QualityInspection.org

Quality Assurance, Product Development, and Purchasing Strategies in China

You are here: Home / Articles

All about the Metal Machining Process, Surface Finishes, and Tolerances [videos]

For all the talk about 3D printing (also called additive manufacturing), the vast majority of metal products are shaped into their final form by subtracting material using metal machining processes. Even when a component or product is cast, it is nearly always finished on a CNC machine. If your products include metal components, some material is very likely to be subtracted at some point of its fabrication. So, our senior engineer Paul prepared a series of videos that cover (nearly) all … [Read more...]

Why a First Article Inspection Can Save an Entire Production from Quality Issues

Planning the start of production so that a first article inspection can be performed before the rest of mass production takes place... That's not something the average Chinese factory does, unfortunately. However, under the right circumstances, a first article inspection (FAI) can save an entire production from disaster. Here's how... … [Read more...]

Low Budget New Product Development For Importers From Asia [Q&A]

I recently spoke with Liz Long of Learn To Make A Product, who I've worked with in the past, about low budget new product development for importers who are getting their products manufactured in Asia. New product development can be tough for importers, especially entrepreneurs, startups, and small businesses who are doing it for the first time, so what advice does Liz have to offer? … [Read more...]

China Still Best For New & Complex Manufacturing Projects

Steve Dickinson wrote an article (Moving Manufacturing from China: Where you Gonna Run?) that got me thinking about complex manufacturing projects and China. He outlines the main reasons why China became "the factory of the world" so quickly (especially from 1992 to 2005), for small and large buyers alike. Other low-cost Asian countries are now trying to emulate these results and attract manufacturing, and they seem to focus on lower tax rates. Here are two recent articles I found on this … [Read more...]

Electronics Videos: Basics about PCB, PCBA, and the SMT Process For Importers

More and more products (both consumer goods and for industrial/commercial use) contain electronic parts - from dishwashers to remote controls and from small toys to functional MRI devices. If this is the case for some of the products you develop/buy, you need to know a few basics. This is why we prepared this series of electronics videos. … [Read more...]

Dimensional Control: Should Inspectors Write their Findings?

A few years back, I wrote an article related to dimensional control about the limitations of asking inspectors to write the exact values they find when checking measurements of items like garments and precision mechanical pieces. First, the numbers you can read in a report are not necessarily the reality, and I cited many ways this happens: Use of measurement instruments that are not calibrated (poor accuracy) or that lack precision Inadvertent human errors (misreading the instrument, … [Read more...]

China Sourcing: Does Your Sales Contact Really Work At The Factory?

When I meet someone who has recently started working with Chinese companies, I often urge them not to make any assumptions. One of the most common 'discoveries' buyers make is... that they haven't been working with a factory directly when they thought they were. … [Read more...]