Happy New Year for the Year of the Dragon to all of my Chinese friends around the world. January 23 is the New Year. This message is timed to appear at midnight, Beijing time, as the fireworks are reaching a crescendo. I look at the time I spent in China as a period of great [...]
Though I have some reservations (see below), this video shows a lot of good examples of flow for final assembly – only the assembly line is vertical, and the product is a 30 story hotel. The video actually repeats twice, once with a music sound track, then a second time with no sound. The Good [...]
When doing the financial analysis of “low cost labor” off-shore production or outsourcing, some simple assumptions are often made. One of those assumptions is that a country that has a history of political stability will continue to do so. While those of us in the USA may not be all that aware, Tunisia has been [...]
The teacher hasn’t taught. This article, titled “Why China is Not Ready for Lean Manufacturing” presents an account of trying to teach “lean manufacturing” in a Chinese factory. The experience is summed up in a couple of key paragraphs: The team arrived in Dongguan and went to work giving an overview class on Lean techniques. [...]
AP IMPACT: Chinese drywall poses potential risks Although I hate to judge before all the facts are in, it’s beginning to look like a huge set of customers got burned (once again) by quality problems from China. Before I go any further, I have to say that I have spent loads of time in China. [...]
There is a Wal*Mart here in Beijing. I haven’t been in it. I wonder what they sell in at a Wal*Mart in China…
Do you have a responsibility to make sourcing decisions on anything other than Quality, Delivery, Cost? This news item about a mass-fatality industrial fire in China opens up some interesting thoughts about sourcing over here. For future reference after the link dies, the lead of the story is: A fire at an illegal shoe factory [...]
This article NPR : Mattel Recalls More China-Made Toys highlights one of the problems with doing business with an unproven supply chain. In this case, the OEM in China had specified the correct paint to their supplier – who was a friend of the owner – but the paint supplier had given them less expensive [...]
At the end of the last post I promised to write more when I was over the jet-lag of returning from three weeks in China. Well.. I didn’t, and how I am back over here. While I was in the USA I took some time off, or at least I did during my “day job.” [...]
