Danny Coyle and Steven Weng just came up with a pretty good "Guide to manufacturing knitwear in China" (see part 1 and part 2), and I think their advice is applicable to buying any product here. They make a list of steps for knitwear … [Read more...]
The giant hole in China quality assurance programs
The quality assurance programs of most importers, when it comes to their China purchases, are far from being fool-proof. As Richard Brubaker wrote (in "20 Things I Have Learned About China"): There is no “Poorly Made in China”. There is … [Read more...]
Reading a Chinese factory address with Google Maps
Many importers have no clue about the factory location. All they know is the general area, when they purchase in FOB terms, because they know the port of shipment (for example, if they purchase "FOB Shenzhen", the assembling factory is in … [Read more...]
Container loading inspection: a guide for importers
A lot of things can go wrong when a shipment is loaded in a container, or during transport. A good solution is to send a technician conduct a container loading inspection. For some urgent shipments, it is performed in combination with a … [Read more...]
Product development with chinese factories
Most Chinese factories are very good at reproducing a physical sample... and not as good at respecting a blueprint or a set of written specifications. Importers often waste a lot of time to get to a "perfect sample", before production … [Read more...]
Probable appreciation of the Chinese yuan: effects for importers
It seems like the Chinese yuan (also called the renminbi, or RMB) will start gaining value again: The People's Bank of China said that in response to the global economy's continuing recovery, it will enhance its exchange rate's … [Read more...]
Doing quality control in China without paying twice
In China, suppliers seldom speak out about their most important concerns, but they usually do something about it. Many importers feel that factories make them pay, in one way or another, for everything they resent. A few examples: A … [Read more...]
Inspection of textile products: what tests can be done?
My quality control firm mostly works on inspections of textile products in China and other Asian countries. This type of goods is very particular, and it takes a specialized inspector to do the job correctly. Quality inspections consist … [Read more...]
Ranking my clients’ suppliers
Some of my clients have many suppliers in China--somewhere between 5 and 20. I get to know a lot of things about them, and my clients are usually quite interested in what I can tell them. One question I often get is "can you rank them, … [Read more...]
Inspections of lingerie in China: forget about fitting tests!
Several of my clients are importers of lingerie. I advised some of them when they started buying from China and they needed an inspection firm. I noticed the same issue popped up for all of them: "we really need you to do fitting tests for … [Read more...]
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