There are 3 basic process improvement tools that you can use to help you plan ahead to avoid missteps that might be quite costly: The Process flow chart The Process FMEA (Failure Mode & Effects Analysis) The control plan … [Read more...]
Is There a Future for Manufacturing in China?
[This is a guest post by Fredrik Gronkvist, who writes great advice on chinaimportal.com.] Ever since I first set foot in China, back in 2009, I felt that I was late to the party. Ever since that dreadfully hot day in August, I’ve kept … [Read more...]
How a Chinese Factory Can Get ISO 9001 Certified
I wrote before about the way certain consultants are routinely hired by manufacturers to “make paperwork look good”. It is the norm in China. However, some factory owners really want to manage their business in accordance with best … [Read more...]
How to Conduct Stricter QC Inspections, Apart from a Lower AQL?
Buyers often ask us, how to do quality inspections in “stricter” way with some of their suppliers in China or Vietnam. 1) An easy way is to set reduce AQL limits, but the supplier might refuse. I know of a large company that sets … [Read more...]
Archives of Useful Articles about Buying & Inspecting in China
I listed the useful articles I published between 2009 and now. This page is long! Feel free to keep scrolling to choose the categories and articles that interest you, or hit the links just below to quickly skip down to their respective … [Read more...]
Should Free Trade Agreements Guide Your Sourcing Strategy?
Two weeks ago I attended the always interesting Made In Asia conference. Two speakers touched on the upcoming changes due to the TPP and the AGOA trade agreements. A representative of TAL Apparel shared this slide with us and I thought … [Read more...]
Defect List vs. Checkpoint List
I noticed many people confuse two things: the list of potential defects, and the list of checkpoints to follow during an inspection. What I see very often is a list of potential defects, but no list of checkpoints. There are 2 main … [Read more...]
3 Challenges Ahead for China Procurement Offices
The procurement offices (also called buying offices or sourcing offices) of medium to large size companies that import from China all seem to be under intense pressure. Many are restructuring, slimming down or on the contrary internalizing … [Read more...]
Comparing Wages Across Asia to Make Sourcing Decisions
When choosing whether or not to source from a given country, many factors should be considered: the proximity of materials & components suppliers, the network of processing and assembly factories, infrastructure, wage levels, labor … [Read more...]
The Manufacturers’ Quality Standards in Different Asian Countries
Chris Devonshire Ellis and his associates at Asia Briefing just published the Asia Sourcing Guide 2015, as described below: In this issue of Asia Briefing, we explain how and why the Asian sourcing market is changing, compare wage … [Read more...]
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