Tweet

Low-Price Buyers Drive Poor Chinese Product Quality

Guest post by: Chris Wingo

Article Overview: Overall, Chinese manufacturers have come a long way in moving up the product quality ladder. While some produce at world-class levels other continue to produce substandard products. On major factor in poor Chinese product quality is the western buyer's push for lower and lower prices.

Low-Price Buyers Drive Poor Chinese Product Quality

A Personal Theory on Chinese Product Quality

It's time I write down some thoughts on Chinese product quality; it's something I have said many times but it has never made it to paper (guess this blog doesn't count as paper either). Generally, speaking the quality of a large and growing number of products produced in China have achieved international quality standards. This is especially true of products produced by multinational companies operating in China and many upper-tier Chinese companies. And, Chinese product quality will only get better. If you look though, you can still find "substandard" in many things produced in China. I spot quality deficiencies all the time and everywhere here in China.

A mechanical engineer in my former life, my sensitivity to good design and manufacture is higher than the average bloke's. So I am not talking without good foundation. As I see it, several factors working together have contribute to poor quality Chinese products. I take a look at some of those factors in this post.

Western Buyers' Low Price Demands (Shame on 'Walmart')

Even before my first trip to China in 1997, I began to notice the increasing number of Chinese made products being sold in the US many of which were of very poor quality. I remember once looking at dumb bell weights in a now defunct US chain store called FEDCO. The weights were cast iron and very inexpensive. Eager to learn more, I picked one up only to have the "bell" in "dumb bell” fall off ... the dumb bell literally broke apart in my hands, and so did the other two or three I examined. Thank God I wasn't on the bench press when that happened.

Now I am sure that to the FEDCO buyer purchasing the dumb bells, it seemed like an easy choice ... “I mean, how can they possibly screw up a dumb bell? And the price, my gosh, this is a no brainer.” On the surface, a dumb bell from China looks like any other dumb bell. But to an engineer from the "world’s best dumb bell manufacturer" (whoever that might be), a good dumb bell and a poor one are worlds apart in design and manufacture. The good dumb bell is designed for durability and safety and may have taken years of trial and error to develop.

Making a good dumb bell requires a certain structural design, correct and consistent material, and a stable contamination free casting process. These are the very things lacking in a second-rate Chinese dumb bell plant and the reason the selling price is so low. It's simple math: if you remove high cost items from the manufacturing process, you can sell at a lower price. Unfortunately, the American buyer was so excited about reducing the cost to purchase he or she forgot about functionality. In that same FEDCO I found third rate pipe wrenches, hammers, and other simple tools, all made in China and undoubtedly all purchased by FEDCO at a very low price.

More Evidence

Consider how many times we buy things now at Home Depot only to have them break or wear out long before they should. It didn’t use to be this way. How many screw heads have you had snap that shouldn’t have? How many bathroom fixtures have you purchased recently that corroded in a matter of months whereas the same products of the past could go for 10 to 20 years without incidence. How many cheap electronic gadgets have you bought only to find they don’t really work well enough to use. For all these inconveniences, you can thank the ruthless price driven western buyers.

Western buyers send their samples to China then pound the Chinese manufactures to produce the same at insanely low prices. Of course, no Chinese Boss is going to let an order slip by so they find a way to meet the demands of the buyer. They cut corners, even more corners than they normally do. The product is manufactured, ships say to the US and is sold to some poor bloke (yes, "bloke" is common in England) like you or me who couldn’t resist the low price. The product breaks after which most of us write it off as “not costing much anyway”.

Brainstorm of Substandard Practices Leading to Poor Quality

Here is a quick list of factors that can lead to poor quality. I am sure you can think of others too.

• Switch to a cheaper material that looks the same but is not fit for use
• Too thin coatings such as galvanic and chrome that do not protect underlying metal
• Assemblies that neglect corrosion resistance putting dissimilar metals in contact
• Cheaper paint products and/or poor application
• Poor surface preparation and other types of contamination
• Copied designs that miss the finer points of engineering like including a proper radius on internal corners to minimize stress concentrations
• Loose tolerances that lead to poor fit, balance problems, etc.
• Hmmmm .... we could go on all day, but I think you get the point

(Image deleted ... visit China Street Dog blog)

Pic 1: On the surface it looks like any other jungle gym.

(Image deleted ... visit China Street Dog blog)

Pic 2: Actually, this Chinese produced copy has many design weaknesses. With only a few years run time, it's international counterparts would show virtually no signs of decay. This particular unit has visible signs of corrosion (dissimilar metals and poor quality paint), loose clamps and discolored oxidized plastic parts after only 4 years.

Summary

Western buyers have fueled the trend toward low price low quality products. Western consumers, especially Americans, have played their part by continuing to buy substandard products and not complaining enough when things don’t work out so well (we all seem to have adopted a throw-away mentality). To the Chinese, well, they are just taking orders and you can't really blame them. It's kind of like the theory about illegal drug manufacture and distribution - I basically agree that if we were able to kill demand, the market, manufacturers and many of Mexico's problems would all go away.

In summary, know that many Chinese products have moved up the quality ladder and are now world class. The Chinese are ambitious and learn fast; Chinese quality will continue to improve and even surpass that of many western rivals. The Chinese still have a ways to go and in the meantime those “overly-ambitious” Chinese manufacturers will continue to produce products that are only “cha bu duo” (“more or less the same” - really less) largely to meet our demands.

Related Articles
  What Do Men in China Do?
  Know Your Product's Value before Attempting Export Sales to China
  Standard Oil In China - Freebie Marketing Case Study
  IV. C. Private Contractors and Builders: THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR
  Doesn\'t add up: US export price versus Chinese end-user price
  Internet Home Based Business - The Trust Factor and Credibility in the Market
  IV. B. Private Investors: THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR
  The "C-H-I-N-A" formula for selling services or products to China
  II.E. Contract Labor and Other Services: TRADE AND CAPITAL FLOWS BETWEEN CHINA AND AFRICA
  The Buyer Engagement Experience
  How to Advertise your Business for Sale
  SME's - WIll China be the next colonial power in Africa
  II.D. Foreign Direct Investment: TRADE AND CAPITAL FLOWS BETWEEN CHINA AND AFRICA
  Keep Your Online Business Blog Updated by Using PLR Articles
  Finding Qualified Buyers for your Business
  Customer Loyalty and Chinese Food
  Freebie Marketing Case Study - Standard Oil In China
  Facing the Facts about Face in China
  III. A. China’s African Policy and New Commitments for 2007–09: THE ROLE OF CHINA’S PUBLIC SECTOR
  V. B. African Demand for Infrastructure: AID VS. COMMERCE: FACTORS INFLUENCING THE GROWING TIES

Article Tags: China, Chinese, Chinese product quality, low priced products, product quality, reasons for poor quality, substandard quality



Related Forum Posts
O;lympics ... may...be good for me - Since I've got a sports webzine I think I'll start doing some articles about this (I haven't up til now, being concerned with maximizing the NCAA tournament first), and see if that builds up my readership. On a personal note, I say let the Olympics go ahead, let people around the world see how the Chinese live, let the Chinese people see how everyone else in the world lives, and the government of China will be forced by that - rather than this unfortunate Tibet protests - to mend their ways. Not that I'm trying to minimize what is happening and has happened to Tibet... it's interesting that only now do a lot of people care... or is it that only now are a lot of people being covered by the media?
Re: 2012 is a leap year! - I have a niece who will be 20 this year (or only 5). Poor girl - she is getting birthday gifts only every 4 years...
Exporting from China - Hi napoleon, How did your search for the Chinese manufacturer go?
Small Business Books - I haven't read them but will check them out the next time I go to the store. I've heard a lot of good things about Rich Dad Poor Dad.
Re: Are You Complying with the FTC? - A lot online marketers will run to Cyprus and other Islands to do their businesses. FTC rule or no rule the Internet is a global thing and still a wild wild west. Buyers should be careful and do due diligent before buying anything online


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

The Basics Of A Home Based Internet Business

Starting a Business a Brave Move or a NoBrainer

Common Sense Stress Management

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.