China has been heavy in the media lately, mostly because of the US-China Trade War. However, a recent article from the Economist’s Schumpeter blog caught our eye. In the midst of all the news on tariffs, this article, Chinese Firms are not all serial intellectual-property thieves, actually highlights some of...
Napoleon said, “If you want a thing done well, do it yourself.” So why delegate? Does it even make sense? We know that managers (even Napoleon) delegate. That is pretty much a definition of management. But why? And how? We previously wrote a blog about Hiring Teams vs. Individuals and...
In our last travel blog, The Return to China Pt 1, we covered how to carefully plan and prepare a trip to China for a factory visit or a trade fair. And, due to the complexities and challenges of such a grueling international trip, many companies are choosing not to...
There are many tools importers use to ensure success with a supplier when they buy direct from China. One of these tools is the Product Specification Sheet (PSS). This document is used to specify the buyer’s requirements and to ensure that they are implemented at the factory level by making...
1978-2018 As our 40th anniversary year comes to an end, I look back at our business, how it came about, why we did it, and what it means today. People often ask me how CPG got started, and more specifically, why I learned Chinese way back when China was not...
Previously, we wrote about how sourcing from China got its reputation for poor quality. This week’s blog discusses how a series of consumer product recalls actually led to improving the standards of supply chain management in China. As our last blog in this series indicated, the notion that goods made...
We recently started a blog series on the perception of Chinese goods being of poor quality (See Part 1 & Part 2). But is this a myth or reality? In this week’s segment, we’ll delve deeper into supply chain management in China and explore the source of this notion and...
As we emerge from the Covid19 supply chain nightmare and dust ourselves off, we note that some companies were able to react immediately to market opportunities. They placed orders and planned deliveries, secure in their knowledge that their supply chain will deliver. Those companies did really well when the market...