QualityInspection.org

Quality Assurance, Product Development, and Purchasing Strategies in China

2022 Review: The Key Stories for Importers from China/Asia

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QualityInspection author and Sofeast Group CEO, Renaud Anjoran, and Adrian from the Sofeast team look back at 2022's key news stories and topics that have affected importers with supply chains in China and other Asian countries. What's changed and will we see the same in 2023? Covid has continued to be problematic in China for numerous reasons, even now that the Zero Covid policy has been dropped, the Russian invasion has the world nervously looking at China's actions towards Taiwan, the USA … [Read more...]

Why DVT & PVT Mistakes Could Cause A Product Recall!

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Electronics giant Philips has been in the news due to a billion-dollar recall of medical devices (ventilators and sleep apnea machines) that have, unfortunately, resulted in deaths and injuries. What could have caused such serious problems to make it into production and force such a huge recall, and what can we learn from this example? According to the Sofeast group's head of New Product Development, Andrew Amirnovin, issues like this often originate during the DVT stage of the NPI process … [Read more...]

How to optimize inspections & drive suppliers to improve quality to reduce costs & risks?

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If you're placing large enough orders with your overseas manufacturers there are ways in which you can optimize the product QC inspections you're conducting in order to get better quality results for the same costs or to reduce overall inspection costs without increasing risks. While we're talking about improving quality, a great way to reduce your need for inspections is to analyze and improve product designs, testing, and production processes in order to lock in good quality before products … [Read more...]

What is the product return rate and how to reduce it? [Podcast]

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In this episode… The Sofeast Group's head of New Product Development, Andrew Amirnovin explores what the product return rate is and provides advice you can take to reduce yours before you even start mass producing your product. If you do start to receive product returns, he also gives you a 6-step process you can follow to categorize the issues, focus on the most important, fix them, and monitor to see if the fix is working. Product returns are bad news as they may show that something is … [Read more...]

What Will It Take To Comply With The EU Ecodesign Regulation? (Part 2)

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In this episode… Renaud is joined again by Clive Greenwood of SMC GLOBAL Manufacturing Consultants, to continue the exploration of the EU 'Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation' that will impact importers into Europe very heavily in the next couple of years between 2022 and 2024. But why so, and how to comply with it?In part 1 on this topic, they covered what the ESPR is.Now, in part 2, you'll get the inside track into what it takes to comply with this complex and wide-ranging … [Read more...]

How to Improve Product Quality from your Supplier? (6 tips) [Podcast]

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In this episode… Renaud explores how to improve the product quality you're getting from suppliers who you sourced and are now actively working with.  This is a continuation of our series of podcast episodes on how to do your own sourcing from China, covering every topic from initially finding them through to going into mass production.  Almost no production will be completely free of defects, but if you follow the advice here you should be able to reduce quality problems to a … [Read more...]

Should North American Importers Leave China For Countries Like Mexico or Vietnam? (Feat. Andrew Hupert) [Podcast]

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In this episode… Our CEO Renaud is joined by a special guest in this episode, Andrew Hupert, a cross-cultural management and communication expert, coach, and trainer who spent 10+ years in China, is currently based in Mexico, and also creates a podcast you should check out: Globalism 2.0. They discuss why North American companies are starting to move their supply chains out of China, in particular US businesses, the political forces at play, and why this is giving rise to a new era of … [Read more...]

Best Practices for Leaving your Chinese Supplier for a New One [Podcast]

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In this episode… One listener asked us: What checklist of activities does an importer need to perform when ending business relationships with a Chinese contract manufacturer?  So, in this episode, Renaud explains what the process of leaving your current Chinese supplier looks like, including plenty of best practices to follow to make sure that your transition goes as smoothly as possible.   Just hit the play button to start listening..! Listen to the episode right here … [Read more...]

What Is The Typical Industrial Design Process? [Podcast]

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In this episode… Andy Bartlett, a UK-based product designer, joins Renaud again to discuss the industrial design process in detail. Following on from a recent episode where he introduced what industrial design is and how to work with designers, this time the process you can expect the designer to follow between being hired and handing off the completed designs for development and manufacture is explained. It can be broken down into 6 rough phases, and each of these is discussed.  Why is this … [Read more...]

What Are The Long-Term Costs of Poor Quality & Reliability? [Podcast]

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In this episode… Renaud is joined this week by two interesting guests who've been on the podcast before:  Clive Greenwood a quality consultant at WWMG associates who is a Six Sigma Black Belt and has a special focus on medical devices and product compliance and Sofeast's head of New Product Development, Andrew Amirnovin who has a background in electrical engineering and a keen focus on product reliability. The topic is the long-term costs of poor product quality and reliability, and they'll … [Read more...]