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22 October 5 Keys to Quality when Working with Chinese SuppliersClick here to see the original post. ---------------------- Working with factories here in ChinaWhen it comes to working with Chinese suppliers the issue of quality is one that consistently frustrates overseas buyers and often leaves their manufacturing partners feeling confused. There are many reasons for this, but in my experience the conflicts and questions that arise over quality are almost always a result of poor communication on both sides. A conflict-averse nature often leads Chinese suppliers to avoid disclosing potential issues during the product development and quoting stages of sourcing. A fear of creating “more problems” and delaying time sensitive production can cause buyers to keep their mouth shut when they really need to be speaking up about their expectations. Anyone with a few years of sourcing experience knows that this artificial silence between parties is a recipe for disaster. Over the past 7 years while working in the quality control industry I have developed these “5 Keys to Quality” to keep in mind when working with factories here in China: 1. Detailed Documents The number one key to quality when working with factories in China is documentation. Having bi-lingual, detailed, factory agreed upon checklists in place that document an item’s specifications and the criteria for inspecting the product before shipment, is essential to controlling product quality. One can not say for sure, but I would be willing to bet that the factories responsible for products recently recalled for lead paint did not have bi-lingual documentation on hand from their customer stating the type of paints that could and could not be used. Sure, this type of documentation takes time and hard work to create, but putting such processes in place is the first and most important step in avoiding quality issues. QC Checklists should describe in detail: a) Item Packaging b) Item Defect Classification (what is considered an defect and at what severity) c) Item Size and Other Specifications d) Item Functionality and How it is Checked 2. Factory Presence Having a presence at the factory ensures that both factory staff and management really know who you are. Either through a 3rd party QC company or your own staff, ensure that you are being represented at the factory in person on a regular basis, and that the factory clearly connects your presence there with your production. Success in China is all about relationship (Guanxi), and dealing with quality is no different. Work towards a state where the factory has a personal commitment to you and your products. 3. Inspection Perform regular product inspections (either with your staff or a via 3rd party), not only on the final product shipment, but also during production (otherwise knows as DUPRO). Ensure these inspections are consistent and based on clear inspection criteria. Always review the inspection results with factory management and their own QC team. 4. Keep Approved Samples Some say that a picture is worth a thousand words. I say that a sample is worth a thousand headaches! Items often get revised and modified several times in the sourcing process, and then again after production begins. Keeping an approved sample in your office, and also one in the factory that can be used to verify the production product by the QC team, is essential in seeing eye to eye with your Chinese suppliers. 5. Take Responsibility Nothing will alienate your Chinese suppliers more than a mistake on your side for which you take no responsibility, and blame their misunderstanding. I’ve seen hard-headed buyers make this mistake more than once, to the demise of their hard earned factory relationships. So, make sure you have all the facts before you start to blame. Recognize when it’s possible that a mistake or production issue may have been caused by your own fault, or your own team’s mis-communication. Take responsibility when this happens, even if it means a financial loss. If you are working with the factory on a long term basis, the credibility you will gain will outweigh what you have given up. The message here is don’t take anything for granted. You and your suppliers most likely come from two vastly different cultures, have different values, and see quality differently. By making sure quality standards and procedures are in place and clear to all parties you will definitely avoid costly production issues. 港媒：中国不可能成为世界的救星对于中国在此次经济危机中如何发挥作用，到现在为止读到的最好的文章。原文点此 --------------------------------------- 香港《南华早报》网站10月20日文章 原题：中国不可能成为世界的救星 在过去几周里，关于中国大陆在克服或利用全球金融危机方面可以发挥何种作用的建议大量涌现。例如，伦敦的一家报纸在上周发表的一篇文章中建议，北京从2万亿美元的外汇储备中拿出5000亿美元借给美国财政部，用于其“救市”计划，但美国要满足一些服务于大陆利益的条件。 几天后，大陆一篇较激进的时评文章建议，北京应当停止帮助美国摆脱困境，不再购买美国国债。文章甚至建议北京利用这一时机出售美国国债，使美国的情况进一步恶化，从而加快中国的相对崛起。 虽然探讨这些意见和建议或许非常激动人心，但这些建议大多建立在对外汇储备和贸易差额的错误理解上。以下4点可以证明这些建议多数是无稽之谈。 首先，外汇储备不是财富，甚至不代表财富。它们只是央行利用从国内借得的资金购买的净投资和贸易入超净额的积累。外汇储备主要是那些缺少国际资本市场永久性入口的国家所采取的一种保障性政策。发展中国家积累起大量的外汇储备主要是为了保证商品进口和支付外债的通道。 中国大陆拥有2万亿美元的外汇储备，迄今为止居世界之首，但这并不代表它是世界上最富有的国家。美国和欧洲的财富总量是中国的很多倍，但它们的总外汇储备仅为中国的几分之一。此外，中国的经济总量比它的外汇储备规模大得多，但它仍然是一个贫穷的大国。 其次，外汇储备不是现金。它们是以债务的形式存在的。当分析者们盯着大陆这2万亿美元的外汇储备说，建议大陆“用”这些钱借给美国或欧洲政府时，他们并没有认识到，这些钱早已被借出去了。在这种情况下，要求美国先偿还中国5000亿美元的债务，好让北京把这笔钱再借给它，这是完全没有意义的。 第三，在金融事务上，政府与个人是不同的。如果我想借到钱，我必须找到一个能借钱给我的人，但如果美国政府想借钱，它并不需要找到一个愿意借钱给它的外国政府。通过发行债券，华盛顿可以轻而易举地筹集到5000亿美元或者更多的钱，这些债券主要被美国人购买，也有许多外国投资者会购买。没有任何一个国家可以像美国那样轻松地筹集到巨额资金。 第四，也是最重要的一点，贸易与资本流动是息息相关的——二者互为因果。如果外国资本停止进入美国，那么美国的贸易赤字一定会自然而然地消失。当然，其它国家与美国间的贸易顺差也会自然而然地消失。 只要北京仍然奉行以提高对美出口为目标的货币和财政政策——并因此获得贸易顺差——它就只能别无选择地为美国的贸易赤字埋单。中国可以选择购买美国财政部发行的债券、投资曼哈顿的房地产、购买股票、甚至购买纽约艺术家的艺术品。但最终只有最大的那些市场，例如美国财政部的市场，才能完全满足中国必要的投资规模。 出于这些原因，关于中国在金融危机中可能发挥的作用的说法大多是没有意义的。中国大陆的国内金融体系本身就不稳固，它更需要担心如何逃过全球金融危机的冲击而不是拯救世界，中国的选择十分有限。中国的贸易政策一直处于全球不平衡的核心，中国经济有可能成为这场危机的牺牲品。 鉴于中国国内的敏感性和它希望承担作为国际金融体系的重要参与者的责任，中国的最大贡献是与国际机构和主要贸易伙伴国的政府与央行合作，使市场恢复稳定。 中国应当尽其所能地促进国内需求并尽可能地减少国际支付和金融体系的混乱带来的影响，所有的迹象都表明，中国恰恰正在这样做。中国是危机的一部分，而不是一个有私心的旁观者，中国不可能骑着白马来拯救世界。 19 October 孤军奋战的审计署 最近闹的很凶的一则新闻：“审计署长沙办低价拿地盖别墅”。由此新闻而起，引起了大家的广泛讨论-谁来审计审计署？ 在此，我无意为审计署做辩护，也无权为审计署做辩护。我要提出来的是：审计署是否发挥了其作用？每次审计结果出来，媒体都用“审计风暴”一词来形容在社会上引起的强烈反响，但是最终如何呢？审计报告已经走到了“有效果没结果”的尴尬局面。 如果没有相关部门的配合，审计署的工作就是发现问题、报告问题，再发现问题，再报告问题，如此反复，对社会的最大贡献，就是制造了社会民主、监督的假象，为维护社会稳定作出了不可磨灭的贡献。 在这种情况下，如果我是审计署的工作人员，我是否也会以权谋私？-----我的审计报告出来了，公布了，相关部门依然稳如泰山，我何必再去大公无私？大公无私的结果，对我而言，没有任何益处。与其如此，不如来点实际的。 很奇怪国家为什么设立审计署。。。。。。 飞去来器的真实面目 刚刚看到一则招商广告，说飞去来器是怎样怎样的好，其中有句话：“一旦飞出，会自动飞回投者手中”，记得这样的广告我在上初中的时候就看到过，忍不住好奇心，在google上搜索了下，得出结论如下：1、所谓自动飞回投者手中，有欺诈之嫌，这东西，是要经过专门的训练后才能实现用手接住的，而且，也不是说投者站着不动就行，还是需要追逐飞去来器的； 2、玩飞去来器时，需要在比较宽阔的地方，城市中宽阔的地方就是广场了，但广场人很多；在农村，地方不少，但推广成本高。 综合上面两个因素，不推荐以加盟的方式做飞去来器的代理。 反观现在各式各样的加盟信息，大部分都是类似于传销的，上家赚钱，下家买单。 在一个追逐财富的年代，我们更需要赚钱的智慧。 14 October 我认为：某些广告公司的某些人脑袋进污水了在参考消息上看到一则广告：锦绣香江，为什么让京沪穗三城买楼者PK? 在GOOGLE上搜索了一下，找到关于锦绣香江这个牛逼哄哄放光辉的楼盘的信息，MS很不错的高档小区。但这广告做的，的确太变态了： 1、选择参考消息来做广告是个不错的选择--参的读者群相对而言还是比较有素质的（有点变相自夸的意思，呵呵）； 2、广告公司太自以为是，认为锦绣香江是地球人都知道呢？连个网站链接或小小的标注都没有，广告公司，你以为大家都像我一样没事完去GOOGLE这楼盘啊？ 3、就个人感觉而言，参考消息北方的读者比南方的要多，将一个南方的楼盘，发到主要是北方人读的报纸上，是否物有所值？ 但总而言之，最不满意的就是广告公司的自以为是。 类似的广告，还有前几年是什么大导演导的一个央视的广告：先是在央视新闻联播后，焦点访谈前播预报-某年某月某日，会有让人难忘的广告，然后，在那天再播个很长时间的精心制作的广告，让人感觉很有钱，很牛A,牛B，牛C！但我感觉很变态。----你以为大家都要等着看你的广告啊？ 近几年，最好的广告就是脑白金的，虽然俗，但快、狠、准！ 广告是要讲究创意，但创意不等于恶搞。很过广告人，脑袋真的进水了，进的是污水。。。。。。 13 October suggestions on How to find a good supplier from ChinaI am a Chinese and working for an American company now. We buy products from China and sell in U.S. I have connections with many factories in textile filed and here is my opinion on finding good suppliers: 1. A good supplier should established at least 5 years ago and have export/import business for at least 3 years. 2. Employee in the factory should be more than 100. 3. Better find suppliers from Eastern China-provinces such as Shandong, Zhengjiang, Fujian, Guangdong. Those provinces are more developed and understand what customers need better. 4. Search the factory on GOOGLE and visit its website-if there are too many flashes, you have to re-consider before start cooperating. 5. Check the factory is private or state-owned, I suggest cooperate with private factories. 6. Send the factory samples and ask them produce accordingly-find as many problems as possible after receiving samples-NEVER say “your sample is great!” at the very beginning. 7. If possible and you are willing to, visit the factory and see the workshop, dining room and washing room. A good factory treat workers comperatively good (compared with factories in China). 8. Talk with the one speak English from factory and ask he/she several questions: how many employees, how many equipment, anual turnover and so on. If he/she can reply immediately, this person can help on export handling. 9. Tell the supplier what you need in details, Chinese suppliers can supplier products at any prices-if you want good quality, you MUST tell directly. And visit the factory before loading the first container-find problems with products and reject, then you would not need fly to China everytime before shipping date, come in the next 3 months and then 6 months. 10. To double insure products can finish before cancel date and quality, better find a local representative help you. Chinese culture is very different from western countries, above are few suggestions but I wish can help. 重返MSN LIVE SPACE很久以前就开始使用firefox了，感觉还是很不错的。 这几天在使用scribefire这个插件，非常强悍。但它支持的几个BLOG服务商，如wordpress，blogger等都被GWFed了，还好，MSN LIVE SPACE还活着，我就回来了。 呵呵。 |
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