Quality with Chinese Characteristics

Living here you realize that China is not going swallow America in the next decade. There are so many problems here, and the problems aren't small. You don't regularly hear developed nations expressing angst over stability - in China, it is always an issue.

My aunt referred to Shanghai as a movie set in an old western. You walk down the streets in awe of the buildings, lights and infrastructure. But when you walk behind the set, there was nothing there.

I have never had a CEO tell me he is so impressed with the quality of the merchandise supplied by manufacturers in China that he doesn't worry about quality control. Quality control is a number one headache. The Chinese DO NOT CARE about the quality of the goods being manufactured.

A friend of mine in the sourcing business was trying to explain to his manufacturer the concept of quality. Would you pay 2,000,0000 kuai for that rusty Toyota over there? Of course not, the manufacturer replied. What if I told you it had a Rolls Royce engine in it? Would you pay 2,000,000 kuai then? I would still not pay that much because the car is old and doesn't look good. Then why do you expect my client to pay for a new widget that is all pitted and poorly assembled, even if it works.

This article from Newsweek is right on the money. Someone has to pay attention to quality, and it isn't going to be the factory owners, and it isn't going to be the Chinese government. The owners don't understand and don't care - they are short term thinkers. They live in the here and now. The government doesn't have the knowledge or resources.

I mentioned in an earlier entry that ventures in China do not work if the western company doesn't play an active role in the day to day management of the subsidiary. That is true for sourcing too. If you are not involved in quality management you are going to be the lucky owner of tires that wear out in 5,000 miles or less or fish tainted with antibiotics.