China Quality Control: Ultimate Guide
China is increasingly becoming a top manufacturing powerhouse and a sourcing choice for businesses, brands and wholesalers. It is the target destination for sourcing agencies who supply cheaper goods to western companies. It is the fact that China has become quality conscious and made in china does not mark the poor condition now. China has a quality control system that competes with the most developed network in the world. It is also a fact that quality control has always been a concern for any business who wants to make its supply chain more secure.
If you are looking for sourcing products from china and ensure the quality of products, you need to hire the services of a top reforming sourcing company like Futian sourcing. The company has its offices and; labs in china to secure quality goods and products for American business. The Futian supply helps you in product quality, factory audit and inspection. It avoids any disruption and protects your brand popularity.
There were quality issues related to quality control a few years ago, but now the situation is changed. Now the Chinese factories manufacture the products that come up to western standards and even excel them. There are a lot of reasons for this change. It includes the broader popularity of Chinese products in western markets and their requirements and the demands of the growing middle class in china. The local Chinese consumers also look for high-quality products and pay higher for god quality. Some Chinese brands have global exposure and market.
Benefits of Quality Control when Importing from China
An importer must keep quality in check. If you are a business importing goods from China, you need to hire a quality service for sourcing goods. The quality control checks, audits and inspection have a lot of benefits for importers. Here is an overview of benefits for quality control checks.
Better insights into the quality
Most of the people have a misconception about china. They don’t know what quality control rules in china are. Quality is an essential part of sourcing. If you are quality conscious, you may import the best and selling products. The quality consciousness makes the manufacturer aware that you will get the top-performing products, and he will try to manufacturer quality goods for you.
Consumer satisfaction
Customer satisfaction is vital for every business and sourcing venture. The customer will find the best products when you import quality products from china. Your customer will trust you if you deliver quality goods that meet their requirements. This will make your clients stay loyal to your sourcing company
Affordability
Cost reduction is an essential benefit of quality control when you are importing products from china. You need to insist on quality, and it will reduce costs and give a considerable boost to your business. If there is any bug or complication in a product, it will prove costly, and in consequence, you will have to pay much. Moreover, quality control in china helps you reduce the wastage in addition to ensuring the top quality products. This will give you quality products at affordable prices.
Proper utilization of resources
Utilization of resources is another benefit of quality control in China. It will lead to making sure that all the funds are in hand for best usage. It lessens inefficiencies and increases efficiency and performances of sources. There may be no concern about the wastage of resources in the manufacturing process.
Reduced inspection costs
In case you have a quality control procedure, it is beneficial for reducing the costs of frequent and costly inspections. In China, when you are shipping its products, it requires undergoing quality inspection, and when it is delivered again, there is a need for such an assessment of product quality. If there is a failure or an issue in products he customer will not buy the products those results in a loss. The customs also reject the inferior product on departure or arrival that is not good for your business reputation. So, the conduct of quality control assessment is essential during and after product production and delivery. For this purpose, you should get a written confirmation from quality control departments that necessary assessment have been done.
Business goodwill and growth
Quality control is crucial for growth and goodwill of your business. It will make your customers remain satisfied, and they will trust you. It will grow your customer base and ultimately increase sales. The loyal customer base is the backbone of any business. Quality control will keep your goodwill going up, which is especially useful for medium-sized companies and startups. Your sound will give you more resources and finances. You may get loans from banks and microfinance entities or individual sponsors. It will surely take your business to excellence.
Extra sales margins
The markets today like to accommodate quality products. The satisfied customers may be the best marketer for your products and they may spread the word about your goods and will evoke interest in more people. It will grow the audience base and result in more profits and sales. If you regularly and consistently manufacture and source quality products, the market will love you. You need to understand the profit margin increases if you deliver more quality products to people.
We have gone through the benefits of quality control that you may come with while importing and sourcing products from china. You need to get insight into the importance of quality control so that you may get the best out of your sourcing business. So there are a lot of things you needed to understand.
Entities Charged with Ensuring Quality Control in China
When I come to sourcing products from China, it is essential to have a reliable quality control process and system. There are some considerations about how this quality control process works. When you are going to find quality control options in china, you have several choices, but actually, there are four quality control systems in China. In the options, some will require your presence in China, and with some, you are not required to travel to China. There is convenience and ease of use with some options, while some procedures are expensive and costly. Each quality control system in China has some advantages and disadvantages. You need to get a complete insight into these procedures and understand the process of each option. With this information, you may make a wise decision and choose the best option that meets your needs about the quality control process in china.
Manufacturer in-house review
When you need quality product in China, the first choice for quality insights is to rely on suppliers’ internal investigation of products during the manufacturing process. It is inexpensive as the manufacturer will make testing on his own, and it is also convenient because you will not need to travel to China for this purpose. But there is some complication with this procedure. The manufacturer in china is interested in protecting his interests rather than focusing on quality. It is also a fact that a lot of reputed factories have there on quality assessment departments and their teams regularly work for ensuring quality. In typical cases, the factories employ a team of quality control experts to oversee the manufacturing process and ensure quality. Though the group may be dedicated and skilled, this team may not sometimes be beneficial for you. They try their best to meet the deadlines and pay less attention to quality control, but you want a quality product. For this purpose, you will need to invest your time, money and resources.
As a result, your desire for quality products may be inflicting with manufacturer’s struggle to provide you with goods as soon as possible and deliver t order. You better understand the outcome. You will not receive a quality control insight, but instead, you will receive the products. It is upon you to trust the reports of your manufacturer. Moreover, the factory may not have the tools and resources to assess your good for the quality. If there are not the right tools in place, the team may not make accurate tests. The best solution is the go for a quality control process with your involvement. You may audit the factory for quality control and verify that factory has proper resources to produce quality control. You may choose one of the other three options too.
Visit the factory in China
If there is a trust and reliability issue with your supplier, you may get the quality control job done y yourself. For this purpose, you will need to travel to China. You may go to china on your own or send a skilled agent to check the factory for quality control issues. You may check the quality standards by the experienced souring agent also, and Futian sourcing is the best option for this purpose. In this way, you may better perform quality checks. For long term relations with the manufacturer, it is better to visit the factory. Hiring a quality inspection team is also beneficial for getting quality goods. There are a lot of tools, techniques and approaches for inspection.
Trading or sourcing partner
You may also hire a trading partner if you don’t go for the first and second option. If the partner is skilled, that may be a good idea, and it may ultimately safeguard the quality issues with your manufacturer. The quality control criteria must be stipulated when you are hiring the services of independent agents. There are some problems with trading or sourcing partners. These issues may include different inefficiencies on the part of your trading partners. You need to know that they are business people like you and they also earn from the services they offer. When you get their services, they will expect the compensations in the form of commission. Some of them may partner with the Chinese manufacturer during the negotiation of deals.
Inspection team
In case you do not go with the first three choices for quality control, there is a fourth option for you. You may employ your quality inspection employers. This team may better safeguard your interests. They may give top priority to your requirement instead of protecting the attention of the manufacturer. They may ensure the implementation of quality control measures. It may be a good idea, but there may be issues with hiring a permanent quality control team. For better results, you need to choose experienced and skilled teams that know the process and may work for your interests. It becomes necessary for products you are sourcing. There may be some additional costs that involve travel expenses that may increase your importation expenditures.
Third-party inspection company or quality control agencies in China
If you don’t see any of the other options working you may opt for third party inspection. This option is excellent, and you may rely on it. You may hire a third party inspection service that may test the products manufacturing process on your behalf.
These companies may protect our interests in China and check the products for quality. These services are unbiased and neutral because they do not work. You may have a piece of mind that your requirements will be fulfilled. These third-party inspection services are available everywhere in China. These services may inspect multiple factories in different Chinese locations. In all the places, they may ensure quality control.
Quality Control in China Processes
The quality control process is vital for reliable products. The products should meet your requirements. The process needs to be financially workable, and production should be inconsistent with your conditions.
Pre-production inspections (PPI)
There may be a situation that you are placing an order for products in china. But you need to check the product capacity and whether that supplier fulfils your requirements or not.
Online inspections
Online inspections are also becoming popular. It is called during production inspection. With an online review, you may have a rough concept of product quality during the production procedure. During the first phase of products finishing this process is done.
Pre-shipment inspection (PSI)
After you have completed step one and two, you may conduct a reshipment assessment to determine the product quality. Before the delivery, it is the last stage when you inspect the products before you deliver. You should keep in mind that payment is processed after delivery of goods. Moreover, you will clear all debts before the release of products.
Loading supervision
Though it is not a common practice to conduct a container loading inspection, it is essential.
With it, you may inspect the loading process into the container. For example, there may be fragile items, and you may ensure that these items are not loaded in the bottom. It may avoid damages. If you are going to ship LCL, the container loading inspection becomes necessary.
Checklist to Quality Control in China
Suitable quality control is what you need. You need to set the quality standards according to your specific requirements. You must supervise the quality inspection procedure. You should provide detailed specifications of the process. The written form of this procedure is called quality control checklist.
Why do you need a quality control checklist?
You need to specify your requirement related to quality control. If you fail, it will result in the delivery of low-quality products. Ultimately you will lose your customers. For these props, ou needs to provide a blueprint of inspection criteria to your quality control and inspection team. You need to determine clear cut quality control procedure through:
- Providing the standards for the quality of products that your supplier should follow.
- Establishing objectives and plan for inspection to ensure that the products meet your needs.
Essentials of a quality control checklist
And you must convey the quality of products to your supplier as well as your inspection team. It should have the following features.
- It is a fact that most Chinese suppliers are not fluent in English. So the requirements should be written in both English and Chinese languages. You need to write in another language also which the parties understand well.
- Clarity is essential for a quality control checklist. You should use the unambiguous term while writing the requirements.
- It is compulsory for effective implantation of the list if it is documented well and supports the process. There are different requirements that it should address.
- You should give your product requirements, and it should be an essential part of your checklist.
- The checklist must address the weight and dimension of the product. Moreover, product color should also be part of this checklist.
- There should be proper marking and label requirements.
- You need to provide packaging requirements. It better you deliver these requirements. It gives an aesthetic and engaging touch to products and influences the customer also.
- The other thing you need to consider for your quality control checklist is defect classification. You should point out the specific defects that you can accept and that you cannot accept.
Quality Control in China Report
When quality control classification and inspection is done, then the quality control report is issued. In the document, the inspector point outs the findings of the things.
Presented product quantity
The final inspection is about the provision of final products to inspectors. The inspector makes sure that all the products are prepared according to your requirements. Now he inspectors randomly check the products. So far as product quantity is concerned, the inspectors will point out their findings according to specifications.
Visual defects
Visual imperfections are related to errors in the products or its packaging. The tolerance level is essential here. If it is not in acceptable limits, the inspection will term it as failed.
How to choose a Quality Control Company in China
You need to search and select a quality control company. It is a simple process. You cannot pick a company at random. There are the following considerations while choosing a quality control company in china.
- When you are choosing a quality control company, you must check whether it has ISO 9001 certification. Moreover, you may check other certifications too.
- The company must be able to provide an unambiguous report about quality control. It must know different languages, especially English.
- The service must be able to provide diverse and versatile services related to quality control. It must be skilled n all types of inspections.
- The company should have complete expertise and experience in the relevant field. The company must understand the manufacturing process of the product you are importing.
- The quality control company must understand the quality control requirements and need to know what type of products you are going to import.
- You need to choose a company that comes with online customer support and booking system. It should conveniently offer its services.
- Pricing is an essential factor. The company must provide you with a transparent pricing plan, and it must be affordable.
Futian sourcing: the best quality control service for China
I hope you have better insights into china’s quality control process and requirements. The selection of a quality control service is essential. For this purpose, you may hire Futian sourcing. The Futian supply has years of experience in china product sourcing ad quality control. The company has its presence in China, and you may access it in different ways. It caters to your quality control needs as t has a team of professional inspectors. The company offers a wide range of services related to quality control. It ensures that the products meet your requirements.
