Explaining China's Quality Control Problems

Not mentioned in the article is that in supporting the Chinese miracle we are also supporting the dark side of capitalism in that it naturally seeks the lowest common denominator in production cost meaning lowest standard of living and lowest environmental and safety controls. Then as soon as it finds a more desparate and corrupt community it shuts downs and moves there often times leaving an industrial wasteland and massive unemployment. To avoid that today anti-union disciples of unregulated capitalism seem to expect American & European workers to once again live in shacks and work 60 hours a week in unhealthy conditions to compete with the third world factories they have set up.

Jack of NC 5:18PM September 27, 2012

Interesting perspective. While there are a multitude of problems that can go wrong when getting a product manufactured in China-anything raging from miscommunication to quality issues-China remains a powerhouse manufacturer. I feel that while the problems encountered are at times difficult to work through, writing off China as a country to manufacture in seems exaggerated. Often times problems with manufacturing stems from quality control and communication. A colleague of mine wrote an interesting article on how to ensure quality throughout the manufacturing process. You can read it here: http://www.chinaperformancegroup.com/category/cpg-blog/quality-control/

Scott of CA 9:49PM September 13, 2012

The reason that China is not held to the same standard as Japan is really very simple, China buys up our debt. We do not want China to "call" for total payment. This would seriously de-rail any hope of recovery.

The true fault should be laid at the feet of our beloved government. Democrats and Republicans both share in the responsibility. This goes to show how much our government really cares for its citizens. Our Senators and Representatives listen to and accept payment from a whole range of special interest groups that assure the welfare of our Congressmen at the expense of its citizens.

Do not expect any change in the status quo until: #1 the American people show some backbone and persistance to hold this government responsible or #2 There is a truly catistrophic event that demands change. When this happens, all those responsible should be brought to a swift and complete accounting. DO NOT forget who your representatives are!

Mike Wood of MD 7:51AM February 07, 2010

The problem with quality of Chinese products stems from two sources:

(a) The inability of the American importer to control the Chinese suppliers from using inferior components and

(b) The wholesale price that the American importer is willing to pay the Chinese for the products

For example low voltage landscape bulbs made in China need to be replaced every six months, while those made in Germany (hard to find, but they do exist) last well over four years. That is a durability factor of eight. Initially, the German bulbs cost twice as much, but over a period of four years the Chinese bulbs are four times as expensive as the German bulbs, not to mention about the hassle of replacing the bulbs. Who benefits from this ? Both the greedy US importer and the Chinese supplier - they make four times as much as they would if their quality and cost were at par with the Germans.

Another example is stainless steel. You may never think that stainless steel rusts, but Chinese stainless steel do. The reason is very simple. Instead of using a 20% to 25% nickel concentration, many Chinese manufacturer cheat by using only 10% Nickel. It is very hard for the US importer to lab test each and every shipment for Nickel content and the Chinese suppliers are well aware of this. One can only hope (and pray) that Chinese supplied steel and other metals being used in our buildings and bridges are genuine and don't start falling apart in few years.

Personally, I look for products that are made (not just assembled) in USA, Canada, Germany, Korea, Thailand, India or Taiwan for quality. The extra cost is much more than compensated by quality and reliability.

Steve Banerjee of CA 11:31AM September 11, 2009