Chewin in the Chung

Back from Shanghai. Was apparently infected by a particularly virulent form of SARS that only affects those over two meters tall. Shanghai is quite the booming city, though the local economy seems to be powered primarily by the sale of copy watches and massage services.

Shanghai Hardware Show anecdote:

Once upon a time, there was a nationwide chain of auto parts stores in the United States. This chain purchased their forged wrenches from a Taiwanese manufacturer*. The price they paid was relatively high, but the product quality they were getting was outstanding (Not as good as Proto or Snap-On, but better than Craftsman). So in the tradition of short-sighted bean counters everywhere, they decided to source the wrenches in India. So much cheaper don't ya' know, and the Indian manufacturer promised them that there would be no quality problems.

A year and a half later, the troubles with the Indian supplier any many and serious. Quality is atrocious. Ship dates are missed, and missed again, leaving the retailers with no stock. Lead times are pushed to 270 days. Individual store managers are in open revolt. Something had to be done, and the company sent a high-powered 3-man delegation to the Shanghai show to find a new source. So the delegation visited their previous Taiwan supplier, and met with the owner/Laoban.


In the Taiwan company's booth, they explained that they were sorry that they had been forced to move production to the Indian company, but that they could consider moving back to Taiwan if the owner could beat the Indian price by 15%. The American Vice-President of whatever was holding a Taiwanese display wrench as he said this. The Laoban didn't say anything for about ten seconds. Then he said "Can I have my wrench back?", and the VP handed it to him. He then said "Goodbye.", turned around, threw all three of their business cards into a trash can, and walked away. The three U.S. executives stood there looking like the biggest schmucks to hit China since Kissinger.

Sometimes the Taiwanese hard-headedness is just awesome. And I'm sure the U.S. company eventually found a Chinese supplier with a cheap price, who absolutely promised them that there would be no quality problems.

*Not my company, nor my ex-customer.