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Does Checking 100% of a Production Batch Make Sense? Yes, It Often Does.

January 11, 2021

Does Checking 100% of a Production Batch Make Sense? Yes, It Often Does.

Nearly 2 years ago I wrote When To Do a Random AQL Inspection vs. Check 100% of the Goods. It is a good overview of these 2 options: Send inspector(s) to your supplier's factory for checking random samples Have the manufacturer of the goods deliver them to a facility (often called an "inspection center" or a "QC platform") where all the pieces will be checked This is a topic we explain regularly to our clients who use our contract packaging and contract assembly services. And my … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Quality Control Tips Tagged With: 100% check, 100% inspection, product inspections, QC, qc check

Factory Management: the 4 Main Roles in the Quality Department

January 4, 2021

Factory Management the 4 Main Roles in the Quality Department

China, as a whole, has 35+ years of experience manufacturing products for export customers. They have accumulated a lot of experience. However, foreign buyers are rather consistently shocked at the level of mismanagement that plagues their factories' quality operations. And fixing it is not that hard. In this article, I will lay out what I see as the 4 basic roles that manufacturers need to fill in their quality department. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: In The Factory Tagged With: Chinese factory management, factory management, hiring a quality inspector, hiring in China, hiring quality managers, QC, quality department, quality inspections, quality management, quality staff

3 Quality Control Plans & Why They’re Needed BEFORE Production [Podcast]

November 19, 2020

3 Quality Control Plans & Why They’re Needed BEFORE Production [Podcast]

What is a quality control plan and why do you need to approve it before production begins? A QC plan is an essential tool for buyers to drive their suppliers to produce goods that reach their quality standard. It will typically list your quality-related expectations that the supplier needs to know about before the production starts which may be anything from legal penalties for poor quality, to the types of process used for production and checking quality, through to making the types of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Process Improvement, Quality Control Tips Tagged With: Advanced Product Quality Planning, podcast, process control plan, product quality, QC, QC plan, quality control plan, quality improvement, quality planning, supplier management

Understanding Product QC Inspections: What Is in a Man-Day?

June 22, 2020

Understanding Product QC Inspections: What Is in a Man-Day?

A conversation earlier today made me realize that some buyers who haven’t spent much time in Chinese factories have some common misconceptions. For example, “Chinese production operators are forced to work 12 hours a day, in a case of modern slavery”, “all metal factories do all the steps from casting/forging to surface treatments and all the way to assembly and packing”, and so on. Another misconception is that a good inspector will spend 8-10 hours working at the factory. This is what I … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Quality Control Tips Tagged With: hiring a quality inspector, man-day, product inspections, QC, qc inspections, quality inspectors

From Data Science To Machine Learning in Manufacturing, for Smarter Quality Control

June 2, 2020

From Data Science To Machine Learning in Manufacturing, for Smarter Quality Control

I have long been put off by all the hype around artificial intelligence (AI). AI has become the modern 'magic wand': nobody knows how it works, but the results are assuredly amazing.  AI has limitations for manufacturers, but both data science and machine learning in manufacturing can help businesses make better decisions and improve quality control results, and it's these that we'll explore in this article... … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Quality Control Tips Tagged With: AI, artificial intelligence, data, data science, machine learning, QC, qc inspections

How Quality Planning Drives QC and Process Improvement

November 18, 2019

How Quality Planning Drives QC and Process Improvement

What does quality management consist of? Juran wrote about this first in 1986, and he suggested 3 types of activities that make up the "Juran trilogy": Planning Quality control Improvement … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Quality Control Tips Tagged With: process improvement, process improvement tools, QC, quality assurance, quality control, quality planning

How to set up a Receiving Inspection: Checklist, Procedure, Reporting form

October 22, 2019

How to set up a Receiving Inspection: Checklist, Procedure, Reporting form

I have written extensively about pre-shipment inspections (before, during, or after production), always from the perspective of the buyer checking what a supplier is doing; but I noticed that I haven't covered the receiving inspection (also called incoming quality inspections). However, that's a really important topic, so let's get into how to set one up here... … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Quality Control Tips Tagged With: product inspections, qa, QC, quality inspections, receiving inspection

Undetected QC Issues: 7 Common Failures of Chinese Inspectors

September 23, 2019

7 Major Reasons Why Chinese Quality Inspectors Fail To Spot QC Issues

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 mistakes... … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Quality Control Tips Tagged With: product quality, QAQC, QC, qc inspectors, QC issues, QC problems

21 Assumptions About Buying From Chinese Suppliers To Avoid

August 6, 2019

21 Assumptions To Avoid When Buying from Chinese Suppliers

Many buyers who are seeking to manufacture products in China tend to make assumptions about buying from Chinese suppliers that are seldom valid here, and it can be quite dangerous. When I started spending a lot of time in Chinese factories, what I saw blew my mind. A foreign buyer simply can’t imagine what is sometimes going on behind the scenes. I'll say that China is the land where everything is possible... from the worst to the best. I wrote 21 common assumptions below, in categories, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Supplier Management Tagged With: assumptions about Chinese manufacturers, commercial negotiations, new product development, product compliance, qa, QC, quality systems, supplier background check, supplier development, vetting suppliers

How Much Does a Quality Inspection in China cost?

April 16, 2019

How Much Does a Quality Inspection in China cost?

Understanding the cost of quality inspections in China I am always surprised by the expectations of some importers regarding the cost of quality inspections in a Chinese factory. Some importers get to talk about their project for some time, see where we would help them, and finally (almost as an afterthought) ask: "How much does a quality inspection in China cost?" The 2 categories of buyers when it comes to quality inspection costs I say "299 USD per day of work", and I can nearly hear … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Quality Control Tips Tagged With: qa, QC, quality assurance, quality control, quality inspection costs

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Weekly updates for professional importers on better understanding, controlling, and improving manufacturing & supply chain in China.

This is the official blog of Sofeast.com.

This blog is written by Renaud Anjoran, an ASQ Certified Quality Engineer who has been involved in Chinese manufacturing since 2005.

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