Paul Midler

Poorly Made in China is the narrative account of an American who helped facilitate China's booming relationship with the US. The book details compelling and, at times, alarming accounts of seven distinct US-China relationships that the author has managed. The author addresses a disturbing trend he refers to as quality fade the deliberate and secretive habit of widening profit margins through a reduction in the quality of materials. US importers usually never notice its happening; downward changes are subtle but progressive. The initial production sample is fine, but with each successive production run, a bit more of the necessary inputs are missing. The author sees this as pervasive in China, with no end in sight. The result is faulty or even dangerous products being sold in the US. While some quality issues are not all that serious, others are downright frightening. In one example, American company had been importing a line of health and beauty products for over a year when the cardboard boxes that held its product started collapsing under their own weight. There was no logical explanation for the collapse except quality fade. In another, more disturbing example, American company decided to outsource the production of the aluminium systems used to support tons of concrete in the construction of high-rise commercial buildings to China. There, the supplier elected to reduce the specifications, and the amount of aluminium used in the supports. When the "production error" was caught, one aluminium part was found to be weighing less than 90% of its intended weight. While there are many books out on China, most fail to appeal to a broad audience, relying primarily on heavily statistics or abstract history lessons in their content. This book takes business lessons from China and wraps them inside a narrative account written form an insiders perspective. The book offers business lessons, as well as constructive reflections on the worlds most dynamic economy. It is an adventure through the manufacturing sector and will read like a travel book.

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