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...]
Why few Chinese factories are adopting lean principles
A few days ago, I wrote that yes, lean production IS possible in China... But it will take a long time to become as widespread as in Japan. In the 1970s, everyone in the Japanese car industry was wondering what allowed Toyota to resist downturns so well. And they started to take inspiration from the Toyota Production System's principles and the tools. One would think that in the current environment, where most Chinese manufacturers make less than 2% of profit on their sales (and many … [Read more...]
Yes, lean production is possible in China
The Supply Chain Management Review just published a really lame article (Why China Is Not Ready for Lean Projects). The author is Rosemary Coates, an American consultant. I gave only 2 stars out of 5 to her book about China sourcing (see my review here). Let's go through some excerpts from her article. First nonsense: lean manufacturing is a set of techniques When product quality at one of these [Chinese manufacturers] was not achieving the company’s standards, the VP of Supply Chain [of … [Read more...]
Troubleshooting process in a Chinese factory
I have been to Chinese factories a few times for solving problems. In one case, the factory pretended the goods really couldn't be made as intended by the importer (that was true). In another case, the QC inspector found many defective goods that seemed to come from the same issue, production was still running, and the manufacturer was incapable of finding a solution. I recently read about the steps usually followed in the Toyota group for solving a problem, and I think it is a very valuable … [Read more...]
DFM for importers in China: Q&A with an expert
One of the most common mistakes made by importers is to let a Chinese factory take care of a new product development (that's true for most product categories, with a few exceptions such as apparel). Fortunately, more and more Western engineers are present on the ground and familiar with local production techniques. They can help buyers with DFM (more on that below), processes improvement, and other engineering services. I had the opportunity to ask a few questions to Paul Hornikx, a … [Read more...]
Is your factory improving its processes?
Chinese factories tend to focus on "making production", rather than working on improving their processes. In their vast majority, they try hard to get new customers and grow their business, even when a few improvements in their processes would decrease their overall costs by 10% or 20% (and potentially multiply their profit by 5 or by 10). The problem is, a process is either improving of degrading. If no one is working on its stability and its efficiency, it is sliding back. What I … [Read more...]
Automation in Chinese factories: not a solution!
Every time I read an article about rising Chinese labor costs, it seems there are only two solutions: moving to inland provinces or automating production. I do not really buy into these proposals, and I want to focus on the myth of automation. Automating a process allows a reduction of headcount (lots of operators are replaced by a few technicians who set up the machines) and an acceleration of cycles. But there several drawbacks. First, it is a large upfront investment. Does it make sense … [Read more...]
The giant hole in China quality assurance programs
The quality assurance programs of most importers, when it comes to their China purchases, are far from being fool-proof. As Richard Brubaker wrote (in "20 Things I Have Learned About China"): There is no “Poorly Made in China”. There is only poorly understood, badly planned, and horribly managed. And I found an excellent illustration of this principle: a newspaper article about tainted children jewelry that points out the holes in quality assurance programs: So far this year, 20 different … [Read more...]
Production in large batches in China: top 5 problems
Some really large factories appeared in the US and in Europe in the early 20th Century. The prime example is the Ford Motor Company and its huge factories. The basic idea was that the higher the number of pieces produced, the lower the unit cost. This is what 99%+ of Chinese factories still believe. They'd much rather make 100,000 widgets in one batch, rather than 100,000 widgets over three batches. Why is this a problem? Because this notion is misguided. Toyota started reducing the size … [Read more...]
Chinese factory workers: it’s all their fault!
Chinese factory workers are often seen as the obstacle to higher quality, fewer working hours, and better safety measures. Let's study each of these issues separately: 1. Chinese factory workers, not capable of good workmanship? As I wrote before, managers like to point to individual operators as the cause of quality problems. And I admit it is quite tempting in certain cases. For example, Chinese factory workers usually don't stop their work flow, even when they notice defects that … [Read more...]