If you purchase large amounts of products from supplier companies, you can have an influence on those companies. If you can get them to improve their performance using a supplier development process, for example, improve their quality or cut their costs, you will benefit greatly. The process of getting suppliers to improve is usually called supplier development. And most large companies have set up their own supplier development process, at least for their key relationships. The question is, … [Read more...]
How To Push Key Suppliers To Reduce Defects? [Podcast]
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In this episode… Renaud is joined by manufacturing industry experts Clive Greenwood and Max Phythian to discuss what it takes to drive your key suppliers to cut out defects. You'll hear their opinions on the Cost Of Quality, the value of building a solid partnership with a supplier rather than having a purely transactional relationship, what buyers need to do in order to support this initiative with their suppliers, a number of really interesting real-world examples from their decades of … [Read more...]
How To Improve Supplier Performance? [Podcast]
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In this episode... Renaud talks you through a common query that we get on a regular basis when customers ask us: "How do I get my suppliers to improve?" A recent survey of importers found that 70% said that their biggest challenge was working with suppliers to improve performance. So, with this in mind, Renaud goes through the topic based on training that he gave for European Chamber of Commerce in China members on improving suppliers with a focus on product quality, delivery times, price, … [Read more...]
Tips For Continually Getting Good Results From A New Supplier | Vetting Chinese Suppliers (Part 11) [Podcast]
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You've successfully vetted and started working with a new Chinese supplier. What's next? In our mini-series on vetting Chinese suppliers, you will already have learnt about due diligence, factory audits and visits, exploring testing facilities, and much more when it comes to vetting suppliers. If you follow through this process logically, perhaps with the help of local factory auditors and quality inspectors in China, you will be well-placed to find reliable suppliers who reach your … [Read more...]
How To Manage Chinese Suppliers based on Facts & Data
If you buy products from a few Chinese suppliers, do you have a system for managing them? And do you use data for that? In this post, I'll show you how to manage Chinese suppliers using facts and data. … [Read more...]
Two Preventive Maintenance Examples: Go for More Structure
As I wrote before, preventive maintenance helps cut costs and improves quality. That's an extremely important element of good manufacturing and it doesn't get much coverage. Simply put, it extends the lifetime of the equipment, it prevents downtime that prevents production from taking place, and it ensures the equipment is ready to make good products. … [Read more...]
8 Elements of a Low-Risk Supply Chain in China [Free Webinar]
Clients often ask us for assistance in improving their supply chain in China. For instance, it's common to hear that they aren't satisfied with poor quality, with missed timelines, or with unethical practices. If your supply chain is giving you issues like this, and it is causing your business unnecessary risk, you might not have taken all the necessary steps. How to lower these risks and build a low-risk supply chain in China? Over at Sofeast, we've created a free webinar for you about … [Read more...]
Continuous Auditing to Keep Pressure on a China Factory: How it Works
One of the questions our clients ask most often is "how to keep the pressure on our supplier's factory so they improve and they don't make the same mistakes again". Continuous auditing is an answer to this, but how does it work? … [Read more...]
How To Ensure your Chinese Factory Purchases Good Components?
One of the most common ways Chinese manufacturers enlarge their margin is buying substandard components. Any time a lot of money can be saved this way, the temptation is very strong. What can you do to avoid this risky behaviour from happening? … [Read more...]
Helping a Chinese Factory Improve While Still Holding Them Accountable
You might discover that helping a Chinese factory improve makes sense if you have quality requirements that are challenging to one of the factories you work with, or if you are working with them to develop a complex new product. Actually, it sometimes makes very good business sense. Spending 10,000 USD might save your company 1 million USD in the end! And yet, there is a point where you can't keep "helping" them all the way, as they start to take the habit of being "baby-sat" and they … [Read more...]