Innovation is a word we are hearing a lot more of in China these days. The consensus is that as manufacturing costs in China continue to rise and supply chain complexity increases, so companies have to innovate both to save money and to increase efficiency.

In this story we take a deeper look into what a few companies and individuals in China, both foreign and Chinese are doing to lead the way in service, supplier management, IT implementation, as well as cost and process efficiency. These companies and individuals were all winners of awards at the November 2007 CHaINA Summit.

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Sourcing from China has evolved from a straight-forward, cost-driven approach to more elaborate and strategic varieties. While the recent product recalls did not seem to have impacted Chinese exports based on overall figures, however we have come across anecdotal evidence suggesting the otherwise.

Undoubtedly the initial sourcing interest was triggered by China’s notorious low costs, both direct (such as those for labor and land or rent) and indirect …

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By Haitao Qi

Following the great global transfer of manufacturing started in seventies of last century, the global transfer of the service industry has taken the first place as a new tide. And offshore outsourcing, as the keystone of the new-round global integration, brought Chinese companies both opportunities and challenges.
 
2007 Top 50 Service Outsourcing Providers in China by Chinasourcing is the first company list in China that faces the whole service outsourcing industry aiming at present the best Chinese outsourcing companies to the global outsourcing market so as to strengthen their international competence and get more business opportunities in the offshore outsourcing market. Read the rest of “Top50 Service Outsourcing Providers in China Unveiled” or post a comment

In the aftermath of the recent recalls of tainted and toxic China-made products, more than a few have speculated that manufacturers who have outsourced production operations there are no doubt rethinking their sourcing strategies and quality control processes, and, if some of the, shall we say, ‘more aggressive’ pundits are to be believed, even rethinking their continued presence there altogether. However, according to the results of a proprietary survey just completed by the smart cube, the pundits appear to be very much mistaken.

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By Omer Abdullah

In the aftermath of the recent recalls of tainted and toxic China-made products, more than a few have speculated that manufacturers who have outsourced production operations there are no doubt rethinking their sourcing strategies and quality control processes, and, if some of the, shall we say, ‘more aggressive’ pundits are to be believed, even rethinking their continued presence there altogether. However, according to the results of a proprietary survey just completed by the smart cube, the pundits appear to be very much mistaken.

In fact, the majority of manufacturers surveyed are confident their supply chains are more than adequately secure to ensure the safety of their products. Indeed, nearly 80% of respondents (all of whom were manufacturers who currently manufactured their products in China) reported that they felt no need to review their supply chain activities in the wake of the well-publicized toy and toothpaste recalls. Further, these global manufacturers believe that the recent recall issues, while serious, are aberrations and not symptomatic of some more fundamental issue inherent within Chinese manufacturing. They appear to be on solid ground, as Mattel itself has apologized for initially putting the blame on its Chinese suppliers.
Read the rest of “Survey: Global Manufacturers Staying Put in China” or post a comment