QualityInspection.org

Quality Assurance, Product Development, and Purchasing Strategies in China

Remote Audit Of A Factory’s Quality System: It Can Work!

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Performing a remote audit (conducted without actually going to the factory) is nothing new. And a lot of companies have started using them because of the covid-19 pandemic. In 2013, The ASQ Quality Press published eAuditing - Virtual Communication and Remote Auditing, and much of that book’s advice is still relevant today. After all, there were already iPads and iPhones, as well as wifi connections.  What’s new? There are a lot more options when it comes to hardware (typically on … [Read more...]

What Are the Factory Assessment Reports Shown on Alibaba Worth?

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About 10 years ago, I remember Global Sources was listing "verified suppliers". Good idea. And their competitors followed suit, showing factory assessment reports and anything that can make buyers confident. And I am not sure that has been a positive development, overall.   The basic principle to be aware of when buying factory analysis/verification There is a basic principle that all buyers should be aware of: When you are not paying for an analysis/verification, you can't fully … [Read more...]

Tips For Continually Getting Good Results From A New Supplier | Vetting Chinese Suppliers (Part 11) [Podcast]

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You've successfully vetted and started working with a new Chinese supplier. What's next? In our mini-series on vetting Chinese suppliers, you will already have learnt about due diligence, factory audits and visits, exploring testing facilities, and much more when it comes to vetting suppliers. If you follow through this process logically, perhaps with the help of local factory auditors and quality inspectors in China, you will be well-placed to find reliable suppliers who reach your … [Read more...]

Pricing, Negotiation, Contracts | Vetting Chinese Suppliers (Part 10)

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Getting quotations is a part of vetting new Chinese suppliers, too.  We have been creating a mini-series guiding you through effective vetting of Chinese suppliers that will help you to find the best possible manufacturer for your products this year, and, as we come to the end of it, it's time to focus on one of the final stages: negotiating price, getting quotations, and signing contracts (listen back to the entire mini-series on vetting Chinese suppliers here 👍). Let's assume you have … [Read more...]

Vetting Suppliers In China [Podcast Series]

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Vetting suppliers is important. After all, these suppliers are responsible for your company's reputation. Hopefully, everyone by now will understand the dangers of checking Alibaba or Global Sources and 'choosing' a supplier who 'looks' good, or perhaps trusting that Alibaba Gold suppliers are somehow more legitimate and trustworthy (spoiler alert: they might not be). So what does a good vetting process look like? … [Read more...]

China Supplier Vetting Part 11: Wrapping It Up

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This article is a wrap-up of the series of articles that we have published over the past few months, on the topic of the verification & qualification of Chinese suppliers. Here is the list of articles: Background Checks Questions to Ask Before a Visit Evaluating Engineering Capability On-site, subjective evaluations On-Site Factory Quality Audits On-Site Social Compliance Audits Factory Process & System Audit Factory Testing Facilities In-Depth Due … [Read more...]

China Supplier Vetting Part 10: Pricing, Negotiation, Contracts

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This is the 10th part in our China supplier vetting series. We’ll cover requests for quotations, negotiations, and contracts. By now we covered pretty much all sorts of due diligence a paranoid importer might go through! And yet it’s not over. While I am no expert in this stage of the buying process, there are a few important considerations that I want to address. Organized RFQ (Request For Quotation) One thing you want to check is whether the supplier you end up working with is … [Read more...]

China Supplier Vetting Part 9: In-Depth Due Diligence

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If you are about to select one Chinese supplier, and you know you will be tied to them for the foreseeable future, it is in your interest to spend some time and money to vet them. Here are a couple of examples: A company is about to work with a manufacturer on a complex, custom-developed, product. If things go well, production will start in 4-6 months. Finding out many issues later will mean very serious delays. An end customer has to approve the facility or it has to be certified to a … [Read more...]

China Supplier Vetting Part 8: Factory Testing Facilities

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If you have conducted inspections at your suppliers' facilities in China, you have probably found that many of the testing equipment necessary to check your product's quality is not available on site. The question, of course, is 'how can they be sure production is good, if they are unable to check it?' The reality is simple. A factory that is missing the necessary testing facilities does NOT have the capability of producing consistent quality products. That's why an important aspect of … [Read more...]

China Supplier Vetting Part 7: Factory Process & System Audit

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In a previous article I described why and how a factory’s quality system can be audited. However, if you want to confirm a factory's reliability with high certainly, you might have to dig deeper. A quality audit will only focus on the quality systems. And chances are, the auditor is not familiar with the factory's production processes, so he won't look at the process controls that really matter. I wrote about it in this article before. The key here is to evaluate the maturity of the … [Read more...]