Manufacturing and Quality Control blog

Eliminating disruptions to manufacturing in China is not always entirely possible, but armed with this information they are at least less severe.

Topics: Manufacturing Tips & Advice

Have you ever needed to get a wrist watch repaired after condensation fogged up the watch face? Did you ever give a watch to someone as a gift only to have the leather wristband fall apart just weeks later? Ensure that your customers are receiving the level of quality they're paying for by carrying out these five on-site tests during your next watch inspection.

Topics: Special Inspection Tests

If you’re looking for advice on negotiating with Chinese factories, you’re not alone. Negotiating with suppliers is an important part of manufacturing in China. Early negotiations and meetings set the tone for how the rest of the buyer-and-seller relationship will play out. If you want that relationship to begin on solid footing, it’s important to be prepared ahead of time. Effectively negotiating with Chinese factories can help you not only to reach a lower price, but to receive higher product quality and avoid unnecessary shipping delays as well.

Topics: Sourcing, negotiating with chinese factories

Whatever your perception of corruption in manufacturing, you probably haven’t considered some of the many other issues that might challenge QC auditor integrity. These days, corruption often takes more subtle forms. Whether you’re working with a third-party inspector or hiring your own auditors, ask them to explain how they deal with and avoid potential integrity problems. Do they have a strict policy against accepting gifts, payment or other compensation from factory staff? Do they rotate auditors to avoid any one auditor becoming too close with a factory?

Topics: Manufacturing Tips & Advice

Your imports made with forced labor cover a multitude of products, ranging from cotton and carpets to seafood and rice. Read on to find out what the ban on forced labor in the U.S. means for your business!

Topics: Social Compliance

A reliable courier is important in order to deliver the samples on time so that you can approve or decline the sample and let the supplier know if production can begin. What’s a reasonable cost to ship a product sample from Asia? There are a few factors that affect the shipping cost for product samples, such as origin, destination, number of parcels, weight and dimensions. You’ll probably want to choose the courier that offers you a combination of the most reliable shipping and the lowest price.

Topics: Manufacturing Tips & Advice

Both of China’s electronics hubs offers something to techies and electronics importers alike. Huaqiangbei is a hot spot for people looking to buy electronic products and parts fresh out of the factory and has similarities to what Zhongguangcun once was. While Zhongguancun still is home to endless aisles of electronics goods to be bought, the legitimacy is amplified by the presence of company headquarters, local university interest, funding and technology incubators.

Topics: Travel Tips & Advice

You might be surprised by what your independent auditor CAN and CANNOT do regarding scheduling and conducting a service on your behalf. It’s important for you to understand what factors your QC company can’t control so that you can address those with your supplier directly and avoid costly quality issues, shipping delays and other undesirable effects of losing control of production.

Topics: Manufacturing Tips & Advice

Do you know where the pots and pans in your kitchen came from? Do you know what they are made of? Being an importer of cookware products holds you liable for more than just the visible quality aspects of your products. Cookware is a relatively sensitive product type since it deals with high heat and food preparation. Be sure to consider these five lab tests for cookware. They will help you identify potential issues with your product before it leaves the factory.

Topics: Special Inspection Tests

Porcelain dinnerware is a common household item for many. But the risks to consumers when dinnerware is not tested during inspection before use are lesser known. A porcelain bowl can crack and break if heated too quickly. A casserole dish can shatter in your dishwasher during cleaning. And your favorite porcelain coffee mug advertised as “microwave-safe” can blow up in your microwave.

Topics: Special Inspection Tests