Issues related to product quality can also be traced to process problems. The way a company handles its loading and storage processes, in particular, can either make or mar its quality initiatives. Certain aspects of material handling undoubtedly relate to quality, such as preventing product damage. However, quality extends beyond that obvious example to all aspects of the business process. Simply put, a process is a sequence of activities of the accomplishment of a certain work. Quality can be thought of as the degree to which a particular process does what is expected to do (or not do).
It is expected of a material or product handling process to deliver (finally to the customer) the right item, packed based on requirements, undamaged, properly labeled and documented, and at the right time. This is important for customer satisfaction and prevention of loss. Failure to deliver as expected will have the customers dissatisfied. Also, it will often require some cost to make it right while also risking the loss of future business. Even detecting the problem before it gets to the customer still involve some costs for correction.
Some of the problems that may arise from loading and storage process include the following.

• A trailer might be loaded and ready to go; however, the bill of lading isn’t ready yet.
• A leaking roof above the loading area of the plantation, which can result in wet boxes and moldy products.
• Rodents habitating the storage area can lead to holes and tears in the boxes and unprotected broken products.
• The wrong product might be detected at an inventory location with no clue on the location of the right product.
• An “extra” load may be discovered on the dock after loading a trailer even when records have indicated that the product has already loaded.

These problems are process quality issues and are detrimental to business. Imagine the problems your business may likely face if any of these problems occurred. In the process of correcting them, your attention is diverted from your usual work. However, if the problem is ignored, it might create a bigger problem eventually. For instance, if an “extra” load is discovered and the trailer was shipped, the owner of the load might complain which will trigger extra shipping cost or payment delay as the order did not get completed. Ultimately, the consequences of process quality issues might range from financial impacts to an eventual lost business.
To prevent this, understand output requirements for the overall process and also each step in the process; be focused on the prevention of problems, and then ensure that each process step assures the correction and completion of output.
There are two ways to deal with these situations using the services of a third party inspections company. One of  them which Is the  least favorable, is to inspect the products' packing and loading process in the plant. Although it sounds like a good option, it only detects possible problems regarding a specific shipment, and sometimes it might be after a big batch of products have been packed in a bad manner.
The better option though, Is to preform a factory audit, before starting to work with a specific supplier. Checking it's packing, storing, and loading processes in advance will ensure you know the regular working methods of the plantation and that the supplier is not trying to tempt you to order more by doing a good job only in the first time you work together.
 
 
Would you take up this opportunity in prevention rather than correction?
www.coze.tech for factory audits and inspections

Online reviews remain one of those things a majority of potential customers observe before patronizing a vendor. Zendesk reveals that 88 per cent of customers has been influenced by online customer service review when making purchasing decisions. It, therefore, implies that the more good reviews you get, the more likely you gain more customers and the more bad reviews you have, the less likely you gain additional customers. Unfortunately, bad reviews could be given about your products or services. When such happens, it might make you feel like online reviewers are holding you hostage.
However, you can deal with them in such a manner that the impact they have on your practice’s reputation is minimized. The purpose of this article, therefore, is to acquaint you with what leads customers to post negative reviews, and how you can respond to or manage them.
What leads to bad reviews?
Often, getting a bad review is hugely unfair. After expending your effort and time in ensuring you provide good customer service, a customer with sour grapes may decide to undermine your expected high productivity by giving you a bad review just because they had a bad day. The unfair remark might tempt you to lash out in return. Unfortunately, following such an intuition may pose a serious threat to your practice.
However, some buyers may get defected products. This will leave them with no better choice than to leave bad reviews. In this case, the reviews are justified.
The great news is that only a few customers say they post bad reviews out of vengeance. Though it may seem that way, a majority of customers complain online because of the bad experience they had  with your product and their wish for you to hear them out and respond to them. Therefore, it is important to give them responses as their reviews help to inform or warn other customers as regards the quality of your practice.
How do you deal with bad reviews?
When you get a bad review, never be defensive; rather, be courteous and professional in your response. Even if the customer remains hellbent in their claimed information which may be false, make an apology; include a positive statement to negate the negative statements they made; finally, thank the customers for their feedback and ask if you could speak with them further offline.
When the customer agrees to this, take the issue offline. Instead of responding to an adverse review in a public forum, a private email chat will be better. This will prevent further damage to your practice.
Send out an online survey to every customer that patronizes you. It is a great way to determine those who had a bad experience, as well as receive feedback on ways of improving the overall experience for all clients.
If the bad review was left due to a defective product, apologize and offer the customer a refund, or a new, free product. You may also offer a more expensive one to make the customer satisfied and show you care.
Try out online review websites such as Social Mention or Review Trackers to give yourself an online presence. Don't be alarmed if you have 2-3 bad reviews. Statistics show that customers think most the positive reviews a vendor gets are fake if they don't have at least one or two bad ones.
Take proactive measures of gathering enough good reviews to overwhelm possible bad reviews. You can put a call to clients after service delivery. It can help to shelve unattractive reviews.
Also ,Taking some bad reviews on their merits might be important; you can learn about the area of your practice that could benefit from such need for improvement, for example improving your QA process.
 

Before importing your goods and to prevent likely problems in the clearance of your merchandise, it is recommended that you familiarize yourself with the Customs and Border Protection of the United States. When your products arrive from their foreign destination, you have to shepherd them through customs, as an importer. This is usually be done through a customs broker. This is because you can’t take your merchandise through customs unless you possess an import license (which requires taking a government-administered test). Therefore, you are required to get acquainted with some tips, which will be provided here.
​
Know the customs rules
Each country has distinct customs regulations. It is required for you to get yourself familiar with these rules before engaging in any import process. With this knowledge, you will know what items you can import. The United Kingdom, the United States, and European governments provide customs information on their websites.
Entry process
Upon the arrival of a shipment to the United States, the importer (or customs broker) files entry documents for such products or goods with the port of entry’s director. The CBP then authorizes delivery of the merchandize, after the payment of estimated duties.
Examination
The shipment could either be examined or its examination waived. Shipment may get conditional release authorizations upon its departure from the origin country and up to just five days before its landing in the United States, for instance. The shipment is released when no legal or regulations violations are detected.
Entry for warehouse
If an importer wishes to delay the release of their shipment, they may have the cargo placed in a CBP-bonded warehouse for up to five years from the date of importation. During those years, the goods could be exported overseas without any need for duty payment.
Compliance testing
Certain items are always examined to ensure their conformity with legal safety standards. For instance, some foods and beverages may not pass the examination as a result of the standards in place by the Food and Drug Administration. The rapid increase in portable devices, for instance, has made quality inspectors to carry out some tests such as substance, EMC, or electrical safety. For instance, substance regulations, like REACH in the European Union restricts certain substances in some consumer goods. Such substances include cadmium, phthalates, lead, and formaldehyde, thus, making compliance testing mandatory. An importer, therefore, may select the extent to which its products shall be tested. The cost charged by testing companies depends on the number of substances and the number of variations (such as coating, colors, and component) of the materials.
Going through customs is often an unavoidable process while importing products; therefore, these are the few tips that will save you the time you would have spent with the customs officer. Overall, ensure you employ the service of reputable and experienced customs brokers, and test your products at a certified, respectable laboratory.
Importing and distributing non-compliant goods often result in a forced recall, major fines, or even litigation.
So just make sure you know all there is to know about customs and regulations.
Good luck!

Alibaba Group has evolved over the years into a global scale leading company in the online and e-commerce sector.
Today, Alibaba conducts world-class wholesale and retail online trade marketplace.
Placing an order on Alibaba is quite difficult. This is because of the bad services provided by some suppliers. Due to the problems encountered, it is very essential to identify the right suppliers.

Problem Faced While Looking for Good Supplier

Good Samples, bad product
In a lot of the cases, the supplier sends excellent samples of the product , in order to convince the buyer to seal the deal . But- after the buyer places the order, and gets the shipment, he realizes the quality of the final products is very poor. This way the buyer can suffer from bad product reviews while his business goes down the drain.
 
Counterfeit
In a wide variety of orders, the products supplied are not a genuine model of what you order. According to the official Xinhua news agency More than 40% of goods sold online in China during 2014 were either counterfeit or of bad quality.
 
Money for nothing
In this particular case, you send your money to the supplier before you get the final product, And you never hear from them again. This means you receive NOTHING in return for your money. of course the financial damage could be immense, depending on the quantity and the kind of product.

Extra payment
Few days after paying for your order, your supplier contacts you and ask for extra payment to cover customs fees. If you refuse to pay, they say your goods can’t be exported out of China.

What can you do to prevent this?

Finding a good suppliers can be a little rough and give you real headache if you don’t know what you’re doing. There are several things you need to pay attention to when identifying a supplier on Alibaba.

Look for Gold suppliers
Gold suppliers are those suppliers that pay some fees to Alibaba. When you search for some product on Alibaba, you tend to see products from gold suppliers first. Alibaba also does some verification of these suppliers to check their legitimacy.

Make sure details are Verified
On the homepage of the supplier, make sure the supplier’s location, business type and year of establishment are verified by Alibaba. The more verified the information of a supplier means the more you can rely on the supplier.

Check the response rate
The response rate of suppliers is very important. It must always be above 70%. If suppliers are less responsive, then their businesses are not their priority which means they are not serious about it. You should be careful in dealing with these suppliers.

Factory audit
A factory audit is a test that verifies the information given by the factory. When you go to the factory and see the work protocol, get real contacts information, and see that this is a big and serious factory, you can be sure you should work with this supplier.

Now , that you're familiar with the process, roll your sleeves up , and go look for the right supplier!
​Good luck!
​​

The development of globalization has made offshoring a predominant factor in many large companies such that it is an irreversible trend. Offshoring can increase a company's domestic employment while also improving the quality of its worker's skills. Offshoring manufacturing activities in China, for instance, comes with the benefit of low cost of labor and manufacturing. In other words, companies can save money on materials and labor by manufacturing overseas. Even with the lower cost of production, the quality of the product produced through this approach is often better than domestically-obtained one. This has contributed to the annual increase in manufacturing wages in a country like China.
Regarding international business, most companies consider the use of a third party to meet a part of their manufacturing needs. A company who plans to source materials overseas should be aware of the possible challenges that may arise during the process.
The first challenge is the location of choice. Some clients end up signing contracts with some manufacturers in offshore locations without appropriate understanding the risks that are associated with each location: skill availability, geopolitical issues, local labor competition, wage inflation, legal and intellectual property-related issues, attrition or currency fluctuation.
Also, it is possible to end up in the hands of the wrong supplier. For an adequate understanding of a manufacturers capabilities and differentiation, it is essential to evaluate their performance continually over a sustained period and establish an excellent working relationship with them.
Controlling cost overruns may pose a serious challenge. Many companies fail to control cost overruns as a result of their inability to realize anticipated cost benefits. Perceived or anticipated cost overruns is essential as most business cases are not built by a complete assessment of direct and indirect elements contribute to costs but simply by the wage cost arbitrage.
Data security is an essential factor for offshoring. It entails giving access to some classified customer data and information to offshore suppliers or manufacturers, and any fissure in data security could heavily impact both your business and customers.
Another barrier to a successful outsourcing experience is the language and cultural differences. For instance, there may be some language barriers between the country where outsourcing projects are sent and the country outsourcing. These disparities tend to impact on the ability of some offshore teams in fully understanding the nuances of a project and its effective execution.
Though the benefits of offshoring are numerous, they can be overwhelmed by the daunting challenges if not managed appropriately. However, they can be overcome through proper planning and due diligence. You only require to work with a team of professionals who are versed with offshoring. They will help you address each of the challenges one after the other - you will get a good location, the right supplier, effective control of cost overruns, data safety, elimination of language and cultural disparities, among others.

Poor Quality Products from Chinese Factories
How will you feel if you order, for instance, a hand-blown Christmas tree ornament and get the whole container delivered, but only to discover that the small ring needed to get the ornament hanged from a tree is missing? As a retailer, this may ruin your business and make customers give you bad reviews if such a problem persists.
The fact that China is an advanced country does not rule out the possibility of their factories – particularly small scale companies – delivering products of low quality or standard. While your direct supplier may wish to get things right, the factory may just refuse to comply with the wish, probably because they don’t know you or they just have no reasonable reason to trust in long-term business.
China OEM factories agreement is based on five key issues: price, quantity, quality, date of delivery, and payment terms. Many of them only show concern for the price of products at the expense of the other four issues highlighted. When you do not clarify or emphasise the importance of the five fundamental manufacturing issues to the Chinese factory, you may end up getting products of poor quality. This, when not detected early, may result in customer complaints, loss of sales, and incurring of additional expenses. Early detection of quality problem before shipment is much better than an after-delivery detection.
Therefore, tackling this problem requires you to state clear quality requirements into the contract, with clear penalties upon the failure to meet such quality benchmarks. Usually, a factory has to support any of its claims by written documents.
Also, at the preorder stage, select a supplier that approves the factory of production to ensure delivery of the right quality of product at the right time. This is otherwise known as factory audit. Usually, it is done upon the screening down of potential suppliers to a few serious ones. The auditor typically verifies incoming materials, products that are in process, and finished goods. With this, the quality system of the factory, as well as their reliability, is assessed.
However, caution has to be taken at this stage. This is because factory audits seem to follow a scientific approach and as such, favor larger manufacturers. These manufacturers tend to pay little or no attention to small orders. To be on a safer side, ensure the pre-qualification phase of audits is oriented in the direction of suppliers of a suitable size. With the observation of the highlighted tips, your product's quality assurance is certain.
Summarily, though some Chinese factories constitute the black sheep, other factories produce products of high quality. Good or bad quality products can emanate from any country. Therefore, it’s up to the brand which will take up the credit or blame for good or bad quality products to exercise due diligence in ensuring that its products are not only of good quality but also up to the standards. Thus, when you order any products from Chinese factories, remember to pay attention to quality.