Some of my clients have many suppliers in China–somewhere between 5 and 20. I get to know a lot of things about them, and my clients are usually quite interested in what I can tell them.

One question I often get is “can you rank them, and give us the top five?”

Unfortunately, I can rank the bottom five much more easily than the top five.

We spend much more time dealing with bad suppliers (with inspections earlier in production to catch issues early, with re-inspections when quality is not good enough, and with other special jobs).

On the opposite, inspections with the best suppliers are usually a formality. They respect their schedule, products are fine, and that’s it.

There is the occasional mistake from an employee of the packing department, the mistake originating from the importer, or the disaster triggered by uncontrolled subcontracting. But overall we know little about good factories because we spend little time there, and they are not often on my mind.

So I have to remind myself constantly that many China manufacturers are very good. I guess it is the same with doctors who spend all their time with sick patients. Funny job!