Made in China - Behind the Scenes

Business was going very badly last year. So bad, in fact, that we considered selling or liquidating. And then a new customer walked through the door.

A multinational company had enough work for us that the dollar amount would have been in the neighborhood of $150K per year. Keep in mind that I work for a very little bitty shop, so one customer who's willing to spend that kind of money on our work is nothing short of a godsend.

We completed the first job with flying colors and a bottle of champaign. The second and third jobs met with raving approval. And then.... nothing. We tried to call, but only got voice mail. We left messages that went into space for all we know, no returned calls.

We warranty our work, so any dissatisfaction would have been handled immediately. Not to mention that we like to know if we've done something wrong.

Still nothing.

Months went by and we forgot about our new tremendously large customer.

In August of 2007 we received a call. The old person we had dealt with had been let go. He decided to offshore the work. Chinese manufacturing, after all, could save his multi-billion-dollar multinational company money. After many months and many jobs sent to China, we are the little guy they called to save them.

Here is a list of issues they had to deal with during those quiet months:

1 - When you deal with China, keep in mind they use the metric system. Giving them instructions with imperial measurement can cause quite a headache.

2 - If you were to convert from imperial measure to metric, their measurements were still off.

3 - Instructions included 4 holes, when only 3 came back

4 - The holes were the wrong size

5 - Details are not a high priority

These products were used in the construction of an industrial site. The products either didn't fit, or broke within a month of installation. The site is undergoing a massive repair and overhaul only a few short months after its beginning.

The phrase, "they don't make them like they used to" comes to mind.

I'm very glad to have this company back in my accounts. I hope they're back to stay.

Small Business Woes

Mortgage companies going bankrupt? Everything you buy is "made in China"? Working more than you used to for less money?

We are a small business (sole proprietor) who is suffering through this strange economy. We are a very small shop with only 1 full-time employee, 2 part-timers and 2 sub contractors. And we lose jobs to China just like the big dogs.

This shop has been in business for 25 years, so we've seen ups and downs. This current economy is about the strangest one we've seen. Some lessons have been learned, and some situations are terribly confusing. Political decisions have impacted us considerably. Mass layoffs in almost every industry throughout the US over the years have impacted us terribly. Business closures, bankruptcies and sell-outs have impacted us harshly.

We lose customers because they've lost customers and must shut their doors. Our competition is dwindling with shops going out of business every month (I guess that's sort of good - in a selfish anti-free-enterprise type of way. Whether you believe it or not, competition is a good thing). Our vendors are going out of business due to the loss of customers. Taxes are rising and killing the little guy, while the big dogs get incentives for going overseas and usually pay no tax.

It's a dog eat dog world and I'm hoping that our experiences at this little local shop will help people avoid being eaten up.