For the inaugural article here at the Dismal Scientist I thought some of the latest on the situation with China would be useful. After going through too many news stories this morning regarding the latest recall on products manufactured in China, it seems an appropriate topic.
Today’s China Recall
A person would have to be completely unplugged from all forms of media to not have heard the latest recall. This time Mattel is recalling a large block of toys manufactured in China. The issue, lead paint, parts that could be ingested by children, etc. 9 million toys in total this time, and that’s following another recall earlier this month.
The bottom line with this recall, the latest in a series of blunders out of China, is the fact that safety standards in the US are simply much higher. The serious question is whether or not it’s currently safe to do business with China.
Different points of view
This piece isn’t designed to bash China, so if you’re thinking that, step away from the thought now. Instead, we need to come to understand that there are different points of view regarding safety and hygiene issues between different countries.
Currently China is experiencing and economic expansion and boom that will last for some time to come. The populace is now able to have access to more products and services than ever before. And their economy is still building to provide products and services globally.
And there’s a key. The Chinese economy is just growing into it’s expanding global role. The manufacturing boom that is likely to come in time is only in it’s infancy today. The standards and practices that our manufacturing sector has built is not yet in place in China, even with foreign assistance.
Put another way……
Let’s go back 100 years. The industrial revolution in the US was rolling into full swing. And what did our expansion into a global player look like? How about child labor, unfair wages, hazardous working conditions, and the need for unions to protect workers? Does that sound about right as we worked into our economic growth? The answer of course is yes, very accurate.
Now, take a look at China. There are issues with child labor, poor production standards, lack of attention to safety requirements, etc. Currently they’re in the process that we in the US undertook more than a century ago. We’re bound to see more issues in the coming years, not less.
What we’ve seen so far
Over the course of the past year our nation has been shocked by some serious lapses in the quality of products from China. Deadly pet food, tainted cough syrup hitting the shelves of other nations, issues with tainted tooth paste, and more. Not only defective products, but in some cases deadly products.
The trend will continue for quite some time. There’s no two ways about it. China is still in the throws of rapid expansion, and in such a situation attention to detail is usually bottom of the list. So the question then comes back to us, the consumers of their products. Are the low prices really worth the risk? In most cases, no, but I doubt we’ll walk away from cheap products so easily.
Think it’s not all that bad?
To illustrate the issue another way we’ll get into the story of a good friend of mine. They work in quality assurance with a medical device manufacturer. One of the regions they cover is China, as they have a factory there.
Only months ago my friend’s company had a recall due to a safety issue with one of their devices. It wasn’t an issue with a product manufactured in China, but instead another region. Still, the company felt the pain of a recall and it should have hit home for all divisions within the organization. But it didn’t hit home with their Chinese division.
The facility in China had been closed for months. An issue with the sterility of the product arose, and my friend in QA could not approve of the product from the China plant. Multiple trips were made by members of QA (and other divisions), and the plant personnel were instructed on proper technique and sterility measures. With each trip the problems were identified and addressed.
And as soon as the US team left the plant in China, the standard practices that caused the issues were resumed. The situation went so far that one division of the company installed IP Net Cameras to watch manufacturing, and could observe the issues. Even with that type of evidence, the plant remains off line months later because they just can’t get the sterility under control. Oh, and one member of the plant management went so far as to say that standards were set too high. The response. Take it up with the FDA.
Keep watching
Going forward I’ll keep watch on the latest news from one of our largest trading partners. They’re also one of the largest holders of US debt. We’re locked in with China. And I do wonder if that’s a positive relationship in the long run.
For further information on today’s latest recall, and the recent issues I suggest the following articles as starters.
