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3 Elements Required To Manufacture Great Products [podcast]

December 17, 2021

3 Elements Required To Manufacture Great Products [podcast]

In this episode… Your host Renaud Anjoran is joined once again by Andrew Amirnovin, Sofeast's head of New Product Development, to discuss the 3 elements a factory (yours or your supplier's) needs in order to provide good manufacturing performance. What is 'good manufacturing performance?' It's all of the things importers want from their suppliers! Product quality that reaches our standards Costs within what we're expecting Fast delivery times and no delays Safe, compliant … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Production processes Tagged With: factory audits, NPI, product design

7 Reasons Why Ignoring Factory Audits Will Hurt Your Business

December 15, 2021

7 Reasons Why Ignoring Factory Audits Will Hurt Your Business

If you start working with a new supplier that you haven't visited or audited on-site, do you feel safe about your decision? I have talked to many people in that situation, and they usually haven't fully realized what they might be missing. So, that's what I am going to cover in this article. (I am discussing only audits of a factory's quality system and processes, in the context of a company buying from a supplier located in China, Vietnam, India, and other low-cost countries.) Here are … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Quality Control Tips Tagged With: auditing suppliers, factory audits

Tips For Buyers On A Budget Who Want To Start Manufacturing In China [Podcast]

July 23, 2021

Tips For Buyers On A Budget Who Want To Start Manufacturing In China [Podcast]

In this episode... You'll love this episode as it contains loads of helpful tips for buyers from China who're operating on a smaller budget from Sofeast's CEO Renaud and this week's guest, sourcing expert, Rico Ngoma from Source Find Asia. They talk you through what you really need to do and some ways to lower costs where possible, so, hopefully, you can start budgeting for what's essential and handle some things yourself. For instance, it's possible to do some due diligence on potential … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Sourcing New Suppliers Tagged With: factory audits, logistics, lowering costs, manufacturing contract, new product development, podcast, product compliance, qc inspections, sourcing from china, vetting suppliers

Using Factory Audits To Qualify Your Chinese Suppliers

May 17, 2021

Using Factory Audits To Qualify Your Chinese Suppliers

When I talk to someone who is contemplating whether they should work with a particular supplier, I advise them to visit the factory and/or have it audited. And this can lead to confusion, as the next question is usually "what type of audit?" Let's look at your factory audit options... … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Factory Audits Tagged With: auditing suppliers, audits, continuous auditing, factory audit tips, factory audits, quality system audits, social compliance audits

What Are the Factory Assessment Reports Shown on Alibaba Worth?

March 1, 2021

What Are the Factory Assessment Reports Shown on Alibaba Worth?

About 10 years ago, I remember Global Sources was listing "verified suppliers". Good idea. And their competitors followed suit, showing factory assessment reports and anything that can make buyers confident. And I am not sure that has been a positive development, overall.   The basic principle to be aware of when buying factory analysis/verification There is a basic principle that all buyers should be aware of: When you are not paying for an analysis/verification, you can't fully … [Read more...]

Filed Under: China Supplier Vetting Tagged With: Alibaba, factory assessment reports, factory audits, made in china, sourcing suppliers, verified suppliers

Brands and Retailers: Please Stop Doing Social Compliance Audits in Asia

January 27, 2021

Brands and Retailers: Please Stop Doing Social Compliance Audits in Asia

Finbarr Bermingham and Cissy Zhou wrote an interesting article in the South China Morning Post, entitled Bribes, fake factories and forged documents: the buccaneering consultants pervading China’s factory audits. An interesting Linkedin discussion ensued. There is so much evidence of wrongdoing, nobody can deny social compliance audit reports are highly unreliable. As I wrote nearly 10 years ago, Social compliance audits don’t work! Worse yet, they push the factory to work with … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Ethical Sourcing Tagged With: employee conditions, factory audit tips, factory audits, operator conditions, social compliance, social compliance audits

How To Validate Your Supplier’s Factory’s Production Capacity (From Abroad) [Podcast]

January 8, 2021

How To Validate Your Supplier’s Factory’s Production Capacity (From Abroad) [Podcast]

You can't visit suppliers in China due to coronavirus. How can you validate their production capacity without going on-site? As we head into 2021 travelling to see suppliers in Asia, in particular China, remains difficult for most buyers due to coronavirus restrictions. Even if you can travel, you face the risk of transit and a long mandatory quarantine period in a hotel before you're even able to conduct your business, so most buyers are staying at home for now. However, before placing an … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Supplier Management Tagged With: due diligence, factory audits, factory visits, production capacity, Sourcing, sourcing tips, verifying supplier capacity

Exploring Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) [Podcast]

November 4, 2020

good manufacturing practices

Time to pay attention to good manufacturing practices! Importers with suppliers over in Asia may benefit from adopting GMPs (Good Manufacturing Practices). What are they? How are they useful for managing and improving the performance of suppliers in countries like China? How do they fit in with quality audits, social compliance audits, and process audits? The basics are always a good starting point for any supplier management and development plan and GMPs represent the basic activities … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Supplier Management Tagged With: factory audits, gmp, good manufacturing practices, podcast, supplier audits, supplier management

Exploring Process Audits | Vetting Chinese Suppliers (Part 7) [Podcast]

September 23, 2020

process audits podcast

Why perform process audits? So far in this mini-series of podcasts about vetting Chinese suppliers we've discussed what quality audits and social compliance audits are and their respective benefits. Since auditing prospective suppliers is such an important part of vetting new suppliers, we now move on to another type of audit: Process audits. These audits focus on a supplier's manufacturing reliability and will aim to answer the questions: Are they truly experts in the production … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Factory Audits Tagged With: factory audits, manufacturing process controls, podcast, process audits, process control, supplier audits, suppliers' processes, systems audit

All You Should Know About Management System Standards & Auditing Them [Podcast]

September 10, 2020

All You Should Know About Management System Standards & Auditing Them [Podcast]

What are management system standards? Management system standards aren't 'just another tool.' When an organization is certified to one of these standards it's an important way to demonstrate that they're able to perform the tasks required to fulfill the objectives or needs of their clients and/or drive meaningful improvements in a specific area. Let's use ISO 9001 as an example. It's a QMS (quality management system) that, when put in place, shows that the certified company can reach … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Certifications Tagged With: auditing suppliers, certifications, factory audits, fake certificates, management system standards, management systems, podcast, quality management system, standards

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Weekly updates for professional importers on better understanding, controlling, and improving manufacturing & supply chain in China.

This is the official blog of Sofeast.com.

This blog is written by Renaud Anjoran, an ASQ Certified Quality Engineer who has been involved in chinese manufacturing since 2005.

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