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.
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Manufacturing Tips & Advice
Importing a product takes guts. Whether you’re starting your own fledgling company and manufacturing for the first time or working as a purchasing manager in a Fortune 500 company, your success or failure depends on getting a product that meets your requirements shipped on-time. Following these three ways to keep to your production schedule, you can avoid the kinds of delays that cause factories to rush production, at the expense of quality.
Topics:
Manufacturing Tips & Advice,
production monitoring
A lot of buyers express frustration in getting accurate information from their supplier. Supplier miscommunication can lead to shipping delays, quality problems and a host of other issues. Communication by phone, email or even through a face-to-face meeting at the factory can leave a lot of room for interpretation. Maybe your supplier is unwittingly sending you the wrong message.
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Manufacturing Tips & Advice
No one likes product defects, including your supplier. How can you, as an importer, make sure you're addressing product quality issues directly?
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Manufacturing Tips & Advice
Beijing faced an air quality index of 250, that’s 10 times higher than what the WHO considers “healthy” levels. How has China's pollution come to this?
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Manufacturing Tips & Advice
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
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.
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Manufacturing Tips & Advice
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.
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Manufacturing Tips & Advice
How often should you visit your suppliers? The short answer: Not very often. Why? Doesn’t visiting your supplier offer you valuable insight and an opportunity to voice any concerns to the supplier face-to-face? Visiting can be valuable just to “give face” to a Chinese supplier and factory, an important cultural and societal sign of respect. However, do not expect to gain anything of manufacturing value by visiting for than once or twice a year.
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Manufacturing Tips & Advice
When your products are being shipped internationally, it is extremely important to have clear shipping marks to help those who are dealing with the cargo. Shipping marks may seem like a minor detail in the grand scheme of manufacturing. But that shipment of products you’re expecting to receive in Los Angeles could be destined for Miami if cartons are labeled with incorrect markings.
Topics:
Manufacturing Tips & Advice,
pre shipment inspection,
shipping marks
