In my last article, I explained how an importer can confirm his product's quality while paying by bank wire. The other very widespread mode of payment is the letter of credit (L/C), or documentary credit. Generally speaking, buyers should … [Read more...]
Confirming quality when paying by bank wire (T/T)
This article will detail how an importer can confirm his product's quality while paying by bank wire (let's say the deposit is 30%). Important note: what I wrote below is relevant primarily for sea shipments. For air shipping, the … [Read more...]
Tie payments to quality acceptance, for each shipment
I'm catching up here on a good post entitled When Sourcing in China. Cash = Control on the All Roads blog. I wanted to write something about the relationship between payments and quality, but I don't think I can write it more clearly than … [Read more...]
An inappropriate example about China sourcing
Very good post, over at Evolving Excellence, entitled How Do You Like Them Apples?. Bill Waddell, a consultant with strong experience in operations management, analyzes Apple’s procurement of iPods. He tries to demonstrate that Apple … [Read more...]
Explain your quality standard: be simple and concrete
Many importers don't fully understand the reports they get from inspection companies. The concepts are not really complex, but one needs a little guidance to grasp them correctly. That's why I write articles such as Quality Control … [Read more...]
Preventing Chinese suppliers from subcontracting: the bike lock theory
The China Law Blog just released an interesting post, introducing the "bike lock theory of Chinese law". Dan Harris makes the point that lawyers can help prevent quality issues by crafting a good contract. And he takes an example: how a … [Read more...]
Complex supply chains in China
I skimmed through All The Tea In China today. It was written by a founder of an American trading company specializing in China importing and exporting. It is aimed at a general public and basically tries to answer the question "where are … [Read more...]
Resolving conflicts in China
I finished reading Mr. China by Tim Clissold and I found it quite interesting. It is the story of an investment fund that lost hundreds of millions of dollars in China in the 1990s. The author describes in great details the traps his … [Read more...]
Preparing a list of quality defects for QC inspectors
During a product inspection, one of the main tasks is looking for defects on samples, categorizing them (critical/major/minor), and reporting them. The maximum number of defects that is allowed is based on the AQL, which has to be set by … [Read more...]
Chinese suppliers and subcontracting
I just came across an interesting post ("6 conversations and a couple of cultural lessons") on the SRI blog. In the last paragraphs, David Dayton evokes the sub-contracting habits of Chinese manufacturers: Chinese factories ALWAYS sub work … [Read more...]