![How To Validate Your Supplier’s Factory’s Production Capacity (From Abroad) [Podcast]](https://qualityinspection.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/HowToValidateYourSuppliersFactorysProductionCapacityFromAbroad-500x445.jpg)
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...]
Exploring Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) [Podcast]
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...]
Exploring Process Audits | Vetting Chinese Suppliers (Part 7) [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...]
All You Should Know About Management System Standards & Auditing Them [Podcast]
![All You Should Know About Management System Standards & Auditing Them [Podcast]](https://qualityinspection.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/AllYouShouldKnowAboutManagementSystemStandardsAuditingThemPodcast-1140x445.jpg)
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...]
Why Conduct On-Site Social Compliance Audits? [Podcast]
![Why Conduct On-Site Social Compliance Audits? [Podcast]](https://qualityinspection.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/WhyConductOn-SiteSocialComplianceAuditsPodcast-1140x445.jpg)
In part 6 of our mini-series of podcast episodes about vetting Chinese suppliers, I'm discussing social compliance audits. After regular factory audits are done on a prospective supplier, it may make sense to assess their social compliance, too. But are these audits into things like legal practices and health & safety truly everything that they promise? … [Read more...]
The Importance Of On-Site Factory Quality Audits [Podcast]
![The Importance Of On-Site Factory Quality Audits [Podcast]](https://qualityinspection.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/TheImportanceOfOn-SiteFactoryQualityAuditsPodcast-1140x445.jpg)
In this episode of the podcast, I discuss factory quality audits as a part of the new Chinese supplier vetting process. Loosely based on this article, you'll understand where these audits fit into the vetting process and the more formal benefits that they provide when you have narrowed down potential suppliers. … [Read more...]
Service Providers: Escape the Commoditization Trap
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...]