I am reading The Rise Of The New East: Business Strategies For An Increasingly Complex World by Ben Simpfendorfer, a consultant and economist based in Hong Kong. This book explores the region’s growing commercial opportunities and … [Read more...]
Archives for August 2014
Why Does Making a Mold In China Take a Month?
Last week I wrote about the cost of making a mold. This week I am addressing another common question from clients: why does it generally take about one month? The length of time it takes to produce a mold tool depends on a number of … [Read more...]
Supplier Management and Sourcing Issues: Speaking Engagements
I will take part in several conferences in October and November. I listed them below. China Sourcing Fairs (Global Sources) Topic: The 5 Biggest Challenges in Importing from China and How to Manage Them Dates and times: October 19 … [Read more...]
What Determines the Cost of a Plastic Injection Mold in China?
Many clients have asked me "what determines the cost of a mold?" or "how to get plastic injection molds made for low prices in China?" So I asked one of our engineers for an explanation. The short answer is, “it all depends”. Mold tools … [Read more...]
Mechanical Product Safety Standards: How Much is Too Much?
Product safety depends mainly on two components: Avoiding restricted substances -- both the standards and the way to conduct chemical tests are relatively clear. Making sure no user will get hurt -- there are many murky issues here, … [Read more...]
Best Practices for Protecting Electro-Mechanical Products
Kevin Howard, a packaging engineer from Packnomics, was kind enough to share his experiences regarding the protection of electro-mechanical products. The rest of this article was written by Kevin. My background is distribution … [Read more...]
AQL 2.5 Has Nothing to Do with the Number of Samples to Inspect
It seems like most suppliers and most buyers can only remember "AQL 2.5" when it comes to the settings of QC inspections. Unfortunately, "Sampling as per AQL 2.5" means nothing. I am aware that "single sampling plan by attributes as per … [Read more...]
How Factory Audits, Inspections, and Lab Tests Fit Together
I am often asked questions such as “what is the difference between audits and inspections” or "why are lab tests necessary if you send an inspector". In this article, I will show how these three types of services fit together. Let's … [Read more...]
Why the Kunshan Zhongrong Blast is Only the Tip of the Iceberg
A severe accident took place last weekend in Kunshan (very close to Shanghai). Many good articles have covered it and exposed the facts. It was apparently triggered by poor ventilation that allowed dusk to accumulate and cause an … [Read more...]
An Interesting Example of China Quality Scandal
The Changzhutan, a Chinese newpaper, just revealed one more food scandal. Most details have been translated by The Nanfang Insider into English. 1. The facts Most street vendors sell beef and lamb meat-on-a-stick at the same price. It's … [Read more...]