The Issues with procuring from China -- quality and culture

Recently in the paper there have been a spate of headlines about product coming from China. Wheat gluten that was used in pet food has caused numerous animals to get sick and some die. The chances of some North American companies not recovering as a result of this issue looms large. Pets are part of our families and we won't let the pet food manufacturers consider them less than worthy of the utmost quality in what they bring to the marketplace.

Then there was the story about furniture being sold with the colour "N____ Brown" -- the N standing for an inflammatory racial epithet used to describe African Americans. Again this product was manufactured in China. (note: I've removed the offending word from the picture)

As companies are racing to the low cost production in China, these issues are bound to come up time and time again and it is important for procurement professionals to continually monitor and ensure that the best value is being derived. As we all know low cost can sometimes be a misnomer, because the missteps as cited above can irreparably damage a company -- so there are no savings, just a slippery slide to damage control and potential bankruptcy.

Do you remember years ago (the 60's) when you picked up something and it said "Made in Japan" you would put it back because it represented poor quality! Just think of where Japan is today, significantly outdistancing both North American and European manufacturers -- their quest for quality knows no bounds!

And China, I'm sure will get there some day, but in many situations they are not there yet, and it becomes necessary for those buying products from this company to perform their due diligence before considering a contract.

When you ask for samples from a company in China (or quite honestly, from anywhere in the world) are you sure that these are not handmade samples, but are actually from a production run? Often in the pursuit of business, significant care is taken in ensuring the samples are the best of the best, and once in a production run, then the quality slides.
Have you sent someone to inspect the plant? From both a quality and working condition perspective this must be done -- the former to protect your business interests, the latter to focus on corporate social responsibility -- if there are violations, you know that it is just a matter of time before it hits the press.
Continuous monitoring of quality is also of paramount importance -- who was minding the quality store, when this wheat gluten got into a vast variety of dog and cat foods? Of course the excuse of the North American producers was that they didn't know the supplier of this product was getting it from China....sorry -- that doesn't absolve them of the quality testing issue.

Is the company in tune with the Western culture, enough so the identify that "N.....Brown" is not an acceptable naming convention? It seems in our minds impossible to imagine that anyone would even consider usage of this word anymore, but remember China has been culturally isolated for a long time.

For procurement professionals the pressure is significant to identify and enter into agreements with low cost producers throughout the world. And I'm not saying it is necessarily a bad thing to do. But you must ensure that your quality standards are met and that no embarrassing "other" issues come to the forefront. Don't sole source or completely source from China or anywhere else, because putting all your eggs in one basket makes it very difficult to recover from a fall.