By Annie Chan Did you get a visit from an auditor who seemed obsessed with calibration reports? Was he/she happy to see that all tools had been calibrated based on internal reports, or (even better) on third-party lab certificates? There is no doubt auditors love asking for all kinds of reports to confirm the supplier complies with requirements. However, their requests are not always reasonable. … [Read more...]
The Problem With Visual Management Boards in Factories
Visual management boards of some kind are now basically the norm in all factories belonging to a multinational group, so they must be effective, right? I'm not so sure. Not that they cannot be useful (they CAN be VERY useful), but, in most cases I have witnessed, these boards just aren't contributing as much to lean initiatives or process improvement as factory management would like them to be. … [Read more...]
How To Keep A Clean Factory And Stop Dust On A Budget
In many industries, one of the most common reasons for defective goods is dust contamination, and they have adopted different cleanliness standards (see the Wikipedia page on cleanrooms and factory cleanliness). If you have visited Chinese factories in certain industries, you have probably seen their efforts in that regard. During our factory audits, we always give a grade about general organization and cleanliness. What advice can I offer about maintaining a clean factory without spending … [Read more...]
Setting Up a New Factory in China: from Idea to Operation
We have followed the needs of some clients and set up our own assembly center in South China. I took some notes about the 6 phases we have followed, to get from idea to operation. But first, for those curious of what a factory looks like just a few days after starting operations, I shot this video. As you can see, it is messy. It will look more orderly in a few weeks. And processes should all be nicely in control in 2-3 months. As I mentioned above, here are the 6 phases we have … [Read more...]
Auditing a Metal Machining Factory in China: Focus on Processes
Machining is an operation that changes the shape, surface finish, and/or mechanical properties of a material by the application of special tools and equipment. This is typically carried out by machines where a cutting tool removes material to effect the required change to the work piece. Tens (hundreds?) of factories in China do this type of operation. Different shapes can be formed by different processes; some typical processes that you will find in many Chinese factories are highlighted … [Read more...]
Auditing the Processes of a Plastic Injection Molding Factory in China
We are continuing with our series of articles about process audits in Chinese factories. What is Injection Molding? Injection Molding as a process has been around since the early 1930s, but a lot has changed since those early days. The injection mold machines have become sophisticated pieces of equipment with closed loop control systems monitoring every aspect of the process you can think of. Polymer development has become a complex science with blends available to cater for virtually every … [Read more...]
Auditing a Die Casting Factory in China: Focus on the Process
This is the first in a series of articles about the way we do process audits. When I look at the quality assurance agencies that offer services to importers in China, they all seem to prefer "horizontal" requirements (quality system, social compliance, environment...), rather than on industry-specific needs. So we have developed ways to evaluate a factory's production processes. In this article we'll cover die casting factories. What is die casting? The basic principle of die casting is … [Read more...]
Chinese factories are offering better working conditions
First, an important note. Working conditions in Chinese factories are not great (read this if you want an idea of how bad it can be). My point is that they are getting better. They are getting better thanks to market adjustments -- a lower supply of migrant workers -- and absolutely not because of efforts from customers in the US or Europe. I found two recent articles that give an idea of the situation. Global Sources just published China labor shortage? Not this year, say suppliers and … [Read more...]
What happens to rejected products in China?
In China, a conscious effort is made to avoid wasting anything. For example, they will try to eat all organs of an animal. This good habit naturally made its way in the manufacturing industry: There are some defects? Let's just mix them with the good products, to avoid being caught. The entire batch is rejected by a customer? Let's try to sell it to another one, or to local shops. In other words, don't expect your Chinese suppliers to destroy a production that you have refused. They will … [Read more...]
5 steps for a Chinese factory to improve its efficiency
The attitude of many Chinese manufacturers can be very frustrating. The boss is usually focused on negotiating favorable prices and pushing production out the door. Not on learning from mistakes and looking for solutions. I explained all this in Why few Chinese factories are adopting lean principles. I am reading a practical guide called Becoming Lean: Inside Stories of U.S. Manufacturers (a set of essays gathered and edited by Jeff Liker). It lists five improvement stages for a factory … [Read more...]