We compete with a number of other service providers, and over the years I have seen stark changes happen in some verticals. An interesting case study is the TIC (Testing, Inspection, Certification) industry. In 2005, importers were paying 500+ USD per man-day for QC inspections on consumer goods. Over the years, salaries and other costs went up, but the market price tended to go down. (I wrote before why some buyers always want a lower price.) What are the reasons? It is a combination of … [Read more...]
Tips for Writing SOPs and WIs that Will Actually Be Useful
What is worse than not writing SOPs (standard operating procedures) or WIs (work instructions) at all? Creating inappropriate and bloated procedures. In this post, we'll look at the benefits of really good guidelines and explore the best practices to follow when creating yours... … [Read more...]
Continuous Auditing to Keep Pressure on a China Factory: How it Works
One of the questions our clients ask most often is "how to keep the pressure on our supplier's factory so they improve and they don't make the same mistakes again". Continuous auditing is an answer to this, but how does it work? … [Read more...]
Are Calibration Reports Always A Must? Why Auditors Should Think Before Raising Suppliers’ Costs
By Annie Chan Did you get a visit from an auditor who seemed obsessed with calibration reports? Was he/she happy to see that all tools had been calibrated based on internal reports, or (even better) on third-party lab certificates? There is no doubt auditors love asking for all kinds of reports to confirm the supplier complies with requirements. However, their requests are not always reasonable. … [Read more...]
How To Keep A Clean Factory And Stop Dust On A Budget
In many industries, one of the most common reasons for defective goods is dust contamination, and they have adopted different cleanliness standards (see the Wikipedia page on cleanrooms and factory cleanliness). If you have visited Chinese factories in certain industries, you have probably seen their efforts in that regard. During our factory audits, we always give a grade about general organization and cleanliness. What advice can I offer about maintaining a clean factory without spending … [Read more...]
3 Common Ways Factories Try to Cheat Inspectors/Auditors
Every day in China, in Vietnam, in Bangladesh, and in India, thousands of inspectors and auditors take a bus or a car to a factory. And, in some of those factories, managers are plotting how to cheat those unwelcome visitors. Let's look at 3 very common ways this is done, so you are warned and ready to avoid unscrupulous suppliers like this... … [Read more...]
Factory Audit Tips: 10 Signs of a Bad ISO 9001 Implementation
A few days ago, I wrote about the basics of ISO 9001 -- both the standard and the certification/registration process. I got some comments on Linkedin about how useless ISO 9001 is. It is useless indeed in many manufacturing facilities I have visited, and the key reasons are: Poor implementation (because managers want to take shortcuts), combined with Inadequate auditing (lack of understanding of processes and of what is important, and lax enforcement of the standard by many registrar … [Read more...]
Quality Auditor vs Consultant For Suggesting Factory Improvements
How to choose between quality auditor vs consultant for quality improvements in your or your supplier's facility? Many people think auditors go on site, look at the situation, and suggest improvements. However, it is not that simple. Auditors acting as consultants can cause several types of issues. And yet, the line between these 2 roles is often very thin... I have spent time working in each of these roles, and I wrote my observations below. Let's look at each separately. … [Read more...]
How To See if a Chinese Manufacturer Is Capable of Improving in the Future?
Last week I wrote about the best way to have a Chinese supplier take responsibility. However, the most important question, I feel, is how to work with manufacturers that will keep improving over time. And it all starts from supplier selection. If at the sourcing stage, you don't try to work with people and companies that will tend to improve, you are sabotaging all your other efforts. Here are 5 areas I'd look at. … [Read more...]
3 Types of Factory Evaluations for Purchasing in China
More and more importers discover that they can appoint an auditing agency to evaluate factories before they issue an order. But not all these evaluation services are equally helpful. I distinguish between 3 broad types of factory evaluations. Each type is suitable for different needs on the importer's side. 1. Basic Factory Evaluation The purpose is to collect basic information about the manufacturer, such as: What is the address? What do the buildings look like? How big is it? What … [Read more...]