I know many buying offices here in China that have hired their own inspectors. In some cases it works very well. But, in other cases, defective batches are regularly allowed for shipment and everybody wonders how it happened. My friend … [Read more...]
Benefits of quality control inspections
The question is, are inspections useless? What are the benefits of quality control inspections, if any? As I mentioned in a previous article, more and more importers are switching their focus from standard QC inspections to improving key … [Read more...]
How to keep in touch
Google just announced that its RSS feed reader would stop service soon. This will impact some of our subscribers: If you have been reading my blog via RSS, there are three solutions: 1. Subscribe by email, and receive a message for each … [Read more...]
How to complain about counterfeit/fakes on Taobao
There has been a mounting concern about the role of e-commerce platforms in the distribution of fake products. For example, two years ago I wrote Does your China factory sell your products on Taobao.com?. And it seems like the situation is … [Read more...]
New sourcing destinations in Asia: Let’s be serious.
Some importers are constantly scanning Asia for new producing countries. They are chasing the lowest wages. It is not possible in all industries, of course. In many hard goods categories (toys, consumer electronics, DIY...), there is no … [Read more...]
Why the RMB rate might well go down
Have your margins been beaten up by the strong appreciation of the RMB? There is hope in the short and medium term. For a bit of perspective, here is the RMB/USD exchange rate over the past two years: This past week I attended the ”Made … [Read more...]
How to hide your supplier name from Import Genius, Panjiva…
As I wrote before, most importers don't want to disclose the names of their Chinese suppliers. But, in the US, the names of shipper and importers (as shown on the bill of lading) is public information. And it is available through more … [Read more...]
Disorganization between importers and suppliers compounds
When defining a sourcing strategy, most importers forget to do a bit of introspection. If their purchasing and quality services are poorly organized, their sourcing options are severely limited. The most simple situation would be to find … [Read more...]
Productivity gains in Chinese factories, a critical element to watch
Here are a few interesting articles that I found recently. Plenty of Productivity in Store for China, Economist Says Journalists are good at reporting the obvious: less and less Chinese workers are going to work in factories. And … [Read more...]
Should you inspect during production or before shipment?
Inexperienced importers usually ask the same questions, one of which is: when should we inspect the quality of our products? There are mainly two types of inspections: Inspection during production: very useful to catch problems early, … [Read more...]
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