Customer Reviews

Poorly Made in China: An Insider's Account of the Tactics Behind China's Production Game

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3 star:		(6)
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1 star:		(4)

 

 

Doing business in China and visiting factories there, I have witnessed many of the tactics that the author describes. While reading this book, I thought to myself over and over - "How True!".

My business experience in China is limited to one type of industry that has nothing to do with any of the industries listed in this book. Finding out that the Chinese employ the same tactics in completely different manufacturing settings was a wake up call for me. I believe the manufacturing arena in China is a type of "business culture" that is not fully understood in the West.

My experience has been dealing with small factories. We were not ordering hundreds or thousands of containers. These larger operations may be different (but I doubt it).

After reading this book I started thinking about how I once bought an item that was made fairly well. I bought the same item a year or so later and noticed a few things seemed to be made of less quality. Then another purchase a year or so later showed the item was barely worth owning. The quality had degraded in such a way that I decided to never buy again. This book explains how this happens when dealing with manufactures in China.

I recommend this book to anyone involved with doing business in China or someone who just wants to be educated on the subject.

I really enjoyed this book. I control the quality of shipments in China myself, so I recognized many situations that I previously encountered. The book is peppered with excellent insights about Chinese culture. It is also often funny, and it is very easy to read.
I would specifically recommend this book to people who are curious about the manufacturing environment in China. They will discover a whole new world.
The only downside is that the book only describes situations where importers are unprepared and fall in the traps of unscrupulous Chinese suppliers. It is not perfectly representative, but it does a great job explaining why so many quality issues originate from China.

Midler weaves his thoughtful and timely commentary in a provocative and thoroughly enjoyable format, using personal anecdotes and experiences to support significant conclusions regarding American business with China. As China rushes to expand trade, it is repeating many of the same mistakes made by U.S. manufacturers in our economic development. Midler's tales of aggressive cost reduction methods recalled the 'Muntz TV,' fabled in engineering circles for its approach to cost margin improvement: parts would simply be deleted until the TV barely functioned. The quality problem is less cultural than a reflection of intense cost competition. It demonstrates the need for China to develop consumer protection laws, OSHA-like rules, and stringent quality control if it intends to expand export trade with developed nations. Equally important, it demonstrates that American consumers need to insist that adequate standards and regulations be imposed on imported goods, from China and other `low-cost' sources.

I was simply expecting a book full of anecdotal, at worse western-centric, accounts by an expat working in China. However, Midler's book brings the sort of acute cultural insight and economic analysis that strike the right balance between affection and cynicism towards China and its people. As a Chinese who has studied in Taipei, Singapore, and Los Angeles, and has worked in Hong Kong, Beijing, and San Francisco, I am very impressed by how Midler is able to view his experiences in China with an empathetic eye, an ability that requires a deep understanding of the country's historic and cultural context. I am proud of my culture and roots, but I'm very aware of China's need to change for the better on many different levels. I recommend this book to anyone who's interested in China, yet confused by the often extremist views presented in propaganda-filled Chinese news and the fear-mongering Western media.

I have done business in China since 1986. I know from experience how tricky and dangerous it is, especially for the newcomer. Curiously Mr. Midler refers to suppliers in Shantou (Canton Province) and I too have many suppliers there. Apparently this behavior amongst the Chinese is across the board no matter what product you work with. And they don't care no matter what threats or promises you make. I actually had one supplier who told me he would no longer sell to me because "you complain too much"! No loss to me, easily replaced you can be sure. Communists or not, the almighty greenback is king in China but as Mr. Midler makes very clear, it is not going to get you what you think you contracted for. Something close, maybe, but not right on target. The Chinese screwed up so many of my shipments that I got the distinct impression that the translaters were interpreting my directions, not translating them. So I spent years learning to speak Mandarin. I am totally fluent now, have often been mistaken for being Chinese on the telephone by those who had not yet met me. No matter, I told them straight out what I wanted in their own language and STILL they basically did it wrong to shave off a few bucks to their advantage. I could never understand that way of thinking, in America we keep the customers happy to perpetuate our business with them, we do not consistently antagonize them. This book will open your eyes if you want to do business in China and if you are already there you cannot help but agree with everything he says. Pay close attention, he knows what he is talking about. They will go behind your back and try to deal directly with your customer, they will yes you to death and then do whatever they please without any regard for you or your customer. I can offer dozens of examples but the one that most illustrates this is the supplier who sent the advance samples for approval, they were perfect. He then went and made the million piece order to his own liking. It was a Halloween item to be made in Orange and Black, the 1000 piece advance samples were right on the money. When the order came in, it was made in Red and Blue. They told us the factory boss thought Orange and Black was a terrible color combination so he made what he thought was pretty. Hence we had a million red and blue product with ghosts and goblins and all printed on them, in red and blue and the words "Happy Halloween". THAT is when we transferred half our entire production of all products to India. We still do some business in China but had I read this book twenty years ago I never would have gotten involved in China at all!
I highly recommend this book, it is all true and frightening so use it well and be aware. Be very aware.

No politics, theory, or posing in this engaging, page-turner that both explodes myths and confirms your worst suspicions about Chinese business culture. Having written a book about China's political past ("The Man on Mao's Right"), I had a chance to experience one level of Chinese culture, inside the halls of power. Paul Midler's Alice-in-Wonderland journey through China's industrial miracle is a funny, shocking, and revealing page-turner that explains modern China and the ancient Chinese in intimate and nonjudgmental anecdotes that go a long way toward explaining the story behind the headlines about shoddy products and rapacious business tactics. Those who worry that China is going to "take over" the world will find some solace here and those who underestimate the Chinese will be surprised at their sophisticated grasp of human nature and their relentlessness.

I've been to China twice and I love Chinese cars for their quirkiness.

Paul's book gave me a clear explanation on why Chinese industrialists behave the way they do. There are a lot of amusing, eye-opening and just plain frightening stories included.

Once you read the book, you will have to ask a very tough question yourself: are you willing to participate in the dangerous game, where in the name of cost cutting your health will be in the hands of Chinese enterpreneurs? And more importantly, can you avoid this fate at all?

And best of all, you can quote some of the funniest stories as anecdotes in pub banters :)

This book can be funny and frightening all in the same sentence. You must give this book to anyone who appears to view manufacturing in China (or any off-shoring, or even out-sourcing in general) through rose-tinted glasses. It should be compulsory reading for MBA schools. There is a hidden reality, and complexity, out there and Midler expresses it in a readily accessible and delightful way.

"Poorly Made in China" is made in America (I just had to check) and provides good background information at a number of levels. For example, one learns that 5-star hotel rooms in some cities are available for $50, even less if you are an importer. Also, that petty theft vs. Americans is less a problem than Vietnam, and that kidnapping Americans, a problem in Mexico and South America, is non-existent in China.

It was also interesting to learn that minor disputes are settled on the spot, w/o police or insurance adjusters present.

China has recently come under fire for a number of quality problems. Instances include allegations of talcum powder sprinkled with asbestos, diluted jet fuel, tire failures, heparin, fumes from wallboard, lead paint on children's toys, poisonous chemicals in toothpaste, carcinogens in blankets, etc. As expected, Midler also provides first-hand evidence of Chinese quality shortcomings. His experience was finding cost-shaving at every opportunity - eg. especially steady reduction in packaging (or product) material thickness (until failure). Worse yet, the manufacturer also changed product ingredients without notice, causing unattractive results.

Cultural habits impair quality in some instances. Examples offered by Midler include fingers inserted into supposedly sterile lotion bottles, spitting on the floors, skin infections amongst those producing a supposedly sterile product, etc.

Another frequent problem is warehouses displayed as evidence of manufacturing capability, when the goods may be from another manufacturer (or even imported from the U.S.), stockpiled to gain credibility to begin production.

Midler also tells us that prices quoted vary according to intended market and buyer order size, though this undoubtedly occurs in the U.S. as well.

Midler's requests to improve (or sometimes even just maintain) quality was opposed in every instance - even correcting a problem with bottles incompletely filled was a significant undertaking. Contracting with Chinese manufacturers puts the importer at risk for counterfeiting, and eventually trying to go around and eliminate the importer.

One of the reasons lead paint was favored is that it dries faster. Mattel's supplier had a 15-year relationship with the company, and the supplier's owner was a billionaire - thus, poverty was not the problem.

On the other hand, Midler also points out that Chinese manufacturers are willing to produce at zero profit - instead achieving favored status among local officials for boosting employment, the opportunity to build new facilities on land that will hopefully appreciate, and ultimately achieve other customers at a profit (eg. cutting out the importer). Joint venturers with the Chinese are likely to be overcharged for new equipment and buildings, and find themselves more vulnerable to price increases. Leaders within local production centers are often related or at least know each other, and their collusion can make it difficult to find alternative sources.

Overall, an interesting read full of valuable information, especially to those thinking of doing business in China.

If you are involved in the global economy in any way, and of course we all are, then you need to read this book.

The author has great sympathy and affection for the South China area in which he lives but appears to feel motivated to "tell it like it is".

The result is a book which is scary, humorous, unsettling, and warmly humane, all at the same time.

I received it today and have read it almost at a single sittting.

Un-put-down-able.

Buy it now.