Quality Assurance in China

We are your experts for quality assurance in China and make sure that the goods reach you in the agreed quality. We also ensure the quality of your goods in the long term, if you wish.

Quality Assurance in China – A must when shopping in China

The product can only sell well if the quality is right. Therefore, a company always has to put a lot into quality assurance invest, because cheap goods will not prevail with consumers on the market in the long term. It doesn’t matter whether the goods are produced in Germany or imported from China. The quality has to be right everywhere and without quality control this is not possible in most cases. Surely the quality control It’s a bit easier in Germany than in China, but with the right experts at your side, production can also be well controlled in the Far East. But you have to be aware that this is not always cheap. In most cases, however, the investments are worthwhile.

Checking the quality of goods from China

In order to be successful in trading, the quality must of course be right. If the products are bought in China, they must be checked there. Lenin’s old adage applies here: “Trust is good. Control is better”. Especially at the beginning, when a new product is ordered from China, it is advisable to monitor the production so that the item can later be delivered in the desired quality. There can be many problems before the product is finally in Germany. China is a country with a very large number of inhabitants and therefore also many workers. This is certainly one reason why wages are still so low there, since there are enough people who can do the job. Therefore, many German companies buy their goods in China, because this way higher profit margins can be achieved. But in order not to survive a nasty surprise later, it is advisable to control the production process in China. Studies have shown that recently, Chinese manufacturers’ profits have fallen and they are barely earning anything. That’s why some gray sheep rely on cheap and bad material and hope that the customer won’t notice. The Chinese are generally not as aware of quality as we are here in the West. But that doesn’t mean that all companies in China rely on bad goods and all European ones only produce top quality. But the risk of getting bad and cheap goods is slightly greater in China than in Germany. Therefore, controls are extremely important to trade successfully with China in the long term. In the quality control should not be saved, because sometimes even harmful substances can be processed in the Far East. If these products are sold in Germany, there can be major problems, which are also very expensive. Recall campaigns have never been cheap and it can also have legal consequences for you. If even people get sick or injured by the products, the importer or manufacturer can be held liable. Costs of several million euros can quickly arise here.

Quality control during production in China

The Quality Assurance in China should start at the very beginning, i.e. the production must be controlled from the beginning. This is very important, especially for new products. If you have decided on a new product or even a whole range of products that is to be manufactured in China, a cheap producer should be found. One should not trust that it is sufficient to communicate one’s conceptions and ideas to the Chinese verbally or in writing. On the one hand, there are often language barriers and, on the other hand, the Chinese do not necessarily understand the German DIN or ISO standards. It is advisable to make many sketches of different views here and also to give the people from China two samples. You can often do a lot more with this than just with a construction plan, which is often very difficult to understand without explanation. You can also deliberately give the manufacturer two or three bad copies so that they can see what the product should not look like in the end. Once the initial difficulties with the Chinese manufacturer have been resolved, the quality must still be checked. Quality Assurance in China is not always cheap. With very labour-intensive products, importing Chinese goods is of course still profitable. It is best if a third party, for example an import company, takes over quality assurance in China for you. Just doing the quality assurance from a German desk is almost impossible. Good quality assurance includes checking the individual production steps on site in China, especially at the beginning. This means that quality defects in the desired product can at least be almost completely ruled out. Other risks such as currency losses, company insolvencies and transport risks still remain.

Risk minimization through relationship building when selecting suppliers in China

Before starting the production of a certain product in China, it is important to consider what errors and risks this can cause. Nothing is more annoying than finding out at the end that the goods are not delivered as requested. Therefore, possible errors should be discussed before production. This means that countermeasures can be taken before the start of production. It is certainly not possible to discuss all the details with the Chinese manufacturer here from Germany by telephone and email. You either have to be on site yourself or hire a special company to do it. Many import companies have a number of employees permanently stationed in China who can obtain information about the desired companies. In addition, they can of course also take over the quality inspection on site. Which is of course even better if you talk to the manufacturer yourself in China. But here is the next problem. Not everyone is fluent in Chinese or can deal with the Chinese mentality. However, it can definitely be worth getting an expert at your side as an interpreter and mentor. This means that some problems can be clarified with the Chinese company before production begins. The costs for this are usually quickly saved again when you consider what a complete recall campaign would cost later. Quality doesn’t come for free.

Quality is not cheap – but it is also affordable in China

Even if some companies still believe that good quality is available almost for free, it can be said that this is by no means true. There is no top product from China that can be bought for a few cents. However, producing and then importing goods can still be worthwhile. A few things have to be considered for this. As already indicated above, prevention is much better than having to improve all goods afterwards. At the beginning, something should be invested in preventive quality assurance, because experience shows that, to a certain extent, every euro is worth it. Is the Goods from China Arrived in Germany and found to be faulty or not up to quality standards, it becomes very expensive. All goods must either be reworked in Germany or shipped back to China. It is therefore essential to control production on site right from the start. This includes the fact that precise product specifications are made, the production process is repeatedly checked by means of intermediate checks and, of course, a final check takes place at the end before shipment. Before packing and shipping the cargo, care must be taken to ensure that the goods are in the quality standards correspond and be packed securely. The transport route to Germany is relatively long and expensive, and if the products are poorly secured, something can sometimes break. If the first deliveries have arrived safely and safely in Germany, quality assurance in China should not be completely neglected. Chinese manufacturers sometimes tend to treat new customers better than existing customers. In the case of a longer-lasting business relationship, it is therefore advisable to check the production steps in the Far East from time to time, not that the Chinese only process cheap and poor materials over time. Because even with them, the profit batch has been falling more and more in recent years. There are always a few dealers and manufacturers who try to earn more through fraudulent measures. As mentioned at the beginning, some trust is good, but control is better.

Significant losses can be avoided with our own quality assurance in China

If the basic things of quality assurance for goods from China are observed, the risk of something going wrong when importing the products can at least be minimized. Quality defects can never be 100 percent ruled out. But that is also the case in Germany. Here, too, there are always products that do not meet the quality standards. At the Import of Chinese goods However, other factors must also be taken into account. Some goods can be produced very cheaply in China, but there is still the problem of bringing the goods to Germany. The risks of currency losses or company insolvencies must also be included in the calculation beforehand. The exchange rate between the individual currencies changes daily. Although it is often possible to pay in dollars in the economic metropolises, the euro exchange rate has fluctuated wildly here as well. A clear downward trend of the euro can be observed in the last few weeks. This is mainly due to the euro crisis. The analysts don’t have that much confidence in the euro anymore and therefore the price is constantly falling. Of course, this makes imports significantly more expensive. A price for the goods is normally negotiated prior to production. It will take some time to complete and it is possible that a different conversion factor will then apply to the currencies. With large orders, even small changes are clearly noticeable. Here it is also advisable to calculate a little generously, so that there is still an income in the end, even if the exchange rate of the euro falls. Another option would be to pay directly in euros. But hardly any Chinese company will accept that, because then they would have to bear the currency risk.

Other risks also lurk when importing from China

Another major problem is corporate insolvency. It is quite possible that a Chinese company will have to file for bankruptcy during production. If advance payments have already been made for the current contracts, it is very difficult to get your money back. It is therefore very useful to check the companies in China thoroughly before signing the contract. As mentioned above, quality assurance is very important here, but you should also look at how the company is doing financially, so that you don’t have to deal with insolvency later. Bankruptcy law in China is very complicated anyway. However, there are special providers on the Internet who have specialist lists on site and can regulate the most important things. Import companies and their employees from China can check the local company before ordering to see if it makes a solid impression. They are usually the quickest to find out if something is wrong with the Chinese manufacturer.

In summary it can be said that the Import of goods from China is a very complex area. If you don’t know your way around here very well, you should definitely get an expert to help you. The risks are not only in quality assurance, currency losses and company losses. Finally, there are many more risks when importing goods from China. Among other things, there are also risks involved in transport to Germany. It is also important not to buy counterfeit brands, otherwise there will be a lot of trouble at customs. All risks can of course be minimized by careful quality assurance. However, it is advisable to hire a special company to do this. In most cases, not everything can be done alone, unless of course you have your own China experts in your company.

A goods inspection before shipping the goods from China is essential

In almost all countries, due to globalization, there are also products that come from other parts of the world – including Germany. After Germany had to cede the title of “Export World Champion” to China this year, one wonders how the quality of the products manufactured abroad is, especially because of the strong Imports from China looks.

Goods from China or other Asian countries are very popular in Germany due to the low price, but are also known to be of inferior quality, which is only partially correct. Products from China can also be of high quality, although the proportion is lower compared to Germany. But why is the quality on average worse than in other countries?

Companies often relocate their production to these regions – especially to China – because goods can be produced very cheaply due to the lack of laws, environmental regulations and low labor costs. Unfortunately, material and machines are often saved in order to further increase profits. In addition, employees often have to work under great time pressure, so that parts cannot be installed and checked thoroughly and goods usually leave the factory without being checked for functionality.

The products manufactured in China are then shipped to Germany and other countries and can be sold there at a very reasonable price, despite transport and customs costs. Compared to China, there are many guidelines in Germany that must be observed when manufacturing goods. In addition, wage costs for workers in Germany are more than 5 times higher. In addition, manufactured products are subject to strict standards Quality controls designed to protect the consumer and make it difficult to produce inferior goods. All these factors are responsible for the comparatively high prices.

So are goods from China bad? This question can be answered clearly with no. There are also companies in China that produce very high-quality products, just like there are products in different price/quality categories in Germany. Why are quality products from China not so well known in Germany? High-quality goods are expected in Germany and since high-quality goods are mostly manufactured on behalf of large foreign brand companies (OEM), no thought is given to the fact that these are also goods from China. Many smaller importers, on the other hand, neglect the topic quality assurance or want to pay so little for the goods that manufacturers can only use inferior materials.

Even if it is not very familiar, China is technically at a high level, which can be seen very well in the car industry, for example. Imported models often contain a lot of technology that is manufactured in these regions of the world, which is hardly visible to the customer. In general, today’s consumers can no longer know where the product I’m buying was made. The place of manufacture is stated on the packaging, but the customer does not know whether individual parts were manufactured abroad despite a “Made in Germany” seal.

By one of your own Quality Assurance in China you can significantly minimize the risk in the quality of your own imports from China. Therefore, it is imperative to do quality control and goods inspection yourself to carry out when importing products from China.