Poorly Made in China: An Insider's Account of the Tactics Behind China's Production Game

Written by Paul Midler

Narrated by 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 fadethe 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 aluminum 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 aluminum used in the supports. When the "production error" was caught, one aluminum 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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ascent Audio
• Release date: Jul 20, 2020
• ISBN: 9781663704757

Reviews for Poorly Made in China

[eagleduck86 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

After reading this book, I never buy liquid soap without checking to make sure it was not imported from China. A revealing inside look at what is really going on within the Chinese economic boom.

[jcbrunner · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A great quick read about the pitfalls of the Chinese manufacturing juggernaut by a cultural sherpa living in Southern China who advises US companies and acts as their local spy and fire brigade. Using the case of an American white label bubble bath importer, Midler presents the ups and downs of a Chinese US business relationship. Most Americans are already challenged when they can't order a "quarter-pounder with cheese" or hear a foreign tongue. China exposes them to a new environment that defies the usual United Fruit business relationship in Latin America and South-East Asia where American corporations dominate both local politics and business by the power of money or, in adverse cases, a gunboat visit. In China, the power relations are reversed: The Americans bearing orders are (ab)used to build up Chinese industry.Given that the prices quoted by the Chinese cannot be matched elsewhere and that no legal recourse is available, the Americans are open to a bait and switch. On a tactical level, this occurs as a disconcerting quality fade where the Chinese secretly defy order specifications and quality levels, switching ingredients, cutting corners and dumping a degraded product into the Americans' hands. If, a big if, the Americans detect the quality fade, they can refuse the batch at the risk of interrupting their supply chain. If the Americans try to play hardball, the Chinese can either sell the faulty product on the domestic market, dump it onto the Third World or find a less demanding US competitor.On a strategic level, these joint ventures follow the pig and chicken's ham and eggs cooperation with a decidedly one-sided result: In order to pay less, the Americans surrender their manufacturing secrets and their control over the manufacturing process. As soon as the Chinese have mastered the process, they scale the business (on or off site) in order to export similar products to either new markets or to even to American competitors. Instead or rethinking (and automating) their business practices, a cheap outsourcing strategy bleeds US companies out of their competencies (which doesn't bother the technically challenged MBA CEO's). While the economic development of China is beneficial on a global level, the wholesale destruction of the US manufacturing base is a social and ecological disaster (exemplified by shipping bubble bath halfway across the planet and by risking toxic products in order to save a few pennies). As both economic and business considerations in the US continue to promote to offload balance sheet items and encourage underinvesting, this vicious circle will not slow down any time soon. Mr Midler can look forward to a lot of business despite the spotty record of his clients with their China ventures.While Midler is no stranger to the expat lore game, I found two revelations especially interesting. Firstly, the Chinese penchant to prefer appearance over substance (sort of out-competing the masters of superficialdom) and love of improvisation marks a stark contrast to the quality conscious Japanese and reveals an almost Mediterranean flair. Secondly, the preference for front-loaded relationships to the detriment of longterm partnerships hints at an instable environment. As these two penchants are shared by America, perhaps Niall Ferguson is not so far off with his claim that the Chinese are the new Americans. After all, disrespecting European copyrights and rapidly scaling up neatly describes the American rise in the 19th century. Recommended.

[edwinbcn · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Well-informed and entertaining. I was somewhat disappointed by the fact that the book, contrary to what the blurb suggests, is only based on one project: not "from one project to the next".