I came upon a great article entitled The Time Is Now (available only to ASQ members), by Narahari Rao. It describes how orders, invoices, transactions, testing & inspection reports, material certificates, and other critical pieces of information could all be saved in a blockchain database. What is the advantage? Let's say your company buys products that require materials from different suppliers and sub-suppliers. To understand what happens in your supply chain, manage risks (think … [Read more...]

I am writing this from Vietnam, where the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on made-in-China goods mean new business opportunities. Many companies import products from China to the US and have seen their margin annihilated. A logical reaction is to look at other places to have their products manufactured. And Vietnam is often in the short list of alternatives. If you are in that case, what are the key questions you should ask yourself? Access to component suppliers If you buy … [Read more...]

I was walking on the street in the Huaqiangbei area in Shenzhen and saw two guys pushing carts full of these boxes: Used boxes that were originally full of expensive French champagne. Probably collected in a restaurant or a shop that sells bottles by the unit. What do they contain now? I'd guess the bottles were also collected, re-filled, and carefully re-sealed. I don't want to make too many wild guesses here. Maybe they just re-use these boxes because they are nice looking (?). … [Read more...]

Do you sometimes feel that your company, your suppliers, and their own suppliers, are on different planets? Information spreads with difficulty through your supply chain? Nothing unique here. It is quite typical if you work with suppliers in China, Vietnam, India, etc. I wrote about this in The Impact of Quality Control Software on Your Supply Chain, on the SynControl blog, and we illustrated it in this infographic: Every step in the supply chain tries to optimize its own situation. … [Read more...]

Beijing has been inspecting and closing factories for some time, yet it seems the full effect is starting to be obvious to all. Supply chains get disrupted, many production lines are stopped, and an increasing number of importers are suffering long delays. There has been no shortage of articles on this topic. Here are a few recent ones (all were published in September): China to send over 100 pollution inspection teams to cities around Beijing (South China Morning Post) China punishes … [Read more...]

By Fabien Gaussorgues Many companies see the lower cost of manufacturing in China, but sometimes they forget to factor in the logistical costs. In some cases, logistical costs can be higher than the price of products! In this article we will cover some of the basics every importer needs to know. 1. Frequently used incoterms The first step is to decide on shipping terms with your suppliers. Here are the 4 most common incoterms in China, sorted from the highest to the lowest involvement on … [Read more...]

UPDATE at 2pm China time: it's confirmed to be just rumors in this article. ++++++ UPDATE at noon, China time: Google still shows the same number, but seems to have its information wrong. All other sources seem to indicate very little change (below is from xe.com). ++++++   My friend Gaetan alerted me to something surprising this morning... Something very special just happened, as related in Market bears smell blood as China scrambles to plug capital outflows on … [Read more...]

Foreign buyers often mention "Dongguan" without realizing how diverse that city is. It is actually a collection of loosely-connected  districts: Source: Wikipedia I got some info from Wikipedia and asked my team for on-the-ground info about the main manufacturing sectors in each area. The so-called “center” of Dongguan Dongguan is often called the 'city with no center'... Yet 4 areas can collectively qualify as the center. They are more expensive than other areas, on … [Read more...]

Last week, a journalist asked me questions about the electronics market located around HuaQiangBei road in the center of Shenzhen. If you have an interest in the electronics industry (and electronic components are embedded in more and more products -- that's the 'Internet of Things'), you need to know about HuaQiangBei. What is the history behind HuaQiangBei? In the early 1980s, a number of electronics assembly factories were set up in that area. As the factory facilities were renovated … [Read more...]

Several of our clients have increasing troubles shipping batteries alone (that is, not as part of a whole product such as a laptop). The magazine Quality Progress published an interesting article in their March issue. It is entitled "Botched and Dangerous". The author starts by setting the stage: Since December, there have been 52 reported incidents involving hoverboards catching fire. More than two dozen incidents of explosions and fires caused by bad batteries in e-cigarettes … [Read more...]