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China Massive Lockdowns (March 22): The Domino Effect In Full Force

March 14, 2022

China Massive Lockdowns: the Domino Effect in Full Force

China is fighting tooth and nail to contain the current wave of covid infections. And this is going to be a long and painful battle. Most people I talked to do not believe Beijing will change its "covid zero" objective anytime soon. They recently adapted it a bit to "dynamic zero", but the objective remains zero. In short, there are outbreaks all along the East coast, and hyper-connected megacities like Changchun (in the Northeast, home to very large VW production facilities) and Shanghai … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Coronavirus Tagged With: buying from china, covid-19, supply chain disruptions

How War In Ukraine Could Negatively Affect Global & Chinese Supply Chains [Podcast]

March 4, 2022

How War In Ukraine Could Negatively Affect Global & Chinese Supply Chains [Podcast]

In this episode… We discuss how wars like the one waged on Ukraine by Russia right now could affect global supply chains. In particular, could China be affected, and if so, how? Is the West likely to decouple from China in the future in a similar way as they have done with Russia? Finally, Renaud leaves you with some guidance on ways to diversify your suppliers and therefore reduce the chances of supply chain disruptions and risks.   Just hit the play button to start … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Risk Management Tagged With: russia, sourcing from china, supply chain disruptions, supply chain risks, ukraine

China Power Cuts In Late 2021. Will Your Supply Chain Be Affected? [Podcast]

October 1, 2021

China Power Cuts In Late 2021. Will Your Supply Chain Be Affected? [Podcast]

In this episode... Sofeast's CEO Renaud Anjoran dives into what's causing the power cuts around China that are affecting many manufacturers around the country in late 2021. Some manufacturers are having to close for days at a time or work night shifts, but normal people have also been affected, too. Many importers will be wondering: "Is my supplier affected?" and "Will my order be delayed?"  Given that this is affecting most o the major manufacturing provinces the likelihood is that it … [Read more...]

Filed Under: China Insights Tagged With: China, china energy usage, manufacturing in China, power cuts in china, rising costs in china, supply chain disruptions, supply chain risks

Supply Chain Risk Management: No, Toyota Doesn’t Always Do Just-In-Time

April 12, 2021

Supply Chain Risk Management: No, Toyota Doesn't Always Do Just-In-Time

I ran into a very interesting article from Bloomberg entitled How Toyota Steered Clear of the Chip Shortage Mess. Nearly all automakers announced that they would have to cut their production numbers due to a serious shortage of semiconductors. This was made even worse by a recent fire in a Japanese manufacturing plant. One might think Toyota would be seriously impacted by the general market situation and by one of their suppliers being temporarily unable to produce. Apparently, Toyota … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Supply Chain Risk Management Series Tagged With: jit, just in time, minimizing risks, risk management, supply chain disruptions, supply chain risk

The End Of Just In Time Manufacturing? [Podcast]

August 19, 2020

The End Of Just In Time Manufacturing? [Podcast]

A number of blog posts, such as this one, have been popping up lately casting doubts on whether just in time manufacturing can survive post-coronavirus. They share some pretty strong words: Recent trade tensions between the US and China, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, have highlighted that this supply chain model is increasingly untenable. Listen to this episode of the podcast to hear my take... … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Supply Chain Tagged With: jit, just in time, podcast, supply chain disruptions, supply chain management, supply chain risk

Supply Chain Risk Management, Part 4: How Much Inventory Do You Need?

July 13, 2020

Supply Chain Risk Management, Part 4: How Much Inventory Do You Need?

If you make sure to sit on 6 months of inventory for every one of your major products, you will run much lower risks of being unable to supply your customers with what they need. You might even be able to cut a current manufacturer off and ramp up a new one, without any impact on your customers. There will be downsides, though. Working capital is expensive. Warehousing and transporting all these goods are not cheap. You may have to write off damaged, lost, of rapidly obsolete materials. (It … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Supply Chain Risk Management Series Tagged With: inventory, risk management, supply chain disruptions, supply chain risk

COVID-19: What Are The 7 Major Risks for Importers of China Goods?

February 24, 2020

Covid-19 What Are the Major Risks for Importers of China Goods

As an importer, you are probably wondering how the COVID-19 epidemic in China is going to impact your business. Beijing says things are rapidly improving and hints that the situation will nearly be back to normal on the coasts by the end of February. They are still planning to hold the Canton fair. Let's all hope they are right. Let's hope there is no relapse (the epidemic starting again in certain cities) in the coming months. The situation is still far from clear. In the meantime, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: China Insights Tagged With: China, chinese suppliers, coronavirus, covid-19, dealing with uncertainty, importing from china, made in china, price increases, supply chain disruptions

Wuhan Epidemic: Why Major Supply Chain Disruptions Are Coming Up

February 6, 2020

Wuhan Epidemic Why Major Supply Chain Disruptions Are Coming Up

In my last article on the topic of the epidemic that started in Wuhan, I mentioned there would be real effects on logistics and manufacturing. Today I can affirm some of these effects can already be observed. And it is definitely going to impact some importers' sourcing strategy. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: China Insights Tagged With: coronavirus, supply chain disruptions, supply chain management, wuhan virus


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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