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November 7, 2005
A day out visiting Factories ouside Shanghai
So what's a guy involved in the online marketing space doing visiting factories 2 hours away in what you could large villages with very little communication or web access.
The answer is simple, "why not"
As a foreigner in China for business reasons, I see NO reason why I should limit my learning of chinese culture, business and industry strictly to the Online sector.
So last week at 8am My self and 2 friends in a hired car with driver for the day headed out to visit 4 factories where they make a certain product/s for an industry which is booming back in the west.
It was a very interesting and informative day, and visiting "Chinese factories" is an amazing experience, Health and Saefty guidelines are outta the window, staff get around $100 a month for 12 hour / 6 day working weeks, and the bosses get drive round in Porsche Cayennes and Range Rovers.
Some of the scenes kinda hinted at what I assume UK factories must have been like 30/40 years ago bfore manufacturing took a back seat or started getting outsourced to foreign lands with cheap labour and no union issues.
What was quite interesting is summarised below:
a, the prices quoted in the factories for the respective products were at least 50% off the prices we had been quoted about 8 weeks ago when we first started researching this industry via sources at trade show exhibitions.
b, there was NO way we as foreigners we would have even found that these factories existed or been able to make appointments in the first place without our OWN chinese guy who is a friend from back in the UK, and getting to these remote villages etc took a lot of hard work with directions such "turn right at the big tree, where the old lady used to sell Fish in the mornings etc etc", so Joe Public who comes to Shanghai for a trade show will never make it out this far unless he has very very good contacts who want him tio make money.
c, we had been meeting some so called factory owners in Shanghai and had even been to their workshops, only to discover they were in fact trading companies using these factories and just acting as a front man/woman and adding their 20/30% mark up for the privilige of speaking a tiny bit of EngRish and a nicer office.
d, contrary to popular belief and what I call "China syndrome", every thing does NOT cost $1 or £1, and price varies on the quality you want, everythins is available in "High, Medium and Low" quality.
e, Chinese companies could even make more money, attract more western clients and maybe become cheaper if they implemented western methods such as better inventory control, work flow systems, English speaking secretaries etc etc
f, the confrence room had a washroom attached, however it had 2 squat down toilets side by side with NO partition, and this still puzzles me as to their purpose ...
and that was my day out visiting factories...
Posted by shak at November 7, 2005 12:51 PM