SSN:WE FOCUS ON U.S. QUALITY CONTROL STANDARDS
No brand can afford the damage from copy errors,inconsistent color across multiple channels,products peeling off their backing,or packaging that falls apart. Poor quality,color inconsistency,and material discrepancies are difficult to control unless managed by someone who completely understands quality concerns and offshore production. Supply Solutions Network (SSN) understands the importance of color,quality and consistency,and we ensure all projects produced when outsourcing manufacturing or print projects to China adhere to the same high standards that are expected in the United States – no matter where they are produced.
Form or Function:The Culture of Quality
In China function is the main factor used to assess quality and the Chinese are a proud people who work very hard to make good products. Historically,to the Chinese,how the product looks or is packaged is a secondary consideration at best. For instance,Chinese scissors are black,sharp,cut wonderfully and inexpensive. However,because American marketers may want the handle to be a particular color and have unique packaging,production costs can get crazy. In the United States,how those scissors look on the store shelf affects perceived ‘quality’ beyond that of how well the actual scissors cut. To foster a good working relationship with the Chinese,American manufacturers should be appreciative of ‘function’ while having reasonable expectations about ‘form’.
Focusing on More than Price
There is more than one way to be price competitive. From an operational standpoint,production managers in the United States work to reduce costs by reducing the amount of labor involved in making a product. That is why outsourcing manufacturing to China is so attractive – the cost of labor there is very low. However,in China costs are reduced by using less expensive materials to accomplish what they feel is the same task. This is where purchasing agents need to be most diligent to be sure the final product received meets original
material specifications.
In the United States,business is business and a value consideration is applied when picking a supplier or sub supplier. In China picking a supplier is based on ‘relationship’. A Chinese factory is less likely to use a supplier who is located far away even though their material may be better and less expensive. If the Chinese company responsible for manufacturing your product doesn’t have a personal relationship with the ‘better and cheaper’ supplier,they won’t use them – and you pay the price in more than dollars.
Managing Consistency
Buyers need to be aware that quality can slip drastically after the first order – especially for items that have frequent reorders. The low price you so strongly negotiated can come back to haunt you. The Chinese factory will try its best to find ways to reduce costs to give them extra margin on a product they are producing that is close to their cost. What can end up being sacrificed are materials. Things like wall thickness,lower quality goods,less of a particular ingredient or other modifications to the formula or specification will be changed and –unless detected –lowered even further on the next order. The only way to avoid this is through diligence. Don’t assume anything but budget for an in country inspection in your initial total product cost and for every reorder. What you don’t want is large quantities of your product to arrive in your warehouse before discovering the defect.
Balancing form and function,optimizing costs and managing consistency are only a few of the challenges that need to be overcome when doing business with a culture that can be radically different from your own,such as the Chinese. Language nuances,measurement systems,negotiating customs,etc. can only be navigated by consultants with extensive Chinese business experience. Because they understand the needs of the Western customer and the nuances of Chinese factories,they are ideally positioned to negotiate successful outcomes for both.
To discuss how SSN might help your business cut its manufacturing and assembly costs through outsourcing print production to China,call an SSN outsource expert at 815.978.8729,or email success@supplysolutionsnetwork.com.
To obtain a no-obligation analysis and quotation,submit your project specifications here.