That’s NOT what I ordered!!! (Part 2 – The “Chinaman Always Wins Game”)
So, you’ve made it past the first sample stage and you liked what you saw. You are moving forward with your project. As we said in our last blog, one way to prevent future disappointment is to request (and approve) samples, samples, samples. Here is a basic flow for how the sample process can work.
Acceptance samples
This is the sample (hopefully SET of samples) that you agreed to with the factory so that the project could officially move off the drawing board and into the pre-production phase. Some people feel that these samples are not important after the pre-production samples have been received. We feel that they are important throughout the process; if for nothing else, as a reference tool.
Pre-production samples
The reason why these are called “pre-production samples” is because they are samples that need to be received, reviewed and officially accepted after the “acceptance” samples have been approved, but before formal and full production can begin. Some people (and factories) confuse these with the “acceptance” samples. Remember what we said in our last blog on this topic about factories that don’t produce their own samples (I think I can…I think I can…)? Your pre-production samples need to be formally accepted, signed off on and filed for future reference. In addition, pre-production samples are often used for destructive testing purposes by an independent testing lab. A basic word of caution here for those who may not be reading between the lines. If you are not personally pulling the pre-production samples yourself, then you need to have a trusted third party pulling them for you. This requires being on–site and taking the time to do it right. Do not rely on the factory to give you a good, random sample or you may not be getting what you thought you ordered.
Production samples
Production is in process – congratulations on making it this far! The factory is cranking out goods at a nice pace. But the sampling process isn’t over. You need to also have actual production samples of your products. These need to be from a random sampling of the actual production run, and must be taken from both the production floor and the shipping warehouse. These samples (again) can be used for third-party testing prior to the goods actually leaving the factory, and are also kept on file for future reference. The order cannot be shipped until you or your authorized third party review, verify and sign-off on these samples. Again, please remember – YOU ARE THE BUYER. YOU are responsible for assigning a responsible third party to pull pre-production samples, review the actual production and pull production samples for you. If not, plan to do this yourself personally. Do not rely on the factory to do your job for you, because very likely they won’t and you won’t like the results.
The “Chinaman always wins” game
If you follow our blog, by now you are probably thinking that we are “sample crazy”. Or worse, you probably think that even if you follow our three-step process above, you probably don’t need to pull the pre- and production samples after the first time you run the product, right? The factory knows what you want now, they’ve shipped it once (or multiple times) already and the customers you’ve sold the product to are even happy with it. Now you can relax on the sampling and testing process a little. GAME OVER – the Chinaman wins. Sometimes even with the best factory relationships, the Chinese are looking for a way to cut corners and increase their profits. We call this the “Chinaman Always Wins Game” because if you push too hard on price, or delivery dates or some other point that the factory can’t easily meet - you effectively lose. You may get what you want this time, but we guarantee that the factory will make it up somewhere else. Even with all things being equal, factories (and their suppliers) have a tendency to “relax” the standards a little as time moves on so that they can either please you by meeting all your requests, or so that they can gradually increase their bottom line. Maybe a white card stock for packaging suddenly becomes a light gray card stock. Subtle, but a cost savings to the factory. Maybe a 300 pound burst-test master carton suddenly slips down to a 200 pound test. Ok, this could be a little more costly – to you. Maybe the Rockwell hardness of that steel that they are using isn’t quite as hard as it was supposed to be based upon your original specs. Ouch!!! That could cost you a lot! In the factory’s mind, this is a game. If they can slowly introduce these things without you noticing, they win. If they can shave a penny here and a penny there, sooner or later they are making another dime. Maybe it’s not even the factory owner – it may be the guy on the receiving dock taking a payoff to accept less-than-spec raw materials. After all, you aren't really requesting samples any more and no one has complained, so….THE CHINAMAN WINS. Don’t get complacent. If you do, you may actually get something other than what you thought you ordered. Maybe it’s just a profit loss. But maybe one time, it costs you a whole lot more.
To be continued…
