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A good read is 'Poorly Made in China'. The product is different, but the problems are the same. * They drop changes and problems at the last minute, so you're
by westiseast 8y ago
A good read is 'Poorly Made in China'.
The product is different, but the problems are the same.
* They drop changes and problems at the last minute, so you're over a barrel with your customers.
* Relationships take months, maybe years to build. Switching suppliers is a long and costly exercise.
* Often suppliers themselves are in communication, so your attempt to build a new relationship is scuppered by your current (corrupted) supplier before you've got far.
* The new supplier will 100% play the same games.
* Suppliers/factories are often expert at these games - they're not idiots, their bread and butter is manipulating managers and big companies into corners and fleecing them along the way.
* Large suppliers often have strong local/regional government connections. Once you start causing serious problems, they'll have no trouble causing massive, massive problems for your business.
* Are you going to admit to your customers and bosses that your products were faulty and you knew?
It's a poisoned chalice. Companies want low cost manufacturing, and sometimes China is the only place a product can be manufactured competitively. But this kind of behavior is standard for Chinese companies.
- ticviking 8y ago> * Are you going to admit to your customers and bosses that your products were faulty and you knew? If you can't answer that with a yes, maybe you don't have the backbone to work in anything critical. When you discover a fault in something, particularly a fault that might hurt someone, you have a moral obligation to speak up. To do otherwise is cowardice. Failure to speak up when we see shit is how stuff like the VW emissions gate happen, and also why security professionals can make a career out of ferreting out your mistakes and engaging in responsible disclosure. All this tells me is that Made in the USA is more valuable than I once believed.
- vehementi 8y agoNot having the backbone to reveal it when you discover a fault is not what that comment was getting at
- westiseast 8y agoI think you’re right about the value of Made in America and societies where honesty (even about problems or risks) is valued. The book I referenced included a number of instances where factories actively undermined individuals so that they had very little choice than to either go along with the situation, or press the ‘nuclear’ button and scupper the entire arrangement, including their own livelihood and career. That’s a tough choice for people to make.