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Where are the Chinese checkers?
21/08/2007 08:55 - (SA)
Chris Moerdyk
With hardly a day going by without some big American or European brand recalling defective or dangerous products they decided to let the Chinese manufacturer for them, the question I want to ask is what the heck happened to good old fashioned quality control?
Surely, when you decide to let some factory in China manufacture your products the first thing you do is send one of your people over there to permanently keep an eye on the quality of the manufacturing process and the components and commodities that are used in the product? Particularly when you happen to be a world famous brand such as Nokia or the Barbie Doll people, Mattel.
Last week alone, Nokia recalled millions of cell phone batteries due to overheating problems without ever saying where they were made and Mattel recalled millions of its toys with high lead content in the paint. Surprise, surprise and no prizes for guessing where these products were manufactured.
Millions of products from toys to agricultural fertilisers, dog food, toothpaste and toxic foodstuffs have been recalled and taken off shelves all over the world in the past few months.
Could it possibly be that these fine, upstanding and trusted brands were in such an almighty rush to increase their profits by having their products manufactured a lot more cheaply in China, that they forgot all about the quality control thing?
Or, is it all part of the world's love affair with the newly emerged, powerful and wealthy China, that they have overlooked all those important checks and balances?
A crack at capitalism
Don't get me wrong, I am delighted that China has decided to give up on socialism and have a full crack at capitalism. And I admire them for not messing about and going at it full tilt. Hopefully all of this will eventually lead to doing away with child and slave labour, civil rights abuses and religious intolerance.
Frankly, I don't think China is entirely to blame for these recalls but rather the big Western brands that seem hand out these orders to China without any skills transfer, mentoring or quality control.
But, the way it's all happening is scary as hell. As a marketing consultant, I am constantly having to remind my clients who import Chinese products to check the quality thoroughly; check whether they're made by people who actually get paid and not slave labour and most of all check continuity of service and spares.
And above all, I remind them not to put all their eggs into the China basket. It has always been best business practice to spread risk, but in many cases that has gone out of the window.
Even more scary are reports coming in from China about CEO's of companies either committing suicide when products from their plants are found to be defective or sub-standard, or worse, being executed for their mistakes.
It seems to me that some of these companies must be desperate to the extent of taking really crazy risks to come in at the right price. And the only possible reason for any Chinese CEO cutting corners and using either unskilled labour or dodgy and potentially dangerous cheap components, is because they are under massive pressure from government to perform.
Sounds to me that failure in business is not so much just a learning curve as it is in the West but more like a capital offence in China.
Not all bad
Having said that, there are some very, very good Chinese products. I recently bought some spray paint that was half the price of locally made stuff and it was of excellent quality.
A friend who imports industrial valves said he is not only getting them a lot cheaper from China but the quality is even better than anywhere else in the world.
But, the point is there are still far too many products having to be recalled. And far too many respected global brands ending up with egg on their faces and losing chunks of brand value.
It really is a complete mystery how these big brands have not bothered to check quality.
So much so that whenever I buy a well known branded product now, I check to see where it is made. And even more so when I buy anything that I put in my mouth. If it's made in China I simply don't eat it.
Call me chicken, call me fussy, call me paranoid, but if Nokia, and Mattel, along with some of the world biggest toothpaste manufacturers, can't be bothered to check what is going into their products, I am certainly not going to be their guinea pig.
Good news is that a Chinese vice-premier, Wu Yi, has been appointed to head an organisation to address the issue of food and product safety in the wake of almost daily revelations about the hazards of Chinese made goods.
This is a sign of the seriousness of the issue. But, it should have happened years ago.
Send your comments to Chris.
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