Quality control in China

Quality control of the ordered goods in China is necessary when the buyer wants to make sure that he gets what he ordered. This cannot be solved remotely from Finland or even by travelling from Finland to China because travelling to China is very difficult at the moment. The solution is therefore a quality control performed by a reliable and professional entity within China.

The quality control, therefore, takes place at the supplier’s place, i.e. usually at the factory or warehouse. Quality control is performed when all or most of the products are ready. When the quality inspection has been completed, the buyer can accept the loading of the products into the container and delivery to Finland.

If the buyer does not accept the products based on the quality inspection report, then the defective products remain in China and do not end up in Finland, where solving the problems is expensive or impossible.

The purpose of quality inspection is not to reject as many defective products as possible, but specifically to prevent problems from ending up in Finland for the buyer.

PRD Group’s quality inspection services improve the quality of products and deliveries in the following ways, among others:

• Communication between supplier and buyer is smoother because PRD Group helps the parties understand each other better. A factory cannot produce good quality if they do not understand what exactly the buyer wants.
• The manufacturer of the products knows that the buyer has people in China who supervise them and the products. Saving on quality and covering up problems is therefore not worth it.
• Quality deviations are detected already at the supplier’s place when it is possible to correct the errors or leave the defective products out of the delivery or demand a price reduction.

It is not necessary to inspect all deliveries of goods, for example, if the value of the order is small. A company that rarely orders from China should always consider on a case-by-case basis whether a quality inspection is worthwhile. Companies that regularly purchase from China should make rules for their company, in which situations the inspection is carried out. Factors in favour of an inspection include:

• The value of the order is more than the euro amount specified by the buyer.
• The order is the first from that supplier.
• The product is complex.
• A faulty product is dangerous, e.g., due to the risk of electric shock or falling.
• The order is somehow particularly important, e.g., a critical part of the project for the end user.
• The order is time-critical, e.g., there would be no time to purchase new seasonal products if the quality of the ordered products is poor.
• During the quality inspection visit, other measures could be carried out, for example, to discuss future orders or product ideas.
• The customer has the feeling that “it would be great to visit that factory to see if everything is okay”

Quality control brings certainty to purchasing from China and saves money.