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...]
A Key China Sourcing Criterion: Can Your Factory Improve?
If you are only going to place 2 or 3 orders with a supplier, the key sourcing criteria will probably be quality, price, past production of similar products, and understanding of compliance requirements. However, if you are looking for a manufacturer you'll work with for 5+ years, you need to look at how they can ensure that the operations in their factory improve. If they are stuck in old ways, they might not be able to support your evolving needs... and, more worrisome, they will probably … [Read more...]
How a Chinese factory can REALLY improve its quality
Auditing a factory's quality system, and helping them patch the main holes found by the auditor, is helpful. But is it enough? I used to think so. A good quality management system is supposed to stop defects before it is too late. However, I have seen too many Chinese manufacturers get very high scores on a quality audit, and then try to ship batches containing 5-20% of defective goods. Setting up control points relevant to each production step does help, but improving quality takes much … [Read more...]