Poorly Made In China

[esaj]

"Poorly Made In China: An insider's account of the China production game" is a book by Paul Midler, who has lived most of the current century in China, acting as a "middle man" (consultant/advisor) mostly between foreign importers looking to get products made cheaply in China and the local companies and factories producing them. Midler has both the business-side education and ability to speak fluent Mandarin, so he's seen and heard quite a lot. Now, I knew that Chinese products get a lot of bad rap, but can it really be that bad? Midler certainly isn't wearing any silk gloves when writing about the industry.

Forget about sweatshops and tired, poorly educated workers, a lot of the "quality fade" is deliberate and planned, sometimes even as the first orders are being made. A factory can start production fast and according to your specifications at nearly zero margins (of course you won't know that), and make an ok-product (at start), as they bet they can make up for it in the longer run by cheapening the manufacturing costs through many (often quality-related) changes, ranging from using less materials to outright changing them to completely other, cheaper and poorer quality ones, even toxic, without any notification or warning. And then running bootleg-operations selling copies of your products to other channels (possibly directly past you to your customers) and hiking up the price based on a poorly justified reasons, preferably at a point in time when you're not in a position to refuse. You thought you had agreed on a price for that order you'll need to be forwarding to your customers in a couple of weeks? "You heard me wrong!"

The book's already a bit dated (the first edition came out in 2009, this revised edition was published in 2011, and the events depicted have happened somewhere between 2002 and 2008 or so), so maybe (one can hope) things are a bit better than about a decade ago. 

Most of the book is centered around a specific customer case, that of Johnson Carter, an American importing company looking to get liquid soap and shampoo made cheaply in China for selling onwards to dollar stores and such, and King Chemical, the factory that they start working with, and the years following. There are a few others stories too, but not that many. Midler says that they were picked for their entertainment value, but give a good representation of what's it like to conduct business in China, and the troubles most companies likely will run into. Of course, although the stories are real, the actual names of the companies and people involved are made up, for obvious reasons. And while Midler says that he's not a professional writer, in my opinion the stories and the entire book is well written and knit together, all the while drawing parallels in the way the business is conducted to Chinese politics, culture, history and traditions.

I couldn't help but be amused (and horrified, thinking how many poorly made in China -products I have here, especially eletronic and electric devices... time to check the fire extinguishers? ) as the stories unfolded. I think this could almost as well be a comedic (or even farcical) novel than a depiction of real world events. Then again, I know next to nothing about running a business, even less in a Chinese business culture. 

I just finished reading the book, reading through it in two sittings (well, it's only about 240 pages) and I'd suggest that everyone even considering of starting an import business from China should definitely read it. Even if you don't, it's still a good read, just for the entertainment value. You'll never look the same at all the Chinese products you have and buy

Granted that companies like King Song, Gotway or other "big name" Chinese EUC manufacturers are different, in the sense that they actually have their own products, rather than just being a manufacturer to specifications from a customer. Big companies that make things like TVs and smart phones have the ability to keep the quality control in check and prevent (most) big failures and scandals. But there are things in the book which could easily explain the horrible quality of hoverboards during the biggest craze. Still, I can't help but wonder how much these kind of tactics are used in the EUC-industry too. Maybe @Jason McNeil can shed light into this, if you ever get around to read the book?

 

[Smoother]

I'll get a copy for my brother.  He thinks China is wonderful.  It might introduce some perspective 

[Rehab1]

I really need to purchase a copy.

There have been 3 occasions over the past 10 years where I imported products from China that were fabricated to my specifications. I first asked for samples and bids from 4- 5 different companies. That process alone took 6 months. Based on my requirements I then selected the company that produced the best product.

In my case the reason I chose China was their willingness to produce my product without charging an enormous copyrights fee. One product that was produced contained a selection of Disney characters. I fully understand the need to charge a proprietary license fee if the product were being sold to the public for profit but in my case the light up Disney characters were being given away for free to my pediatric patients.

Having quality products produced in China does have it’s limitations. The people I know have employee(s) in the country overseeing their operations. One gentleman has kitchen cabinets and granite tops fabricated in China and he does not have any issues. If you can’t afford to incorporate an ‘active participation’ paradigm into your business plan then I would be very reluctant to invest in an expensive import venture over there.

 @Jason McNeil could definitely shed more light on this subject.