In this episode... Renaud Anjoran is joined by Clive Greenwood, an expert in product compliance to discuss the issues with compliance that most importers face and some compliance gaps and 'loopholes' to be aware of. Many people buy products from China (or elsewhere) without checking if they are compliant with their country's rules and regulations. This means that a lot of products are being Just hit the play button to start listening..! Listen to the episode right here … [Read more...]
Product Safety When Buying from China: Avoid Negligence
Dan Harris wrote an article about product safety (How to Reduce Your Foreign Manufactured Product Liability Risks) that will, hopefully, open the eyes of many people to the risks they are exposed to. I thought it particularly interesting because he went through typical questions asked of importers that resold unsafe products: To convince recalcitrant clients of the need for product liability protection for the products they are having made overseas, I sometimes send them the following … [Read more...]
Why Do Importers Need Product Reliability Testing? [Podcast]
![Why Do Importers Need Product Reliability Testing? [Podcast]](https://qualityinspection.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/WhyDoImportersNeedProductReliabilityTestingPodcast-1140x445.jpg)
Product reliability testing is a must for importers who want to avoid risk... 2020 added considerable strain and difficulty to many importers' lives, so today, more than ever, it's so important to implement measures to protect your business against expensive recalls and lawsuits which may occur if your products don't reach expected reliability, quality, and safety standards. Undertaking thorough product reliability testing during the development and manufacturing stages is one such way to … [Read more...]
Why Product Safety, Quality, and Reliability Are Tightly Linked
Recently I read an article that calls for manufacturers to be more proactive in reducing risks for consumers. And they shared this (pretty scary) graph about product safety recalls: Many companies that develop & purchase products wonder how to minimize the risk of a forced recall, which can be extremely expensive. And my advice is simple: Put more efforts in assuring the quality and the reliability of your products, and it will greatly contribute to their safety. Let's … [Read more...]
Factory Testing Facilities | Vetting Chinese Suppliers (Part 8) [Podcast]
![Factory Testing Facilities | Vetting Chinese Suppliers (Part 8) [Podcast]](https://qualityinspection.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/FactoryTestingFacilitiesVettingChineseSuppliersPart8Podcast-1140x445.jpg)
Why do we look at the factory testing facilities when vetting a Chinese supplier? A great question here is: "How can my supplier know that the product they're manufacturing is good if they're unable to test that they reach my specifications, quality, and safety requirements?" If they have no way of testing or are skipping important tests this is probably a major red flag (unless you're certain that they're sending samples out to a lab to be tested all of the time) as it shows that the … [Read more...]
What Is Compliance Testing? [Podcast]
Why is compliance testing so important for buyers who import products from China? Compliance testing helps assure your product's compliance with your market's product and safety standards. By conducting such testing, you'll be testing whether the product is safe for consumers under normal use, doesn't contain hazardous substances above acceptable levels, and won't be restricted from being imported. Because importers are usually held responsible for any safety problems caused by … [Read more...]
Does The Safety & Quality Of Products Sold On Amazon Pose Risks?
A few weeks ago, a journalist asked me whether products sold on Amazon present higher safety risks and whether their quality is inferior (relative to other distribution channels). My guess is that yes (I have no solid data to back that up. It would be quite difficult to come up with such data), for a similar product positioning (price & quality), those sold on Amazon present higher risks for consumers. Here's why. … [Read more...]