China Manufacturing Decoded
 

China Manufacturing Decoded

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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

Why Are US Logistics Under So Much Strain? + E-commerce Challenges (feat. Marshall Taplits)

Friday Nov 05, 2021

Friday Nov 05, 2021

In this episode...

Renaud catches up with American supply chain and logistics expert, Marshall Taplits founder of Ship It Done a 3PL warehouse and e-commerce fulfillment center based on the East Coast, to talk about the difficult supply chain and logistics situation in the USA in the past couple of years. He answers: What's causing the logjams at ports? Is there a difference between East and West coast ports? Is transport overland or by air also problematic? 

Marshall also sheds some light on how SMEs and e-commerce vendors can cope with the difficult situation, and some of the key challenges they face such as choosing between FBM and FBA and whether or not to ship nationally from one local warehouse.

There's been a lot of talk about how America's logistics system is broken in the media, so let's hear it from someone who's there working in this industry right now!

 

Show Sections

00:00 - Greetings & introducing Marshall Taplits & Ship It Done

04:19 - What's causing the logjams at US ports, logistics to fail under the strain, and delays in getting products to customers? Is it as simple as, 'people have been buying more stuff due to lockdown?' 

07:42 - The move to 'Just In Case' buying. 

11:26 - Why is delivery to US ports being held up? Is simply it a lack of road and rail capacity to move goods away after delivery? 

15:23 - Is the government likely to be able to bring about changes to improve the logistics situation? 

17:37 - Could the 3-4 week break for manufacturers during Chinese New Year give the USA some much-needed breathing room to clear the excess goods and stabilize the supply chain situation? 

23:41 - What can SMEs do to weather the storm, are there any workarounds? 

27:20 - How about ports on the East Coast, are they less congested than California? 

30:27 - What's the situation with air cargo? 

31:41 - The difference between FBM and FBA and what frontloading by air means and their benefits for e-commerce vendors. 

35:38 - Is it faster these days to send a container from China to California Long Beach or New York Elizabeth? 

36:20 - When shipping FBM is it cheaper to post products locally within the US than longer distances? 

39:04 - Wrapping up

 

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How design authority leads to product safety liability (feat. Clive Greenwood & Andrew Wilson)

Friday Oct 29, 2021

Friday Oct 29, 2021

In this episode...

Sofeast's CEO Renaud Anjoran is joined by two guests, Clive Greenwood and Andrew Wilson of WWMG associates to discuss the topic of liability for product safety issues. There's commonly a disconnect between Chinese manufacturers and their foreign customers over who is liable for any problems, such as consumer injury, caused by the products that they worked on. It depends on a number of things, such as who has the design authority and who issues the design specifications, etc.

If you are importing products you really need to have a handle on liability, as the consequences could be extremely costly and uncomfortable.

The panel aim to get to the bottom of it here...

 

Show Sections

00:00 - Introduction. 

01:26 - When an American company, for example, works with a Chinese manufacturer to develop a new product, what do they expect the manufacturer to tell them? 

05:00 - Product liability laws in the US & EU. 

07:53 - How 'design authority' can be used to attribute liability.  

12:09 - Post-DFMEA liability. 

15:43 - Why letting your Chinese manufacturer 'help' develop a product could be a big mistake. 

21:13 - Compliance for medical devices/products. 

24:01 - Action items for companies who're designing a general consumer product to be manufactured in China. 

31:58 - Product safety. What do we need to consider? 

38:29 - Conclusion. 

40:49 - Wrapping up.

 

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Is ‘Right To Repair‘ a headache or opportunity for manufacturers?

Friday Oct 22, 2021

Friday Oct 22, 2021

In this episode...

Sofeast's CEO Renaud Anjoran talks about the 'Right To Repair' movement and regulations that are starting to come into being here in late 2021 with Adrian from the team.

As sustainability is starting to permeate the public's consciousness, the mountains of e-waste produced each year are giving brands a bad name and upsetting customers. The right to repair aims to mitigate this problem.

What is the right to repair, why is it important, how could it affect manufacturers and electronic product design, and is it a headache or an opportunity for companies who're developing new electronic products?

 

Show Sections

00:00 - Introduction. 

01:38 - What is the right to repair? 

09:21 - Why and where are we seeing right to repair legislation appearing? 

12:54 - What is included in the right to repair regulation (EU version)? 

15:11 - How some hard-to-repair products are more durable & reliable and benefits of this. 

18:51 - Apple as an example of products where being hard to repair enhances their durability. 

23:58 - How product design may change to embrace 'Design For Repair/Maintainability' in future and is it an opportunity? 

27:05 - Can right to repair discourage planned obsolescence? 

31:39 - Optimizing products and how this can make a designer's job tougher. 

32:59 - Wrapping up. 

 

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Negotiating terms, leverage over suppliers, and describing your needs - Sourcing from China (Part 2)

Friday Oct 15, 2021

Friday Oct 15, 2021

In this episode...

In episode 65 we discussed the different supplier options open to buyers who’re sourcing from China. One of the options is to do the sourcing yourself. Many importers want to pursue this, so we're creating a mini-series of episodes that explores the sourcing process from China with tips and best practices from Sofeast's CEO Renaud Anjoran.

In part 1 of the series (episode 69), we looked at the early stage of sourcing where you find your potential suppliers, verify them, and cultivate backups once you’ve settled on a first choice.

Now, here in part 2, we’re going to explore the terms you need to negotiate with your chosen supplier, how to keep leverage over them, and how and why to clearly describe what you actually want from them at the pre-production stage.

 

Show Sections

00:00 - Introduction. 

02:20 - Why is it important to be organized and avoid looking too inexperienced when negotiating terms with a new supplier? 

05:27 - What terms do you need to negotiate?

  • 05:50 - The price of the goods 
  • 07:02 - Lead time 
  • 09:58 - Incoterms 
  • 10:53 - IP protection 
  • 12:11 - Transparency over the supply chain & access to the manufacturing site 
  • 15:35 - The quality standards 
  • 17:53 - Payment terms 

24:29 - How to keep leverage over suppliers? 

28:09 - What payment tools do we have to keep leverage? 

35:36 - Keeping leverage over your tooling. 

38:20 - Paying by letter of credit. 

40:49 - In what ways should you describe what you're expecting to receive from your supplier? 

49:13 - Wrapping up. 

 

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What Is The Cost Of Poor Quality? (feat. Clive Greenwood & Max Phythian)

Friday Oct 08, 2021

Friday Oct 08, 2021

In this episode...

Sofeast CEO Renaud Anjoran is joined once again by the duo of Clive Greenwood who is a six sigma black belt with a focus on medical devices, quality, and operations, and Max Phythian a pure lean consultant who's worked for some of the largest names in the Auto industry. The three of them boast decades of experience in manufacturing around the world.

Today they're discussing the cost of quality, specifically of poor quality. You'll get answers to these questions: What does 'cost of poor quality' mean, where does it come from, what strategies can be followed to avoid it, and what's the most important thing to focus on first when working with a supplier who may not be too quality-focused? The panel all have their own thoughts on how to define the cost of quality and what it means to importers, so listen to their spirited conversation here.

 

Show Sections

00:00 - Introduction. 

01:40 - When we talk about the cost related in some way to quality we have prevention and appraisal, internal failures, and external failures. What do these mean? 

07:51 - What's the ROI of investing in zero defects? 

13:28 - What benefits does QA provide aside from cost reduction? 

20:13 - Supplier quality management. 

25:13 - Design For Quality (DFQ) and why quality is an investment. 

28:50 - What does the customer need to do if a Chinese manufacturer is unsophisticated and has little awareness about quality? 

44:03 - Wrapping up. 

 

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China‘s ‘Power Crunch‘ - What‘s Causing It & How Does It Affect Importers?

Thursday Sep 30, 2021

Thursday Sep 30, 2021

In this episode...

Sofeast's CEO Renaud Anjoran explores the power cuts around China that seem to be getting worse at the time of recording in late September 2021 and are affecting the manufacturing industry and many supply chains around the country.

He answers the following questions:

  • Why is there a power crunch in China?
  • What its effects are on manufacturing and importers?
  • What importers can do to cope with this?

 

Show Sections

00:00 - Introduction. 

01:28 - What is happening in China to cause power cuts and restrictions? 

05:32 - Why is the manufacturing sector specifically so impacted by the power crunch?  

07:28 - What are the reasons behind this power crunch in China?

18:59 - What can importers with Chinese supply chains do to mitigate the worst effects?

21:29 - Conclusion: What to make of it all and when could it go on until? 

 

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The First To Market Fallacy For Made-In-China Products

Friday Sep 24, 2021

Friday Sep 24, 2021

In this episode...

Sofeast's CEO Renaud Anjoran discusses if getting to market first before your competitors have a chance to copy your new product idea when manufacturing in China is worthwhile with Adrian from the team.

A recent China Law Blog article outlined why the perceived benefits of getting to market quickly are actually a fallacy, especially if corners have been cut in the name of speed when it comes to IP protection.

Who is out to copy your unique idea? When can getting to market first be considered a valid approach? What sorts of IP protection activities are advisable? Is building buzz about your new product before launching a great idea or a risky error? 

You'll get answers to these questions and more in this episode!

 

Show Notes

00:00 - Introduction. 

00:31 - Current China/Hong Kong Covid-19 situation, quarantine, and visas. 

05:41 - What is the 'First To Market Argument?'

11:20 - Is being first to market always beneficial? 

12:21 - The importance of strong IP protection. 

13:40 - Does it make sense for low profile products to get to market quickly and deal with IP protection later? (This concept was discussed in episode 71 by Renaud and Andy Bartlett).

18:55 - What should higher profile product launches do? 

21:07 - The 2 main IP infringement risks you face. 

  1. Your own manufacturer will copy your product and place it on the market first before you. 
  2. Copycat companies will notice your product's signs of success and market traction and copy you. 

28:06 - Why creating a lot of buzz about your new product before it goes to market can be dangerous. 

35:48 - How to combat being copied? 

38:41 - Wrapping up. 

 

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Exploring Product Design & NPI Process Best Practices For A New Product (feat. Andy Bartlett)

Friday Sep 17, 2021

Friday Sep 17, 2021

In this episode...

Sofeast's CEO Renaud Anjoran is joined by experienced British product designer Andy Bartlett to discuss the NPI process and product design best practices for new and unique products, and the disconnect between expectations and reality of many entrepreneurs or companies who are inexperienced in developing new products.

Andy brings a product designer's point of view to show and he and Renaud explore some of the most critical product design and development stages, why they're so important, some examples of products that had issues and why, and certain mistakes to avoid for product development rookies.

 

Show Notes

00:00 - Introduction. 

02:11 - What is the disconnect between expectation and reality when developing a new product and why might this happen? 

08:36 - Why the early design work is critical as it determines so much of later work in the project. 

10:51 - An example of a poorly designed product that negatively affected the whole NPI project. 

15:16 - Getting to the answer "NO." 

20:03 - The key takeaways about early design work.

21:35 - Getting to prototypes quickly (agile product development). 

28:04 - Common mistakes that can cause problems once mass production starts. 

36:26 - An example of what happens to you if your product causes injury or death. 
38:31 - Benefits of going to market with a Minumum Viable Proposition. 

40:20 - Wrapping up

 

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What Are The New Product Development Deliverables?

Friday Sep 10, 2021

Friday Sep 10, 2021

In this episode...

Sofeast's CEO Renaud Anjoran is joined by Adrian from the team and they go through what deliverables buyers can expect to receive when working with suppliers during a new product development project in order to get safe, high-quality products into mass production.

If you are developing a new product, you'll get a good grounding into what should be performed and documented during the process from product R&D through to mass production, including design files, the BOM, how to reduce risks, the control plan, inspections, pre-production validation testing, and more.

 

Show Notes

00:00 - Introduction. 

01:03 - Going through the NPD process from the buyer's side and its deliverables in detail. 

  • 04:06 - The latest version of design files. 
  • 05:42 - The BOM. 
  • 07:28 - Risk mitigation. 

09:28 - Elements and learnings from the automotive industry (PPAP). 

  • 10:49 - Risk analysis - FMEA on design & processes. 
  • 14:28 - The process flow chart/diagram. 
  • 15:55 - The control plan. 
  • 19:37 - Calibration or verification certificates of fixtures and instruments for checking quality. 
  • 21:44 - Product QC inspections.
  • 23:31 - Pilot run stage - EVT, DVT, PVT.
  • 28:03 - Engineering changes.
  • 29:23 - Prototypes/tooling/PP samples.

31:44 - Does every type of part or product require such stringent deliverables? 

33:45 - Wrapping up

 

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Identifying suppliers, verifying them, & cultivating ‘backups.’ - Sourcing from China (Part 1)

Friday Sep 03, 2021

Friday Sep 03, 2021

In this episode...

Sofeast CEO Renaud Anjoran talks sourcing with Adrian from the team. There's a focus on sourcing from China for importers who have decided to handle it themselves. This follows on from Episode 65 where we explored the 4 different sourcing options, where 'DIY' was one of them.

So, let's say you're doing your own sourcing, how do you find suitable suppliers, verify them, and cultivate backups for if you have issues? Renaud gives you lots of insight and advice about these early-stage sourcing activities here! 

 

Show Notes

00:00 - Introduction. 

02:23 -  How to identify 'good fit' suppliers for yourself and why there are no 'good' or 'bad' suppliers out there. 

14:25 - A list of sourcing actions to take to find new suppliers. Finding a supplier who can be a reliable partner in the medium or long term is a process.

  1. 15:13 - Identify what a good fit for your needs is (discussed earlier). 
  2. 19:35 - Start searching for suppliers. 
    22:00 - Screening or vetting potential suppliers you've found. 
  3. 24:07 - Contact the supplier. 

29:04 - Get even more help with vetting new Chinese suppliers by listening to our podcast series about it: Vetting new suppliers in China series.

29:40 - If you have found a good fit supplier, is a backup option from your shortlist strictly necessary? 

40:01 - Wrapping up

 

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