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Join Renaud Anjoran, Founder & CEO of Sofeast, in this podcast aimed at importers who develop their own products as he discusses the hottest topics and shares actionable tips for manufacturing in China & Asia today! WHO IS RENAUD? Renaud is a French ISO 9001 & 14001 certified lead auditor, ASQ certified Quality Engineer and Quality Manager who has been working in the Chinese manufacturing industry since 2005. He is the founder of the Sofeast group that has over 200 staff globally and offers services (QA, product development & engineering, project management, Supply Chain Management, product compliance, reliability testing), contract manufacturing, and 3PL fulfillment for importers and businesses who develop their own products and buyers from China & SE Asia. WHY LISTEN? We‘ll discuss interesting topics for anyone who develops and sources their products from Asian suppliers and will share Renaud‘s decades of manufacturing experience, as well as inviting guests from the industry to get a different viewpoint. Our goal is to help you get better results and end up with suppliers and products that exceed your expectations!
Episodes
Friday May 26, 2023
Friday May 26, 2023
In this episode...
Sofeast's resident reliability expert, Andrew Amirnovin, joins Adrian from the team to show you the 5-step process of how to fix problem products that are being returned by customers. Everyone hopes they won't be affected by product reliability issues resulting in returns, but if it does happen this information will help you deal with the problem effectively.
Show Sections
00:00 - Greetings and introducing today's topic about how to find and fix the issues causing your product to be returned by customers.
01:46 - 1. Identify the field issues.
10:17 - Are problems exhibited by returned products that have been in the field usually reliability-related?
15:59 - 2. Determine their root cause/s.
19:46 - 3. Develop a solution/s.
22:02 - 4. Implement the solution/s.
29:35 - 5. Monitor the results.
34:21 - Why this process is important and more cost-effective than doing nothing.
40:17 - Wrapping up.
Related content...
- We can help you do reliability engineering and testing for your product in our testing lab in China.
- Cost Of Poor Quality and Reliability: “Pay Me Now, or Pay Me Later.”
- Product Quality and Reliability Issues: Typical Classification
- 7 Secrets Behind Low Product Return Rates
- Why Product Safety, Quality, and Reliability Are Tightly Linked
- 5 Main Reasons For A High Product Return Rate
Get in touch with us
- Connect with us on LinkedIn
- Send us a tweet @sofeast
- Prefer Facebook? Check us out on FB
- Contact us via Sofeast's contact page
- Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Subscribe to the podcast
There are more episodes to come, so remember to subscribe! You can do so in your favorite podcast apps here and don't forget to give us a 5-star rating, please:
Friday May 19, 2023
Friday May 19, 2023
Renaud, assisted by Adrian from the team, provides a number of environmental improvement strategies based on the IEC 62430 standard for environmentally conscious design that you can follow when designing your new product.
Improving sustainability is becoming more important for businesses, especially with new legislation like the EU's ecodesign for sustainable products regulation, coming in. You don't need to implement all of these tips, but embracing even a few could reduce your environmental footprint by quite a good amount!
Show Sections
00:00 - Greetings and introduction: why are we talking about products' environmental footprints and sustainability?
09:54 - Good product design practices for bringing to market products with a lower environmental impact from IEC 62430:2019.
14:09 - 1. Design for material sourcing
24:44 - 2. Design for manufacture
30:45 - 3. Design for transport and distribution
36:58 - 4. Design for use (including installation and maintenance)
51:23 - 5. Design for end of life
55:11 - Why importers need to start thinking about and planning for more sustainable products
60:20 - Wrapping up.
Related content...
- IEC 62430:2019 for 'Environmentally conscious design'
- What is the EU Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation?
- Designing New Products With A Cradle To Cradle Cycle In Mind
- The Design for X Approach: 12 Common Examples
- How To Do an LCA? (Measuring a Product’s Environmental Impact)
- 23 Ideas For Producing More Eco-Friendly Products
Get in touch with us
- Connect with us on LinkedIn
- Send us a tweet @sofeast
- Prefer Facebook? Check us out on FB
- Contact us via Sofeast's contact page
- Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Subscribe to the podcast
There are more episodes to come, so remember to subscribe! You can do so in your favorite podcast apps here and don't forget to give us a 5-star rating, please:
Friday May 12, 2023
Friday May 12, 2023
Adrian and Renaud return to continue the journey through 9 of the key questions businesses that're developing new products commonly need answers to.
Here's part 2 of this podcast covering questions 5-9...
Show Sections
00:00 - Greetings and introduction.
01:07 - 5. What is the product's production cost?
19:24 - 6. What's the pricing strategy for the product?
28:59 - 7. What is the distribution strategy?
37:52 - 8. What will the timeline for developing and launching the product be?
48:46 - 9. What are the risks of launching this product?
51:35 - Wrapping up.
Related content...
- How to estimate unit cost [Video]
- How to Calculate the Cash Needed to Prototype & Launch your New Product [Podcast]
- What is an NRE Cost (Non-Recurring Engineering)?
- An Importer’s Guide to New Product Manufacturing in China [PDF eBook]
Get in touch with us
- Connect with us on LinkedIn
- Send us a tweet @sofeast
- Prefer Facebook? Check us out on FB
- Contact us via Sofeast's contact page
- Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Subscribe to the podcast
There are more episodes to come, so remember to subscribe! You can do so in your favorite podcast apps here and don't forget to give us a 5-star rating, please:
Friday May 05, 2023
Friday May 05, 2023
In this episode...
Sofeast's head of New Product Development, Andrew Amirnovin, is back with Adrian from the team. They're talking about manufacturing alchemy: taking a cheap product and converting it into a high-profit one! How can importers do this? Andrew shares 5 ways to boost your profits here.
Show Sections
00:00 - Greetings and introducing today's topic.
03:06 - Sell expensive or low-cost products?
08:11 - 1. Add value to the product.
16:23 - 2. Target a Niche Market.
19:50 - 3. Improve the packaging.
25:10 - 4. Upsell and Cross-sell.
30:03 - 5. Invest in marketing.
33:53 - Wrap-up.
Related content...
- Sourcing & Manufacturing In China For E-Commerce Sellers [Interview By Proboxx]
- 10 Mistakes New Buyers Manufacturing In Asia Keep Making
- What are your 4 options when sourcing suppliers in China? [Podcast]
- Why First-Time Buyers Fall for Trading Companies in China
- How To Reduce Risks As Your Order Sizes Grow When Working With Chinese Manufacturers?
Get in touch with us
- Connect with us on LinkedIn
- Send us a tweet @sofeast
- Prefer Facebook? Check us out on FB
- Contact us via Sofeast's contact page
- Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Subscribe to the podcast
There are more episodes to come, so remember to subscribe! You can do so in your favorite podcast apps here and don't forget to give us a 5-star rating, please:
Friday Apr 28, 2023
Friday Apr 28, 2023
Sofeast's CEO Renaud is joined by Adrian from the team and they're going to go through 9 of the key questions businesses who're developing new products commonly need answers to.
Here's part 1 of this podcast covering questions 1-4...
Show Sections
00:00 - Greetings and introducing today's episode.
01:22 - 1. What is the target market for the product?
07:51 - How to do market research.
13:26 - 2. What problem does the product solve for the customer?
23:03 - 3. What is the unique selling proposition of the product?
26:57 - 4. What features and functionalities should the product have?
42:44 - Wrapping up.
Related content...
- The NPI Process: Trouble Awaits If You Skip Its Steps! [Podcast]
- Transitioning to Manufacturing from Product Development | 2 Options
- An Importer’s Guide to New Product Manufacturing in China [eBook]
Get in touch with us
- Connect with us on LinkedIn
- Send us a tweet @sofeast
- Prefer Facebook? Check us out on FB
- Contact us via Sofeast's contact page
- Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Subscribe to the podcast
There are more episodes to come, so remember to subscribe! You can do so in your favorite podcast apps here and don't forget to give us a 5-star rating, please:
Friday Apr 21, 2023
Friday Apr 21, 2023
In this episode...
Sofeast's reliability expert, Andrew Amirnovin, talks us through why pilot runs are so important, the best practices and benefits, and how to plan for yours in order for it to be a success. If you're mass-producing your products you're not going to want to miss this episode!
Show Sections
00:00 - Greetings and introducing today's topic.
01:10 - What is a pilot run?
02:46 - Important ways to get the best out of pilot runs.
10:12 - Common problems that the pilot run will uncover that you will want to avoid.
13:17 - How it helps to control processes.
17:50 - 5 steps to plan for before you start your pilot run.
- Consider the scope of the pilot run.
- What are the main objectives?
- Who will perform it?
- Do you have a plan to carry it out?
- How will you document and evaluate the pilot run?
25:50 - How does the cost of doing pilot runs compare with not doing them?
27:48 - Do Asian manufacturers have the habit of doing pilot runs?
29:16 - In conclusion.
Related content...
- What is a pilot run?
- New Product Launch: Taking Shortcuts vs. Preventing Risks
- How To Set Up A Process Control Plan [11 Steps]
- What is the Pilot Run for Components and Products?
- Understanding The Role Of Manufacturing Process Control In Your Factory
Get in touch with us
- Connect with us on LinkedIn
- Send us a tweet @sofeast
- Prefer Facebook? Check us out on FB
- Contact us via Sofeast's contact page
- Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Subscribe to the podcast
There are more episodes to come, so remember to subscribe! You can do so in your favorite podcast apps here and don't forget to give us a 5-star rating, please:
Friday Apr 14, 2023
Friday Apr 14, 2023
In this episode...
Renaud and Adrian outline 10 common mistakes that new buyers make when buying from Asian manufacturers, especially in China. Avoid these pitfalls and you'll be far more likely to develop good relationships and get your products on time, on budget, and at the expected quality standard!
Show Sections
00:00 - Greetings and talking about the Hong Kong electronics fair in April 2023.
04:53 - Exploring the top mistakes that new buyers make when buying from China and other Asian countries.
Renaud wrote this list of mistakes in 2011, but it's still relevant today!
05:55 - 1. Always pursuing the lowest price.
12:37 - 2. Agreeing on crazy payment terms with a supplier.
16:16 - 3. You fail to inspect product quality before shipment.
19:07 - 4. Failing to realize that pre-production samples are selling tools.
21:40 - 5. Not trusting the supplier at all and being obvious about it.
24:47 - 6. Not keeping 2-3 weeks of padding in the shipment schedule.
27:44 - 7. Having no visibility over your supply chain.
29:27 - 8. You forget to describe and document an important product feature or your packaging requirements.
32:47 - 9. Hoping that an unsatisfactory manufacturer will improve over time.
37:45 - 10. Not registering your trademark in China when buying from China.
40:43 - Wrapping up.
Related content...
- DIY Sourcing From China Part 2: Negotiations, Terms, Leverage, & Quality Standards [Podcast]
- See Sofeast's range of product inspections
- How To Get Transparency And Control Over Your Supply Chain? [podcast]
- How To Switch To A Newer, Better Chinese Manufacturer? [eBook]
- IP Protection in China when Developing Your New Product [Importer’s Guide]
- Read the original post this topic was taken from here.
Get in touch with us
- Connect with us on LinkedIn
- Send us a tweet @sofeast
- Prefer Facebook? Check us out on FB
- Contact us via Sofeast's contact page
- Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Subscribe to the podcast
There are more episodes to come, so remember to subscribe! You can do so in your favorite podcast apps here and don't forget to give us a 5-star rating, please:
Friday Apr 07, 2023
Friday Apr 07, 2023
In this episode...
Renaud and Andrew talk about how to develop hardware products specifically for software companies used to using an agile design approach (often SCRUM) for software products that now need to create a new hardware product to support their business (such as a device that runs on the software).
They share their thoughts on the book 'SCRUM for hardware design' by Prof. David G. Ullman, warnings about the limitations of the agile design approach where hardware is concerned that you'll need to be aware of and plan for, and 8 tips for software companies who're in this position to help you understand where other software companies often go wrong.
Show Sections
00:00 - Greetings & today's topic.
01:56 - What's the difference between traditional project management and the agile approach?
08:18 - Why is the agile design approach so popular with software companies?
11:07 - 13 points about hardware design is different from software design from the book 'SCRUM for hardware design' by Prof. David G. Ullman.
- Less evident modularity
- Longer design cycles
- Higher functional interdependence
- Poor refactoring opportunities
- Higher need for specialization
- Longer time to demonstrate function
- Higher cost of change
- More demanding range of operation
- Different testing demands
- More secondary design activities
- More challenges in developing specifications
- Higher difficulty proving a task is done
- Higher price of premature commitment
23:20 - 8 points that companies that are used to running agile design for software development tend to overlook when developing new hardware products.
23:39 - 1. Agile is good, but planning and documentation can't be skipped.
31:35 - 2. You need to freeze the product design (including freezing the firmware) at one point.
33:48 - 3. An engineering change management process must be taken seriously from a certain point.
35:46 - 4. You need supply chain visibility and to manage it yourself.
39:15 - 5. You will need a quality function.
42:21 - 6. BOM, drawings, schematics, etc. are all as important as software code.
47:55 - 7. Product reliability is important, especially if they have a "product as a service" business model.
52:46 - 8. Product compliance is an entire topic to take seriously.
54:37 - Summary and wrapping up.
Related content...
- The New Product Introduction Process Guide
- Why Designing Hardware Using Scrum is Difficult (Video)
- 11 Common Electronic Product Certification And Compliance Requirements
- How To Do Product Reliability Testing?
- Cost Of Poor Quality and Reliability: “Pay Me Now, or Pay Me Later.”
- What Is Compliance Testing? [Podcast]
Get in touch with us
- Connect with us on LinkedIn
- Send us a tweet @sofeast
- Prefer Facebook? Check us out on FB
- Contact us via Sofeast's contact page
- Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Subscribe to the podcast
There are more episodes to come, so remember to subscribe! You can do so in your favorite podcast apps here and don't forget to give us a 5-star rating, please:
Friday Mar 31, 2023
Friday Mar 31, 2023
In this episode...
Renaud and Adrian are back and talking about how to comply with CE and UKCA regulations as an indication that they comply with the safety, health, and environmental requirements of the EU and Great Britain. They cover what these requirements are, the process to become compliant, how and why the UK is diverging, and more. No matter where your business is based, if you sell products in these markets you'll need to add the CE or UKCA mark to them.
Show Sections
00:00 - Greetings and introducing the topic.
00:38 - What is CE and what kinds of products does it cover?
04:22 - How to obtain CE marking: Overview.
09:23 - Who is 'the manufacturer?'
11:20 - What are the risks if you don't follow the CE compliance process?
20:38 - What's the difference between CE and UKCA?
24:51 - Why UKCA is not required for Northern Ireland.
27:06 - EU 'harmonised standards' are called 'designated standards' in the UK.
28:16 - The UK government is threatening to repeal a lot of EU laws due to Brexit. How realistic is this?
31:25 - Why seeing CE-marked products when sourcing from China might mean nothing at all.
35:35 - What notified bodies are and when do they need to be involved?
41:21 - Wrapping up.
Related content...
- Official CE Marking Guidance
- The definition of manufacturers according to the European Commission
- Using the UKCA marking
- List of products requiring a CE mark
- The NANDO database for notified bodies
Get in touch with us
- Connect with us on LinkedIn
- Send us a tweet @sofeast
- Prefer Facebook? Check us out on FB
- Contact us via Sofeast's contact page
- Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Subscribe to the podcast
There are more episodes to come, so remember to subscribe! You can do so in your favorite podcast apps here and don't forget to give us a 5-star rating, please:
Friday Mar 24, 2023
Friday Mar 24, 2023
In this episode...
Sofeast's CEO Renaud Anjoran and senior compliance officer and friend of the show Clive Greenwood are back together and talking about the challenges of quality management in China. You'll learn about communication, supply chain transparency, cultural factors that affect quality, what an effective quality management system needs to include, and a lot more in this bumper episode!
Show Sections
00:00 - Greetings and introduction to our guest, Clive and this episode's topic: Challenges of Quality Management in China.
02:52 - Why do importers face challenges when trying to ensure consistent quality, reliability, compliance, etc, from Chinese suppliers?
03:20 - 1. Poor communication.
08:15 - 2. Working with the wrong kind of supplier that you cannot really trust.
13:26 - SMEs have 2 common due diligence & quality approaches when working with Chinese suppliers depending on the type of product development required.
16:45 - 3. A supplier who doesn't provide supply chain transparency negatively impacts quality.
20:48 - 4. Expecting the supplier to inform you about quality issues independently without you doing your own due diligence is a mistake.
23:19 - 5. There is no concept of separation of powers at many Chinese suppliers: "If the boss says it, do it."
28:36 - The role of factory audits.
32:29 - 6. A lack of supply chain transparency, traceability, and compliance.
37:37 - 7. Cheap and/or fast will usually come with a reduction of quality in the minds of Chinese suppliers.
42:59 - 8. Inspecting quality too late and not enforcing your quality standard.
44:37 - 9. A lack of risk thinking and acting on problems when they occur.
52:07 - If production is not ok, that failure is probably on you the buyer.
53: 58 - Summary: How to successfully manage quality in China?
54:35 - Wrapping up.
Related content...
- How To Get Transparency And Control Over Your Supply Chain?
- How ISO 37301 Might Improve Chinese Suppliers’ Compliance
- Using Real Data to Prove the Link between Factory Audits and Better Quality Products
- How To Choose Which Factory Audit You Need?
- What Is The Minimum Viable Quality Management System For A New Manufacturer? [8 Steps]
Get in touch with us
- Connect with us on LinkedIn
- Send us a tweet @sofeast
- Prefer Facebook? Check us out on FB
- Contact us via Sofeast's contact page
- Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Subscribe to the podcast
There are more episodes to come, so remember to subscribe! You can do so in your favorite podcast apps here and don't forget to give us a 5-star rating, please: