Mistake 1: Poorly defined specs

Where "Design for Manufacturing" leads to "Design from Supplier".

You decide to go to the factory direct and give the supplier freedom to handle the product design, such as deciding on the materials packaging layout. This can lead to a final product that is substantially different from the original concept. Another subsequent problem here is that the supplier may think that their input into the design means that they own the Intellectual Property Rights to the…

Hua and I moved back to Guelph a few weeks ago after living in Shanghai for most of the year, actually since May 2010. It was a great experience as I ran many conferences in China and got to see what was really happening.

 I have always maintained that one can never learn about China from the 20^th floor of the Ritz Carlton in Shanghai. The same is true for keeping up with monitoring developments in China; you cannot do it effectively from a remote location.

 News from China on trends for the…

I had an email from a company in Toronto this morning asking for help with a supplier that was not shipping their product from China as promised. Their vendor insisted on payment prior to shipping and now has given no reason why the shipment is delayed, even though they have shipped to this Toronto firm 6 previous times.

The moral of the story is that the Canadian company did not follow our simple rules for supplier qualification or audit. They did not take the time to learn how to do business…

http://www.techtriangle.com/chinese_oem_supplier&preview=true

Although my blog usually deals with trade issues relating to doing business with China, I like to occasionally toss in a bit of cultural insight for your enlightenment and amusement.

Such is the case today, as we delve into the up and coming education trend in teaching Chinese men and woman - "How to marry a billionaire". China, if you don't already know, is second only to the US in terms of the most billionaires in the world.

While flying back home to Shanghai earlier this week after a day…

As I was reading the paper this morning prior to starting my workday, I came across a story about Home Depot closing their last Beijing store, with only seven remaining in China and Best Buy closing up stores as well.

In the case of Home Depot, in some ways it is not surprising when you consider the culture in China for DIY - "do it yourself". Here is a prime example of thinking local. In North America, going to Home Depot on a Saturday to pick up supplies for a project is common place, as…

I wish I had written this insightful article but in fact it is from a marvellous company called Muddy Waters Research (www.muddywatersresearch.com) and was posted on their website. So many times, there is not enough due diligence done prior to doing a major deal in China and the cost of researching a potential supplier, acquisition, etc is small compared to the costs if there is fraud, or worse. Please go to the link http://www.muddywatersresearch.com/2011/02/six-rules-china-due-diligence/ for…

The Asia Pacific Foundation is an independent, not-for-profit think-tank on Canada's relations with Asia. The Foundation functions as a knowledge broker, bringing together people and knowledge to provide current and comprehensive research, analysis and information on Canada's transpacific relations. It promotes dialogue on economic, security, political and social issues, fostering informed decision-making in the Canadian public, private and non-governmental sectors. The CCBC is a supporter of…

I used to marvel at the cutting edge cell phones I saw in China when I first went there years ago. In comparison, it seemed that we always had the older technology here. Theirs seemed much better and had cooler features. The reason was, in part anyway, that because their wired infrastructure was immature, they were able to go to wireless quicker and embrace new technology because for the most part, they were starting from scratch. In North America, on the other hand, we were hard wired already,…