Let's say you send a QC inspector to one of your supplier's factories. His objective is clear: report on the status of production, on the conformity and safety of the products made for you, and on the number of defects he finds. However, … [Read more...]
Harsh Realities of Managing a Quality Control Team in China
A few years ago, I suggested 6 tips to avoid bribery in a QC team. And two of them are particularly important when managing a quality control team in China: Rotate inspectors among factories, as professional relationships very quickly … [Read more...]
Undetected QC Issues: 7 Common Failures of Chinese Inspectors
Quality inspectors are human like the rest of us, and while it's usually unlikely that they will let major QC issues slip through the net, it can happen. Let's examine why and how this happens, and how to mitigate or stop these … [Read more...]
Managing QC Inspectors, Part 8: QC vs. QA
This is the eighth part in the series about the management of QC inspectors in China. Different companies give different job descriptions to their inspectors. I don't think there are "best practices" here, but this is an important topic … [Read more...]
Managing QC Inspectors, Part 7: The Quality Manager in China
This is the seventh part in the series I am writing about the management of QC inspectors in China. Many companies in China have difficulties finding the right quality manager. In particular, it is difficult to find an individual who will … [Read more...]
Managing QC Inspectors, Part 6: Planning the Inspections
This is the sixth part in the series about the management of QC inspectors in China. In my last article on this topic, I mentioned the need to have system to manage the planning. Some companies let factories and inspectors set the … [Read more...]
Managing QC Inspectors, Part 5: Avoiding Bribery
This is the fifth part in the series about the management of QC inspectors in China. I touched on the evaluation of quality inspectors, and it naturally brings up the topic of bribery. How big of a problem is corruption of inspectors in … [Read more...]
Managing QC Inspectors, Part 4: Evaluating their Performance
This is the fourth part in the series about the management of QC inspectors in China. Let's say you have hired the right profile, you have given them the right equipment and the right checklist, and you have provided them with the right … [Read more...]
Managing QC Inspectors, Part 3: Training, Coaching, and Auditing
This is the third part in the series about the management of QC inspectors in China. Let's focus on the activities of training, coaching, and auditing inspectors. A few years ago I listed 7 ways inspectors can fail to notice quality … [Read more...]
Managing QC Inspectors, Part 2: Checklist and Equipment
This is the second part in the series about the management of QC inspectors in China. I am looking at two very important parts of the preparation. Common shortcomings Here are a few issues that I often see: A "golden sample" is … [Read more...]