[Milsurplus] China Electronics Quality Control, Lack of

[Mark J. Blair]

On Sep 4, 2010, at 6:09 PM, Peter Gottlieb wrote:
> China is capable of meticulous quality.  It is frequently the corporate 
> interest in saving money which limits quality.  In China, quality is 
> simply another product attribute which has a cost, much more so than in 
> other countries, as workers do exactly as they are told.  Someone at 
> that manufacturer decided on a specific level of quality and that is 
> what you got.

Very true. They can make anything from single-use fake dog vomit to iPhones. If you want iPhone quality, you specify it, inspect for it, and pay for it. Apparently, most buyers (including the Chinese .mil, perhaps?) value inexpensiveness more than quality, and that is reflected in the products they commission to be manufactured. Through my limited interactions with folks who commission Chinese manufacturing, I get the impression that you'll get exactly what you ask for and no more, and "cheap" is the default. You can get more if you want it, but if you don't ask for it then you'll get "cheap". And most buyers start off the negotiation with emphasis on cost, with the expected results.



-- 
Mark J. Blair, NF6X <nf6x at nf6x.net>
Web page: http://www.nf6x.net/
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