Immediately after arriving at the factory, you begin taking in information about how well it is or is not run. Of course, this is only the first impression but this is where the whole picture begins developing. The Front Gate Some larger factories have uniformed guards at the gates. Often the uniforms are nearly perfect [...]

For economic reasons and to collect more information it is advisable to visit several factories in the same area during you trip. Gaining Competitive Knowledge Factories keep track of details about their competitors due to the frequent change of engineers and managers. They usually stay in contact with previous colleagues and know exactly what is [...]

Thorough trip preparations help you improve your chances for a successful visit. Although it depends very much on the main goals of your visit the following general preparations will fit most of them. Will the Electricity Be On During Your Visit? Chinese factories are forced by the government not to use electric power one or [...]

You are having quality and/or delivery problems and want to know what the root cause is. You will also want to know if the problems have been satisfactory resolved or if it can be resolved before it costs a lot of profit or time. The reasons and solutions given by factory management may not be [...]

When visiting your suppliers’ offices the meeting normally is held in their showroom. Taking a close look at their presentation and product displays should give you a pretty good idea how well or poorly that company is organized. Ugly, untidy, and dirty showrooms do not reflect well on the supplier’s diligence. However, that impression may [...]

Thorough trip preparations will make your business trip to China more successful and will help reduce your travel expenses. Therefore, you are best advised to prepare yourself in order to make a favorable showing when negotiating with your suppliers. Poor preparations can leave a negative impression about how your company conducts business and will not [...]

Would you send a substantial amount of your hard earned money to someone you have not met before with only a hope that everything will be fine later? Of course not! So why are you doing this with your newly hired factories in China? To make a fine point, visiting your Chinese factories on a [...]

Many importers do not realize that quality control starts long before production actually begins. In fact, an importer’s quality control begins with the evaluation and selection of their supplier in China. To sum it all up, you must be sure that you do not only find the right products but also find the best suppliers [...]

As a company importing products from China, you will face sooner or later a claim with one of your factories. Such claims can cost you a fortune and even endanger the existence of your entire company. Many factory claims in China can be avoided though by a good functioning quality control management. From my more [...]

If you want to conduct business negotiations in China, you better be absolutely prepared. You are far from home and cannot just run across town to fetch a missing document or your contract if you forgot to bring it along. Of course, you may be able to ask your staff, at home, to send you [...]