Why Do Importers Need Product Reliability Testing?

01/15/21 • 42 min

In This Episode...

Adrian and Renaud discuss the topic of product reliability testing. What is this type of testing, when do we carry it out, what are the risks of not doing the testing, and what does it cost? These questions and many more are answered, because today, more than ever, it's so important for importers to protect themselves against expensive recalls and lawsuits which may occur if your products don't reach expected reliability, quality, and, as a knock-on effect in many cases, safety standards.

Ultimately, you'll discover why, for most products, skipping reliability testing during the NPI process is simply not worth it!

Show Notes

00:00 - Introduction

02:37 - A summary of WHAT product reliability is. Some examples are given, in particular, that of a women's razor that must be able to withstand the bathroom and shower environment and also a smartphone which needs to withstand daily use.

05:19 - If a product is NOT reliable, how could this affect the importer? You will face returns, bad reviews, and in the case of failures that lead to safety issues, you may have to recall a batch, be prosecuted in court, pay heavy damages, etc.

06:36 - What typically causes reliability issues in a new product? The causes of reliability issues can be broken down into categories:

Design: Poor design is usually the top cause of reliability problems later on. The infamous case of the unsafe Samsung Galaxy Note 7 was down to a poor design that allowed the batteries to catch fire in certain circumstances.
Manufacturing: Component manufacturers or manufacturing at the main assembly site can also cause reliability issues. An example is given of specifying the wrong kind of glue that later causes product failure (specifying the wrong materials or components is a type of design failure, too).

13:00 - Why product reliability is ever more important in these days of the internet when disgruntled users will soon write bad reviews. There is no one product category where users wouldn't complain about an unreliable product. Products for children would be an obvious target where brands can't afford to upset consumers, but on the other hand, something as simple as a takeaway coffee cup could also injure and upset consumers, too.

14:31 - The importance of understanding safety standards when developing a new product and planning ahead for any and all possible failures that could affect consumers.

15:41 - Will hardware startups, who may be new to reliability testing, get any support to define and plan for potential product failures from 3rd party companies (like Sofeast) who conduct the testing for them? Yes, although the developer really needs to understand their own users and how they may misuse the product better than anyone else. We will usually discuss the relevant regulations and potential risks with a customer who is developing a new product where needed, challenge their design and prototypes to assure that they're going in the right direction for their goals for the product, and we also often perform risk analysis and a design FMEA, too.

17:56 - How to confirm the performance of the product during development.

18:52 - How to push the limits of the product to work towards reliability during development. Some ideas of what to test to simulate the extremes that the product can be pushed to in order to see what fails first. This often uncovers the main weaknesses of a product's design.

20:56 - Reliability and compliance testing during mass production. Samples from the pilot run can be used to confirm that everything is OK with the product design, but also, importantly, the manufacturing process by subjecting them to typical usage over, say, 2 years. Compliance testing should also be done on these early pre-production pilot run samples, too.

24:19 - Why some companies still take the risk of not performing reliability testing. Those with less experience tend to place a lot of trust in their manufacturer, assuming that they will not provide products which later turn out to have reliability issues.

25:43 - The types of reliability testing that may be used. These vary per the product type, but here are some options:

Cycling the product from low to high temperature, humidity testing, salt spray testing on exposed metals, mechanical tests like drop and vibration tests, flexing cables, lifecycle testing (HALT), and more.
Packaging reliability testing is also a consideration, as it is often a part of the product offering ...

In This Episode...

Ultimately, you'll discover why, for most products, skipping reliability testing during the NPI process is simply not worth it!

Show Notes

00:00 - Introduction

06:36 - What typically causes reliability issues in a new product? The causes of reliability issues can be broken down into categories:

Design: Poor design is usually the top cause of reliability problems later on. The infamous case of the unsafe Samsung Galaxy Note 7 was down to a poor design that allowed the batteries to catch fire in certain circumstances.
Manufacturing: Component manufacturers or manufacturing at the main assembly site can also cause reliability issues. An example is given of specifying the wrong kind of glue that later causes product failure (specifying the wrong materials or components is a type of design failure, too).

14:31 - The importance of understanding safety standards when developing a new product and planning ahead for any and all possible failures that could affect consumers.

17:56 - How to confirm the performance of the product during development.

25:43 - The types of reliability testing that may be used. These vary per the product type, but here are some options:

Cycling the product from low to high temperature, humidity testing, salt spray testing on exposed metals, mechanical tests like drop and vibration tests, flexing cables, lifecycle testing (HALT), and more.
Packaging reliability testing is also a consideration, as it is often a part of the product offering ...

Previous Episode

How To Validate Your Supplier's Factory's Production Capacity (From Abroad)?

In This Episode...

Adrian and Renaud kick-off 2021 with Renaud's thoughts on how the coronavirus pandemic will continue to affect manufacturing this year and how things might change once vaccine use becomes more widespread, and then get into the main topic: How to validate a supplier's production capacity, especially if you're a buyer abroad who isn't able to travel to China (or elsewhere in Asia) to do this on-site yourself.

Given that a supplier over-promising on their capacity could land you in hot water when it comes to delivery delays, quality problems, and increased costs, understanding if they truly do have the capacity to handle your order quantities before placing orders is a must, and since there are still tight restrictions for travelling to different Asian countries, not least China, being able to do so from abroad is very relevant for many buyers right now.

Show Notes

00:00 - Introduction

01:44 - Renaud talks about how the coronavirus pandemic may continue to affect buyers from China/Asia in 2021. How the vaccine rollout could improve things, certainly by 2022, and how in China the manufacturing industry continues to operate strongly for most verticals. Will the West start to perform better by Q2 of 2021?

07:54 - Why do we need to be able to validate a supplier's factory's production capacity before we start placing orders? When buying from a supplier you will fit into one of these 3 categories regarding your order quantity and their capacity:

Your order quantity is in the supplier's sweet spot - there shouldn't be an issue with them making this without hitch and being attentive to your needs. This is where everyone wants to be.
Your order quantity is very low and the supplier is quite large - they're unlikely to be flexible, offer special terms, and pay attention to your needs as much as you may like.
Your order quantity is too large for the supplier - this is the danger zone. Some suppliers may accept an order even if they know they don't have the capacity, and this could lead to dangers such as unauthorised subcontracting, rushing to implement new machinery and onboard new staff, and other issues that can lead to delays and quality problems for you.

14:24 - Why in East-Asian cultures, 'yes' doesn't always mean 'yes.' Suppliers agreeing to orders they know they can't handle easily has a cultural factor. Yes, may not mean yes directly, rather it may mean, "I hear you and I'm thinking about it." Also, Chinese salespeople, for example, don't want to disappoint foreign customers so are likely to overpromise rather than say no in some cases.

16:22 - If buyers are unable to visit Asian suppliers right now, how can we assess them from afar? Renaud shares a number of tips, such as using factory auditors, and about how to question them and the kinds of questions to ask (if possible over the phone and with someone at a managerial level), including:

Getting an understanding of the supplier's number of employees.
Questions about what they buy from outside, such as components and if these are custom-made (more supply chain risk) or not, capacity per day, % of good pieces, etc.
Questions about what they actually do in their facility, such as their processes, daily capacity per process, defect rate, etc.
What their peak and slow seasons are - for instance, around CNY is a risky time to place orders.

24:35 - If it's possible to get truthful answers to the above questions that is good, but will many buyers get a better result by working with companies who are already on the ground in Asia and can perform due diligence and audits for them? Yes. If your main contact has no idea and their colleagues don't help answer them you may not have success with speaking on the phone, but it's easy to find companies like Sofeast who can go on-site perform due diligence on potential suppliers and validate a supplier's capacity.

26:14 - What actually impacts a supplier's capacity? It is a lot more than just the number of employees and machines that they have. Renaud suggests the following things have an effect on overall production capacity:

Staff numbers alone don't mean a lot with the exception of garment factories.
The equipment can lead to a lot of output if it's fast and well-maintained, but if there are bottlenecks around it then the output will be slowed down a lot, and the same can be said for equipment downtime.
The supply chain will affect capacity - so how efficient are sub-suppliers in the production and delivery of materials/components?
Quality has a large impact on capacity because reworking bad batches, for example, takes time away from making the product, thereby reducing capacity.
Material and production planning - ...

Next Episode

Andy Bartlett | Good Project Management With Chinese Suppliers From A Product Designer's Perspective

In This Episode...

Adrian catches up with Andy Bartlett, an experienced British product designer who has 25 years of experience in product design, development, and working with manufacturers in China to discuss project management best practices when dealing with Chinese suppliers with a special focus on Andy's take on this from a product design perspective. He covers project management tips and techniques, building good relationships, IP protection, and much, much more!

More about Andy Bartlett

Andy has a deep experience in consumer electronics, toys, and more. Several of Sofeast's clients have worked with Andy with good results. He was Product Design Manager at Worlds Apart for 14 years and has designed products for Disney, LEGO, Hasbro and Mattel including Scruff-a-luvs and GoGlow.

Show Notes

00:00 - Introducing the episode

01:23 - Andy's Bio

02:05 - The 2 ways of engaging with Chinese suppliers: Contract Manufacturers (your 'factory') and Development Houses - When you're developing a new product to bring to market you're likely to work directly with a factory in China and you'll need to go through all of the product development work that has been done and make sure they can deliver, or, if you're at an earlier stage on your project, you may work with a development house first who help you with the development work such as on the product concept and its functions and on NPI work such as deciding on manufacturing processes, techniques, and more.

03:36 - Dealing directly with a factory as a designer when performing the project management - 2 challenges: 1. Protect your interests (design intent) and be clear about what you want to achieve. 2. Structure, organisation, and well-controlled communication channels.

06:22 - Dealing with a development house from a design perspective - about managing costs, schedule and exploring opportunities (which they will be more interested in than many factories who are incentivised to get to production ASAP), but still getting to the factory in time to produce your goods on schedule.

07:55 - The focus on getting to production by factories and why creative people sometimes don't know when to stop 'development.'

09:10 - At what point do you know that your product development is mature enough that you can start production?

12:14 - Why approving the tooling is one of the worst times in the NPD process for anyone who's developing a new product.

13:26 - Exploring some best practices when working with a factory or a development house (good for hardware startups who are new to this). New product development is a tough process, so building a good working relationship is really helpful. Look for good communication and contacts whom you can trust (in factories this can be harder) and an inquisitive spirit that is willing to try new things and solve problems.

17:38 - How communication and building relationships have been affected by the challenges of the pandemic. In-person contact is the best way to work with your Chinese suppliers, but in lieu of that, video conferencing is a key tool.

19:47 - The culture of saying 'yes' to everything you request in China and how to combat it with notes and a system to check that suppliers are on target. Importers need to be careful of this, as yes doesn't always mean yes. Therefore any meetings should be followed up with written notes that can double-confirm a supplier's intent and ability. Google suite of products doesn't work in China, but you can create a system to track and manage development issues. Microsoft's software is usually adequate for this. Emails aren't as they're quite ignorable. Build the culture of 'track & trace' and always come back to suppliers to check that they are resolving your question and if it's truly a 'yes,' or in fact a 'no.'

24:44 - How best to manage CAD data and not lose the integrity of the modelling. A flexible pause and review approach to 3D data is a good use of time as this will be worked on until late in the development process.

27:09 - How about IP protection? It's context-driven. If you're in a long-term stable relationship with a supplier you should already have the trust that they use IP responsibly. With a new supplier, do they take steps to protect their other clients' confidentiality seriously if you're visiting their factory to tour it? If so, that's a good sign. If a trusted supplier recommends another supplier this may be a good sign. You should take steps to control CAD data by using software to minimize the amount of data the new supplier can see at an early stage.

30:57 - Why keeping your cool, even when things go wrong, is really important. Main...