Leading electronics manufacturers estimate that more than 50 percent of all the goods produced in their sector will come from China in just 15 short years. But even now the Far East already is a power factor of some significance in world trade. As a market, but particularly as a manufacturer. That offers opportunities. But there are also challenges that will mainly have to be dealt with on short term. 

The Chinese production economy is a whirlwind. It’s growing, it’s booming, and competition is stiff. And it’s only natural that these turbulent conditions sometimes put pressure on the quality of the goods that are being produced.   In addition to excellent products, unfortunately there are series of products on the market with sharply deviating quality. The production is carried out by entrepreneurs and workers that – relatively speaking – have only just become familiar with the free market. Training and experience still lag behind the international level. Not as far as the level is concerned, but more in the quantitative sense. Although China has excellent management training and technical schools, there is insufficient capacity to fully cover the tremendous need for new management. It goes without saying that people are working hard at solving this problem. But until such time, producing and purchasing in China is a matter of balanced quality management and output control.

And this means you really have to know what’s what. You need knowledge of the local conditions and production factors, preferably with on-site facilities like laboratories and with testing engineers. This is where an independent, knowledgeable facilitator can help. KEMA sees a clear role reserved here for the certifier. “A certifier can build a bridge between geographical and cultural extremes.” That's why KEMA, together with its partners, is making substantial investments in its offices and branch offices in the Far East. 

Something that KEMA is now doing more often for its Western customers are Supplier Audits. DuPro (During Production) Inspections. Simply taking a look in the factory while production is going on and then randomly selecting products from the production process and the warehouse and assessing them. This gives customers in Europe the assurance that what they’ve ordered is also really what’s being manufactured. And the Chinese manufacturer has the assurance that what he’s making will result in satisfied customers. After all, it’s a disaster for both parties if a shipment is refused and sent back for reasons of quality. 

KEMA: “In this context, we look at the international standard; however, we also include the customer-specific criteria in the assessment.” 

In the unlikely event that problems still arise afterwards on Europe’s external borders, then the fact that KEMA assessed the shipment is often sufficient to let the container through. 

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