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
How does pollution affect manufacturing in China? How have steps taken by the Chinese government to reduce pollution impacted the cost of manufacturing for importers? An overall increase in costs may be inevitable. But as an importer, it makes sense to support your factory in making these improvements as these can help you avoid supply chain issues and save money over time with increased factory efficiency and a lower defect rate.
Topics:
Manufacturing Tips & Advice
Have you struggled with product quality but been reluctant to invest in pre-shipment inspection? Have you been inspecting orders before shipping but not been getting the results you wanted? Third-party inspection is not a “cure-all” solution or a “silver bullet” as some importers might be mistakenly led to believe. But if used correctly, it can be a powerful tool for shedding light on the status and quality of the goods you’re importing abroad.
Topics:
Product Inspection,
third party inspection
Sometimes factories resist third-party inspection. The consequences range from shipping delays to undiscovered quality issues due to forgoing inspection. And if you’ve experienced this as an importer, you’re not alone. Resistance to third-party inspection can be taken as a red flag and a sign that you should pay more attention to the products and the relationship you have with your supplier. But some hesitation on the part of the factory is fairly common.
Topics:
Product Inspection
Many of us have had a bad experience with buying a cheaply made bag. Chances are that cheap bag wasn’t tested for quality and durability before leaving the factory that made it. If you’re an importer of bags or an end consumer, it pays to be familiar with these simple tests for bags and suitcases typically carried out during product inspection. Whether they’ll be used for hauling school books, carrying groceries or will be shaken up in the cargo hold of an airplane, consider the value of your bag’s contents when deciding how important quality is to you.
Topics:
Special Inspection Tests
