Dealing With a Chinese Supplier to follow up on quality problems

[daledun]

I will be visiting a supplier in China to follow up on their recent quality problems. I understand "face" is important in the Chinese culture. How much probing into the causes of these problems is appropriate without appearing rude or offensive to them?

[Wes Bucey]

Regardless of native land of a supplier, there is a right way and a wrong way to approach any supplier (the first time or occurrence; repeated N/C calls for entirely different tactics.)

The wrong way is to go in like a bad kwality kop and ask "How did you folks screw up?"

Mom always said, "You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar."

So I found leading off with, "How can I help you save some money by helping you find and fix the root cause of this glitch?" usually got me much more cooperation and transparency into a supplier's process.

[SteelMaiden]

I think there is a difference in saving face and getting to the bottom of the problem. You are the customer and you deserve good product. That being said, I fully agree with Wes; you don't have to be rude to be affective.

[Sidney Vianna]

Originally Posted by daledun

I will be visiting a supplier in China to follow up on their recent quality problems. I understand "face" is important in the Chinese culture. How much probing into the causes of these problems is appropriate without appearing rude or offensive to them?

Slightly .
I would recommend you start accounting the monetary figures for how much the problem and the fix will cost. Too many companies make supplier selection decisions based on lowest bidder, forgetting that the cheapest supplier is not the most cost effective (neither quality-effective) supplier. There are a number of organizations re-thinking their outsourcing strategies, after a few years of dealing with "cheap" suppliers, because they end up costing much more, in the long run.

Further, if the supplier might not be able to resolve the issue to your satisfaction, engage their CB. With so many certified suppliers in China, chances are, the supplier in question has an ISO 9001 certificate. Make that work for you.

[Wes Bucey]

Originally Posted by Sidney Vianna

Slightly .
I would recommend you start accounting the monetary figures for how much the problem and the fix will cost. Too many companies make supplier selection decisions based on lowest bidder, forgetting that the cheapest supplier is not the most cost effective (neither quality-effective) supplier. There are a number of organizations re-thinking their outsourcing strategies, after a few years of dealing with "cheap" suppliers, because they end up costing much more, in the long run.

Further, if the supplier might not be able to resolve the issue to your satisfaction, engage their CB. With so many certified suppliers in China, chances are, the supplier in question has an ISO 9001 certificate. Make that work for you.

Interesting take, Sidney. How exactly do you propose a customer follow through on this part of your statement? With so many certified suppliers in China, chances are, the supplier in question has an ISO 9001 certificate. Make that work for you.

It appears you are trying to add some bias about whether the supplier is ISO-registered or not. We have pretty much resolved the point here in the Cove that ISO registration does NOT confer any special status upon the quality of the goods or services provided by a supplier. It seems to me if a supplier is going to drag its feet about resolving a quality issue, that same supplier is not going to get too excited whether you go to the company that issued an ISO registration certificate to complain that it isn't following the ISO guidelines for customer service.

[dickgent]

Hello,
I have been to China twice in the last two years for supplier problems. One important note is that a contract (piece of paper) means very little to them (unlike in the US where one can litigate), are you really going to sue. So the answer is to use their pride which is considerable, to work for you. After hours of discussions of the root cause of the problem I was experiencing with the product, I finally got them to agree to rework the equipment manufacturing (resetting) the part by explaining to the production manager that "Truly in this big wide world there is someone who has the experience and expertise to set this machine accurately and effectively produce the parts to specification". After I waited for the translation I was smiling at Mr. Wa and he began to laugh out loud, he whispered something to his production set-up man and said that I would have parts to specification after lunch time. It seemed that I implied that he was the expert on this particular equipment and only he could fix our problem. We went to lunch and when I return the problem had been fixed.

One other thing, although very small important, The Chinese respect titles, if you a director or vice president of quality you will get farther in negotiations than QC supervisor or manager. Special cards for this trip may be in order.

And the last comment,
When handing out your business card to anyone (or credit card) hold it with both hands thumbs on top and pointing at the recipient. When they take a slight nod of the head show respect. The same when you receive their card from them.

Best of Luck
Dick Gent

[Sidney Vianna]

Originally Posted by Wes Bucey

Interesting take, Sidney. How exactly to you propose a customer follow through on this part of your statement? With so many certified suppliers in China, chances are, the supplier in question has an ISO 9001 certificate. Make that work for you.

It appears you are trying to add some bias about whether the supplier is ISO-registered or not. We have pretty much resolved the point here in the Cove that ISO registration does NOT confer any special status upon the quality of the goods or services provided by a supplier. It seems to me if a supplier is going to drag its feet about resolving a quality issue, that same supplier is not going to get too excited whether you go to the company that issued an ISO registration certificate to complain that it isn't following the ISO guidelines for customer service.

Wes, I don't have the patience to repeat myself ad nauseum. It is a matter of accountability. The suppliers must be accountable to their commitment to satisfy the customers and the CB's must be accountable to their certificates. Actually, it is very simple and I have already addressed this many, many times.

[daledun]

Originally Posted by dickgent

Hello,
I have been to China twice in the last two years for supplier problems. One important note is that a contract (piece of paper) means very little to them (unlike in the US where one can litigate), are you really going to sue. So the answer is to use their pride which is considerable, to work for you. After hours of discussions of the root cause of the problem I was experiencing with the product, I finally got them to agree to rework the equipment manufacturing (resetting) the part by explaining to the production manager that "Truly in this big wide world there is someone who has the experience and expertise to set this machine accurately and effectively produce the parts to specification". After I waited for the translation I was smiling at Mr. Wa and he began to laugh out loud, he whispered something to his production set-up man and said that I would have parts to specification after lunch time. It seemed that I implied that he was the expert on this particular equipment and only he could fix our problem. We went to lunch and when I return the problem had been fixed.

One other thing, although very small important, The Chinese respect titles, if you a director or vice president of quality you will get farther in negotiations than QC supervisor or manager. Special cards for this trip may be in order.

And the last comment,
When handing out your business card to anyone (or credit card) hold it with both hands thumbs on top and pointing at the recipient. When they take a slight nod of the head show respect. The same when you receive their card from them.

Best of Luck
Dick Gent

Very helpful, thanks.