China Manufacturing Improvement Blog

With the US-China trade war unlikely to end anytime soon, speculation is stirring within the manufacturing community about moving production out of China and to other locations in Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Cambodia, Philippines, Thailand) and North America (USA or Mexico).

It’s likely the manufacturing sector will face a challenging and uncertain future, so will there be any real large scale movements, or is it purely talk? Like many other things in the complex world of modern manufacturing, the answer lies somewhere in-between the two.

We wrote a few weeks ago about the most common types of internal failures in manufacturing, their impact for the manufacturer, and how simple software can be used as a preventive measure. Manufacturing managers tend to ask the same question on this topic: "How can this new approach help cut costs?" 

We'll be covering this question in our blog post today.

Companies manufacturing in China are suffering.

Environmental regulations, social insurance and HR regulations are now being strictly enforced (often for the first time), taxes are being collected properly and ongoing trade disputes with the United States and other countries all are pushing factories out of business.

With so much pressure in today’s manufacturing landscape in China, we highlight 6 things companies must do to keep their heads above water and increase business.

Factories in China are seldom perfect, having fairly common issues, for example, 'quality fade,' or a lack of a production planning system.

While working with consultants who can come in and help fix your factory on site is a great way to improve operations, what if you're just looking for factory improvement ideas in order to handle this in house right now?

What effect does the manufacturing sector have on pollution in China, and vice versa? Are the government's anti-pollution controls effective, and do they affect manufacturers and supply chains negatively? Find out the answers to these questions and more in the free white paper that we've just produced here at CMC...

This may seem controversial, but I believe that many importers worry too much about being 'nice' with the Chinese factory that supplies them. But is this a good way to conduct this relationship?

Recently we met with a European company that currently exports medical devices to China and is thinking of manufacturing them “in China, for China”. It makes increasing sense for them.
Is manufacturing medical devices in China something that you are looking to do? Let's explore.

Glue is used in the production of a wide range of products. Gluing two parts together is an extremely common process. And yet, many of the very serious quality issues coming out of China come from the use of an improper glue.
Let's dig into this with David...

This is our second article of 3 concerned with pollution in China. Let's look at what buyers should do in the wake of the government’s increase in anti-pollution inspections in China...

Will one of your key suppliers be unable to make production because of an anti-pollution inspection? Will they ask you to wait for 3-4 months? Will they just stop production until the factory gets to code? Factory closures in China like this have been happening over the past few months due to increased activity to combat pollution in china, so how can you know if you are at risk?