We first heard of the pandemic when it hit China back in January 2020. It was immediately clear that it would have a big impact on supply chain management. Ensuring responsible working conditions that met safety regulations and prevented contagion was not going to be easy. Many importers turned...
There are many tools importers use to ensure success with a supplier. 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 them an integral part of the...
In the last blog installment we published of this series, Made In China Quality and Perception: Improving Standards and Improving Quality – Part 4, discussed the recovery China made after dealing with major quality scandals and recalls between 2007 and 2008. This week, we continue the series and will examine...
Last week, we wrote about how China got its reputation for poor quality. This week’s blog discusses how a series of consumer product recalls actually led to the improved quality of Chinese-made goods. As our last blog in this series indicated, the notion that goods made in China are of...
A China sourcing office is the best way to support a sourcing program: all your issues are addressed from placing orders to quality assurance to on time delivery. But (there always seems to be a “but”) it requires an investment. How do we know all that? Well, we have one,...
China has been known as the world’s factory for a long time, but it may finally have some competition. Vietnam is becoming a close second supplier for many major importers. In this blog, we’ll explore why China continues to be the world’s factory, despite the fact that some importers are...
ECE Certification History of ECE Certification The regulations of United Nations Economic Commission of Europe (commonly referred to as ECE) have been a standardization method in Europe since the 1950s. With globalization, more countries have adopted these regulations because of the increased awareness of the benefits of unified regulations. Initially, Europe,...
Quality fade is a supplier’s behavior of progressively degrading the quality of the products to earn more profits. When a factory voluntarily participates in quality fade, disputes may arise between the buyer and the supplier, which can ultimately lead to early termination of agreements. Quality fade is not an unknown...