Impact of Yemen’s Houthis On Global Shipping in Jan ’24

Welcome to our special 200th episode of China Manufacturing Decoded! In this episode, we discuss the impact of the Houthi Yemeni rebels’ attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, and how it may affect your shipping costs and other issues … Continue reading

The Experience Effect The Key to Mass Production Cost Reduction & Efficiency

In this insightful episode, host Renaud Anjoran and senior engineer Paul Adams delve into the intriguing world of the ‘experience effect’ – a phenomenon that offers a wealth of benefits in mass production through persistent refinement and accumulated knowledge. Immersing … Continue reading

Developing a new product Sourcing agents may not be right for you

Some companies who develop their new products from scratch choose not to use sourcing agents, and they genuinely don’t feel that it’s necessary. But is this a wise move? Let’s unpack it…

Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 Near Disaster! Why Did It Happen

Renaud and Andrew Amirnovin, Sofeast’s Head of Compliance and Reliability, are talking about the Boeing 737 Max 9 airplane that has been in the news again following a very frightening incident where part of the body blew out leading to … Continue reading

How European Importers Can Sue Chinese Suppliers

Many importers who outsource their manufacturing or buy products off-the-shelf from Chinese manufacturers do so on a ‘buyer beware’ basis. There’s an almost unspoken belief that if things go wrong, it will be very difficult or even impossible to get … Continue reading

Cost Vs Quality – How Manufacturers Can Find A Balance

Adrian and Renaud tackle the big question of cost versus quality and how they both affect each other in manufacturing. You’ll learn common Chinese attitudes towards them, the long-term power of lean, and some achievable levers that can bring you … Continue reading

7 Key NPI Tasks To Do Before You Take Your Product Into Production Podcast

Adrian and Andrew Amirnovin kick off 2024 by going through 7 key New Product Introduction tasks you need to be aware of to get a positive outcome before mass producing your product. If this is the year you bring a … Continue reading

EU Batteries and Waste Batteries Regulation What You Need to Know

The EU Batteries and Waste Batteries Regulation (2023) is going to impact a lot of the electronic products we work on for our customers if they are to be sold in the EU from about 2025; especially portable electronics. Battery … Continue reading

sofeast china raw materials price indices

Here’s the monthly update from Sofeast’s sourcing team who has been tracking the costs of commonly used raw materials from China for the past year to help you understand where the market is right now. If you or your supplier … Continue reading

13 Strategies To Ensure Consistent Product Quality

Adrian and Renaud return for the last podcast of 2023, a bumper episode where they go through 13 quality strategies you can adopt to achieve consistent product quality. They’re roughly split into pre-production and post-production strategies, so settle down and … Continue reading