Supply chain negligence can cost you dearly. Importers can learn a lot from the failures of major brands – how to avoid issues with food safety and forced labor and how to correct them. An internal investigation by Nestlé S.A. found slavery in their own supply chain in Thailand, made headlines last week. How does Nestlé’s story stand out as an example for importers of supply chain mistakes? And what lessons can you learn from its telling?
Topics:
Social Compliance
If you’re importing from a supplier overseas it can be difficult to find transparency. The SA8000 standard has requirements for investigating forced labor, child labor, health & safety and many others common to major brand and retailers. Certification in the SA8000 standard can go a long way in showing you what’s really going on in the factories that manufacture your products.
Topics:
Social Compliance
Many importers worry about meeting commitments they’ve made to their customers. What’s the solution? Product inspection helps importers meet deadlines.
Topics:
Product Inspection
Here you’ll learn three best practices for sending the samples you’ve approved for production back to the supplier to prevent issues.
Topics:
Manufacturing Tips & Advice
Whether you are using ceramic, stainless steel, silicone or Pyrex polymer kitchenware, any item that claims to be dishwasher safe should go through the same method of testing during a product inspection before the goods leave the factory. Here you'll learn everything you need to know about dishwasher testing for kitchenware.
Topics:
Special Inspection Tests
When the important variables are controlled within the processes, your chance of getting closer to the “perfect” product will be much higher. We’ve discussed lean manufacturing and the 5S method. Let’s look at a real-life, practical application of a Six Sigma methodology. You’ll learn how one company was able to improve a process and exceed their target goals significantly.
Topics:
Manufacturing Tips & Advice
You don’t want inspection to cost you an arm and a leg. Should you merge SKUs for product inspection or keep them separate? A commonly used method to simplify QC and lower its cost to you, the buyer, is to combine SKUs for product inspection. If you combine SKUs you will typically see lower inspection costs and faster reporting. But that doesn’t mean combining SKUs is always the best move for assuring the quality and standards of your product.
Topics:
Product Inspection
Inspectors are people, and people make mistakes. That’s why it’s important that procedures exist to insulate you from any problems resulting from an inspector’s mistakes. By being aware of these mistakes commonly made by inspectors, you can be vigilant to find and report any mistakes you see. Now let’s explore the mistakes that can be made during product inspection and the protocols and standards that professional inspectors follow in order to give clients the best possible service and most accurate and transparent reports.
Topics:
Product Inspection
It’s no secret that China has become the world’s workshop. An article in The Economist reported that as of early 2015, China was producing about 80 percent of the world’s air-conditioners, 70 percent of its mobile phones and 60 percent of its shoes. At the same time, China also produces a massive amount of fake products. Here's a look at the 5 most common fake products you'll find.
Topics:
Travel Tips & Advice,
lab testing in china
All of your suppliers are probably aware of lean manufacturing but most in developing countries implement few, if any, lean initiatives within their operations. This is one reason why third-party inspection is so important if you are manufacturing. We've discussed the 5S method of improving efficiency. Now let’s talk about lean manufacturing as a broader term.
Topics:
Manufacturing Tips & Advice
