How to Make Your Stuff in China

21–22 of 22 posts

Re: How to Make Your Stuff in China

#21

Post by ChinaSourcer » Tue, Oct 26, 2010, 7:43 PM UTC

tezza wrote: post #13

samwillis wrote: post #9

I work as a product designer in the UK. Recently for our smaller clients we are finding the the most cost effective way to have plastic parts made (financial, time and environmental impact) is to have the injection moulding tools made and tested in china but then ship the tools to the UK and mould over here. That way we save on shipping costs for the final product and by working with a manufacturing partner who have…

Yes, hi SamWillis. What you say echoes my understanding of creating a product 'in China'. Often there are loads of steps where it makes sense to use local talent instead. This means a lot of the rhetoric of 'jobs going overseas' can be empty. I think in future that local firms will have a chinese manufacturing partner and list this fact to clients as a 'we save you money this way'. Local expertise with approved basel…

My company makes several components and entire products in the US. When we pitch new products to distributors/retailers, they ask "Are you in China with this?" I tell them yes because it isn't worth the argument that China is not a magic bullet that will automatically reduce your costs.

Sometimes it just makes sense to be in the US, and we take full advantage of that.

Re: How to Make Your Stuff in China

#22

Post by mediaman » Wed, Oct 27, 2010, 11:50 AM UTC

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #14

mediaman wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm actually in China right now, on a due diligence trip to check out factories. I'm normally based on the West Coast of the US. Visit manufacturers in the US (or other developed countries) to study how they do it. Then, go to China and evaluate the factories yourself. You have to see the factory. If you don't, many times you won't discover that the "manufacturer" you're working with is nothing more than a trading co…

>You should make follow-up visits afterward to monitor QC. And working conditions, please. People everywhere deserve to be reasonably paid and have safe working conditions.

My experience is that working conditions are very related to quality. For example, a messy factory is both hazardous and a sign of lack of discipline.

Labor in China is quickly rising in cost, and poor working conditions are being punished in the marketplace. It is not always easy to get more labor, and when you can get it, it's more demanding (shorter work hours, nicer atmosphere, less stressful, etc).

So while reasonable working conditions are a must from an ethical perspective, they are also necessary for purely business reasons.

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