If you have followed the advice about identifying potential suppliers in part 2, you may have found a few interesting suppliers. The next step is to confirm that they told you the truth and that they are reliable. Even if you place … [Read more...]
Minimizing and Identifying Frauds and Corruption in a Factory
I took part in an interesting event organized by the European Chamber of Commerce in China, with the participation of 3 members of EY's Fraud Investigation & Dispute Services department. Are you worried about shady practices taking … [Read more...]
Limits of Letting a Supplier Self-Inspect their Product Quality
A few days I wrote about the trend toward more supplier self-inspections. In certain cases, it makes a lot of sense to stop sending employees to check if a supplier has done a good job. However, it is not just a case of saying "oh by the … [Read more...]
Sourcing from China 101, Part 2: How to Identify Potential Chinese Suppliers?
Now I am assuming that you have decided to source in China by yourself, but how to identify potential Chinese suppliers who will do a great job? One key point I want to communicate is this: you need to follow a process. You CANNOT browse … [Read more...]
Sourcing from China 101, Part 1: Do You Need a Sourcing Agent?
A few years ago I wrote a 15-part course that was sent automatically, lesson by lesson, to interested readers. These days, such autoresponders are a thing of the past and we will switch to something different. But, rather than ditching … [Read more...]
The Right Way To Approach Production Automation
The Detroit Free Press just published a good article, Robots descending on Michigan industrial workplaces in record numbers, that describes what happens in the US but has a lot of significance for Chinese manufacturers too. Let's go … [Read more...]
Why Supplier Self-Inspections Are Getting More Popular in China
In 2005, when an importer asked their best manufacturer for a report that shows their own inspection findings, they seldom received a document. They were usually told "no problems were found". Getting a few digital photos by email was … [Read more...]
Can You Trust the Measurements from Your China Factory?
The Quality Progress magazine ran a well-written article about measurement systems in their September issue (it is entitled ‘A Study in Measurements’ and was written by Neetu Choudhary). If you purchase products that have to comply with … [Read more...]
Beware of Combined Sampling (Many Products in 1 Lot)
There is one concept in quality inspections that is quite simple and yet widely misunderstood: the sampling lot. The ISO 2859 standard calls it a "lot". It may or may not include different products based on how different they … [Read more...]
How To Cooperate With Your Chinese Supplier, Part 5: How Likely Are Your China Suppliers To Be Shut Down?
The number of Chinese factories that are shut down by the government because of their environmental impact keeps growing. More and more supply chains get disrupted. Some companies that relied mostly/solely on one source are dying. So the … [Read more...]
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