Is China Quality An Oxymoron?
February 19, 2008
The transformation of China from rice bowl to iron bowl has been done expediently. For example, in 2000, 30% of the world’s toys came from China. Five years later, this had increased to over 75%.
China increasingly dominates manufacturing in industry after industry. Over the last decade, China exported one out of every three pairs of shoes in the world. Between 2001 and 2004, China’s auto parts exports increased from $1.3 billion to $9 billion. In 1996, China exported $20 billion worth of computers, cell phones, CD players and other electronic devices. Eight years later China exported $180 billion worth.
As the West’s craving for products from China has grown, the cost of poor quality has increased at proportional rates. In recent years, there have been a number of massive recalls of Chinese-made products, from pet foods to toys to consumer electronic goods.
10 Ways to Maintain Quality in China
Companies that have manufacturing strategies, whether they are sourcing, outsourcing or organic, must be cognizant of their quality standards. Employing tried and true guidelines can mitigate the risks associated with poor quality. At International Innovations, we offer the following recommendations for sourcing, outsourcing, and approving local suppliers for your manufacturing operations in China:
- Source only from well-established companies with internal controls where the processes have Western standards, ISO, TS, CES, etc.
- Conduct detailed background checks, including references and company structure from information given by business associates that you already know and trust
- Implement site inspections of sources and potential partners to see what systems are in place to track quality
- Conduct monthly or quarterly performance reviews of suppliers in areas of Technology, Quality, Responsiveness, Delivery, and Costs depending on complexity of your products and operations
- Source from companies that will put their quality standards and product guarantees in writing
- Determine how many Western companies a potential supplier or partner has supported, who they are, and length of service
- Be wary of very low pricing, this will cost you much more in poor quality
- Establish relationships with local third-party organizations, such as UL, ISO, and inspection companies that have worked with Western clients
- Ensure that any potential supplier or partner is the true manufacturer of the goods and where the raw materials are sourced
- Define your quality standard to your supplier and/or partner and ensure they agree in writing on the metrics, PPM, DPPM, MTBF, etc.
China quality is not an oxymoron as long as one knows how to manage the supply chain. Outsourced suppliers must be audited on a regular basis, whether it’s on site inspections, monthly/quarterly report cards, “First Article” inspections, or benchmarking against new sources.