Let’s know the reason behind the fact that most of the Chinese factories don’t have a solid quality system, and it seems like there is no importance of ISO 9001 certification. So what should be done here and how the auditing should be done.
1. Two crucial reasons why a few Chinese factories have a stringent quality system
The thing is that the factory owners in China are having a very short-term perspective. So what is the reason behind setting up a quality factory audit system that is considered hard in China?
Have you ever read Sun Tzu’s 36 Stratagems? It will also help you clearly understand how some of Chinese suppliers think about it.
Have a look at the first 3 strategies:
Kill with a borrowed sword — With the help of another’s strength, go for the attack. (in a case where someone’s strength is not at all ok). Besiege Wèi to rescue Zhào — If in case the enemy is so strong that he can attack directly, then attack something he can hold dear. He may not be so superior in all cases. If there is a distance in the armor, a weakness there can be spotted there.
The customers are really caring for the quality standard. But they are also concerned about the price. Try to tell them that you can raise the prices according to their behaviour.
Cross the sea without the emperor’s knowledge — With the help of using the ruse of fake goal, try for your real goal, until that goal is achieved.
The blame will be on you for the mistake done by you. You need to be pretending to be offended by the attacks on your personal ethics.
Hold on! The reason behind the hard work that may help you to do trustworthy work in future, in case you are willing to vanish the complaints of the customers.
But, this is modifying with the passage of time. So it basically ends with the discussion that only those factory owners will succeed who think about the long term instead of the cash position.
So, look here for another reason for the lack of strong quality systems. There are some Chinese factory managers who are having degrees but no experience of system thinking.
2. ISO 9001 quality certifications do not mean much in Chinese states
Have a look towards the reason for checking the supplier’s quality system; you are free to trust an ISO 9001 certificate.
ISO 9001 basically is not of bad standard in itself. Actually, something very wrong happened in the implementation and certification system, and the faith upon ISO 9001 certification all gone.
Blind spots of factory quality audits
This supplier audit approach has a few blind spots that are stated below:
- Here is the need to know about the story of the sub-suppliers. If in case, there is found any kind of risk in the levels like 2 tier and the 3 tier, you are required to qualify them too and this is the indication that you are urging that your direct suppliers should be clear about their sub-suppliers.
- The production that may be audited will seriously take place in the facility. It usually happens and is basically the trend that the Chinese suppliers merge with new customers and you often want to avoid them. And this is something that you need to make while signing a contract.