conversation with one of my clients’ suppliers. My inspector had found too many defects and had to reject one of their shipments. I was also in the factory, monitoring the whole thing. I started questioning the supplier about … [Read more...]
Archives for December 2009
Social compliance audits in factories: perverse effects
Several articles and books have described the perverse effects of audits for social compliance. An auditor goes to a factory, looks for evidence of non-compliance to local law and some international standards, and produces a report used by … [Read more...]
The brain drain away from inspection firms
After reading a bunch of resumes and talking with a few people in the industry, I have the feeling that most inspectors don't work in third-party companies for long. I might well be wrong, of course. It is only the fruit of a few … [Read more...]
Chinese buildings full of… air!
I have noticed something funny about a few commercial buildings that were built recently in Shenzhen. The top floors are empty. Or, should I write, the place that should be occupied by the theoretical top floors is empty. You can see it on … [Read more...]
You want a good report? Here is how to do
In the majority of inspections, the situation looks like this: The buyer pays for the inspection, and wants the inspector to be objective. If anything, the inspector should be too tough with the supplier, not too easy. The supplier … [Read more...]
QC inspections: basic concepts
Buyers often take decisions based on QC reports, but most of them have no idea about the industry-specific terms. I noticed that I spent time explaining the same things over and over again. So last April I wrote a four-part tutorial to … [Read more...]
How Chinese factories cut their costs
I often blame the attitude of factory bosses for the quality issues experienced by importers in China. But the problems really come from the business environment. Few manufacturers (in proportion) truly commit to maintaining a quality … [Read more...]
Should the inspector know the production process?
As I wrote before, some suppliers try to discredit third-party inspectors, in an attempt to persuade their customer to stop doing QC. That's why serious inspection firms have to maintain a certain standard of professionalism. One remark … [Read more...]
What does a QC inspection cost to the supplier?
Last week, a supplier was apparently very fed up with our inspectors' visits. They pretended that our inspections, even though they might be helpful in uncovering issues before shipment, cost them some money. And these costs should be borne … [Read more...]
The value of promises in China
Chinese exporters have grown wary of the foreigners' rigidity, and they often do all they can to avoid precise promises. It can be a shipment date, a certain level of quality, a proportion of wastage of materials, etc. What Americans of … [Read more...]