I came upon a great article entitled The Time Is Now (available only to ASQ members), by Narahari Rao. It describes how orders, invoices, transactions, testing & inspection reports, material certificates, and other critical pieces of … [Read more...]
Transferring Production from China to Vietnam to Avoid Tariffs
Many companies US importers from China have seen margins annihilated. It's logical to look at transferring production from China to places like Vietnam. I am writing this from Vietnam, where the tariffs imposed by the Trump … [Read more...]
What Simple Checklist for More Reliable Quality Inspections?
A simple checklist to follow day in, day out, is a highly undervalued tool. Here are a couple of examples where the value of checklists has been recognized: In aviation, checklists have been used for more than 70 years and have … [Read more...]
Communication with Chinese Suppliers: Banging Your Head Against the Wall?
Over the years, Chinese manufacturers have gotten better at understanding their overseas customers. And, in many industries, their quality has tended to improve. However, communication with sales people is still an area of frustration … [Read more...]
Upwork vs. a Sourcing Agency for Managing Your China Production
Some importers take a shortcut as they set up their supply chain, and pay for it many times over a few years later. I want to cover one of these shortcuts today. We have had a few clients come to us after being let down by an Upwork … [Read more...]
How Does the VAT Rebate for Exports out of China work?
In most cases, importers don't need to worry about the way their supplier handles the VAT rebate. They are usually better off negotiating a price under the FOB incoterm and avoid worrying about the complex paperwork involved in getting a … [Read more...]
What is the “AQL” (Acceptance Quality Limit) in simple terms?
What Does AQL Mean? 'AQL' stands for 'Acceptance Quality Limit', and is a method used by many businesses to check a random sample from the production batch of their products and confirm that the risk of bad quality is relatively low. In … [Read more...]
Bad China Suppliers Quality: Still Tolerable in 2018?
When people ask me if the quality of China-made products has improved over the past 10 years, they expect me to say "oh yes, certainly". However, the reality is not that simple. I think an interesting approach is to divide the market … [Read more...]
Buying Food Ingredients from China? Can You Trust that Info?
The 'China Aquatic Products Processing and Marketing Alliance' just decided that 6 types of fish can now be classified as "salmon" when sold within China. Amazing but true. According to the BBC, here is the background: New rules … [Read more...]
No Process Improvement Action Plan in Chinese Factories? Why?
In good factories, the leaders look at the future and wonder how to make their company stronger. They usually have an action plan that will support process improvement. That's how they will improve their quality, cut lead times, and contain … [Read more...]
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