QualityInspection.org

Quality Assurance, Product Development, and Purchasing Strategies in China

Chinese Factories and Product Returns: Not Impossible

"If I discover that some goods I purchased from China are defective, and I am in the USA or in the UK (as examples), what can I do?" Many people tend to think "let me tell the supplier, and I can return it to them for rework or replacements". However, that's seldom realistic or practical. Let's examine why. … [Read more...]

Common Compliance Gaps & Loopholes With ‘Made In China’ Products [Podcast]

In this episode... Renaud Anjoran is joined by Clive Greenwood, an expert in product compliance to discuss the issues with compliance that most importers face and some compliance gaps and 'loopholes' to be aware of. Many people buy products from China (or elsewhere) without checking if they are compliant with their country's rules and regulations. This means that a lot of products are being   Just hit the play button to start listening..! Listen to the episode right here … [Read more...]

From Prototype to Production: 7 Pitfalls for Tech Products

If you have already done the hard work of building a look-alike and work-alike prototype, congratulations! However, there are still these 7 most common pitfalls you have to avoid while going from prototype to production... … [Read more...]

A Guide To Plastic Injection Mold Tooling Management & Risk Reduction For Buyers [Podcast]

In this episode… Are you developing a new product which has plastic parts? If so, you'll need tooling made which including the mold for making the parts and you're not going to want to miss this episode where we explain how to manage tooling and reduce your risks! Typically, the tooling (mold) needs to be designed, fabricated, tested, and stored and moved correctly. But how do you manage all of these efficiently and reduce the risks of things going wrong? Renaud and Adrian from the team … [Read more...]

How Bad Product Design Leads to Many Quality Issues

I had an interesting discussion a few days ago. It made me realize most people see products of obviously poor quality and think the issues come from manufacturing, while, in fact, they most often come from bad product design! Let's see why here... … [Read more...]

How Did Sea Freight End Up In Such An Expensive Mess In 2021? [Podcast]

In this episode... Renaud is joined this week by global logistics expert Jon Monroe who boasts over 30 years in the logistics industry and has a strong focus on Transpacific trade. They discuss the current global sea freight crisis (in June/July 2021) that is hitting a lot of importers with both towering costs and delays and explore how we came to this point while dispelling certain misconceptions. Jon also gives some insight into the situation in the USA specifically, but touches on other … [Read more...]

New EU Medical Device Regulation: No More Traders?

If you have been buying China-made medical devices and reselling them in the European Union, and if you haven't actually done the product development work yourself, can you keep doing that business now that the new EU medical device regulation changes have come into effect? In many cases, no. … [Read more...]

What Is Good Quality Assurance For Importers Buying In China?

A client was interested in product inspections, and they asked: Do you also offer a post-inspection service, for cases where the results are not ideal? That got me thinking. The answer is simple, yes, we can keep following up, but managing the way rework is done and planning a re-inspection is never a pleasing experience for the buyer. It looks straightforward (see below), but in reality, it is often a tense negotiation between the buyer and the seller:   How to avoid … [Read more...]

How To Improve Supplier Performance? [Podcast]

In this episode... Renaud talks you through a common query that we get on a regular basis when customers ask us: "How do I get my suppliers to improve?" A recent survey of importers found that 70% said that their biggest challenge was working with suppliers to improve performance. So, with this in mind, Renaud goes through the topic based on training that he gave for European Chamber of Commerce in China members on improving suppliers with a focus on product quality, delivery times, price, … [Read more...]

How good DFM and DFA Help with Production Cost & Quality

I have been reading 'the' reference textbook on the concepts of DFM and DFA (design for manufacturing and design for assembly). It's great for design engineers (especially on the mechanical side), for NPI program managers, and for anybody working on reliability, quality, or costing at the product design stage. People involved in manufacturing would also benefit from skimming through it. I picked 2 graphs that are quite interesting. … [Read more...]