The Poor Quality “Myth” regarding China-based Suppliers

I have seen many posts on LinkedIn that strongly imply, or sometimes explicitly state, that “Made in China” = “Rubbish”. They would have us believe that all products manufactured in China are made from inferior components with poor quality workmanship, and that the only way to get “quality” products is to make them in the poster’s home country. However, such assertions are nationalistic in nature and are based on broad-brush stereotypes that very inaccurately portray the capabilities of Chinese suppliers. The reality of working with Chinese suppliers is far different and far more complex than those posting would have you believe.

China has not become “the factory of the world” strictly on the basis of its low costs for various factors of production – although those low cost factors have certainly provided an incentive for lots of companies in other countries to initially consider doing business with Chinese suppliers.

Like suppliers in any other country, Chinese suppliers fall along a continuum of capabilities. At the top end, many suppliers in China have “world class” facilities, equipment, processes, and human talent in Engineering and other disciplines that they are able to utilize in a very efficient way to produce complex products at very high quality levels and highly competitive prices. These are the suppliers that work with the high tech product giants of the world whose fortunes and reputations have been made on the performance / reliability of their products.

On the bottom end of the continuum, there are many suppliers in China that are extremely unsophisticated “garage shop” operations that work in very basic facilities with old equipment and who have limited capabilities, minimal process controls, and limited human talent.  In between the two ends of the continuum is a wide range of suppliers with a large variety of facilities, equipment, processes, and human talent.

Every Sourcing professional should live by the motto of “Buyer Beware” – regardless of where he/she is looking to obtain raw materials / components / finished goods. This becomes even more important when you are Sourcing from a place such as China where the language, culture, and overall business environment may be far different than it is in your home location.

In China, as in most other places, “you get what you ask for”. Therefore, you need to be very careful when you specify your requirements to your suppliers – particularly those with whom you have not previously done business.  Do not assume that any of your requirements - especially those regarding quality controls - are already known / understood, so you won’t need to explicitly state them in your RFx documents.  In addition, you need to be very careful as to how much emphasis you explicitly place on “price” and how you position your price expectations against your expectations for quality and other factors.

Depending on what your requirements are, a supplier at the bottom end of the continuum described above might be perfectly fine for you to work with – or you might only be able to work with a supplier at the top end of the continuum. The more your primary emphasis is on price, the more likely it is that you will need to look for suppliers at the lower end of the continuum. The more your primary emphasis is on quality and/or other non-price factors, the more likely it is that you will need to look for suppliers at the top end of the continuum. With the correct diligence, you will be able to find suppliers in China that can meet all of your requirements.

It is very important to note that as part of your diligence, you really should make in-person visits to your potential suppliers in China – using either your own company’s personnel or those of a trusted agent. Ideally, such visits would occur before you issue any formal RFx documents, but if that is not practical, then the visits should be made well before commencing business with any of them to ensure that they really can meet all of your requirements. As the saying goes, “Seeing is believing”.

Further, after you start doing business with the Chinese suppliers, you should continue to make in-person visits to them at least two times per year to monitor their performance and to build your relationship with them. The more they get to know you and your business, the easier it will be for you to work together in a mutually beneficial manner.

In conclusion, while there may be other good reasons to move sources of supply from China to one’s home country, it is neither correct nor appropriate to cite the inability of Chinese suppliers to meet your quality requirements as the reason for doing so. If your quality requirements are truly not being met by your Chinese suppliers, then it is most likely due to a mismatch between your requirements and the capabilities of the suppliers that you have chosen to work with – which is most likely due to your company not conducting the proper diligence prior to commencing business with those suppliers.

If you need any assistance for your China business, visit www.victuregroup.com and

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