As part of their quality control plan, importers should decide when final random inspections should take place. As I wrote a while back (see here), each option has drawbacks. An earlier inspection is easier on the factory, and it allows … [Read more...]
Archives for December 2011
Social compliance audits don’t work!
Yesterday I had a good discussion with Bergson Wang, who has worked in the CSR (corporate social responsibility) departments of Adidas and Puma. There is one thing both of us believe: using audits does not work if the goal is to improve … [Read more...]
Scams by Chinese suppliers: what to do?
At least once every 2 weeks, I get an email from the victim of a scam performed by a Chinese supplier. They ask me whether someone can help them recover the money. Sometimes it is a scam (seller asks for a deposit before shipment, then … [Read more...]
How a letter of credit protects importers
As I explained before in Confirming quality when paying by irrevocable letter of credit, an importer can pay his suppliers through letters of credit (L/C). An L/C triggers the payment once the bank receives a pre-determined list of … [Read more...]
Troubleshooting process in a Chinese factory
I have been to Chinese factories a few times for solving problems. In one case, the factory pretended the goods really couldn't be made as intended by the importer (that was true). In another case, the QC inspector found many defective … [Read more...]
Piece by piece inspection: pros and cons
Some buyers don't want random inspections. They don't trust the manufacturer to produce consistently at the right quality level. So they need to check 100% of the goods. A few months ago, I described inspections on a platform, where the … [Read more...]