These days it’s easy to find article after article stating that manufacturing in China is on the way out. And that's true, at least partly. Vietnam, Thailand, Mexico, and Portugal have many good potential suppliers. However, China is still the best place to produce relatively complex products, especially when time-to-market is critical and when assembly requires a lot of labor. Consumer electronics is a case in point. As Dr. Zhang, research director of IDC Worldwide Robotics, … [Read more...]
Why Design Defects Are Behind Many Quality/Safety Issues
There is a tendency for inexperienced importers to blame their suppliers for all quality and safety issues that come up. However, in the situation where the buyer works with an OEM or a contract manufacturer, they share some (and usually all) of the responsibility when something goes wrong. It may well be that manufacturing or design defects are the cause. … [Read more...]
Making Components’ Shipment and Presentation Easier (Before Assembly)
This article was written by Kevin Howard, a packaging engineer and owner of Packnomics. A few days ago, we wrote about Design for Distribution. In this article, let's focus on the design of the components of a product, and the impact it has on shipment from the component suppliers to the assembler. Design for Distribution should also apply to components that are inbound to the Contract Manufacturer sites. I have worked on many components, where I show the product engineer how to add … [Read more...]
OEM, ODM, Contract Manufacturers: Choose your China Supplier Wisely
By Fabien Gaussorgues Do you prefer to work with an OEM or an ODM? What are their pros and cons? And what is a CM? This is particularly important if, as the importer, you want to develop a product that is different from what is already on the market. The advice in this article is especially suitable for mechanical and/or electrical products. First of all, what do those acronyms mean? Here are simple definitions: Original Design Manufacturer: the supplier provides the design and … [Read more...]