China Factory Visit – Buyer Diary #22 Custom Promos Factory Management

We asked one of our clients to give us their impressions at a China factory visit recently. Read below to get an idea of how they felt during this trip regarding the factory management system for custom promos. This is one of a series of blogs that we will title: Buyer Diary.

Organizations fail because of bad leadership. ODM has faced factories which had a weak management system resulting to a badly delivered production of custom promos. One of the worst experiences dealing with factories was one which had a management system that revolves around different shareholders.

Problems faced working with factories with weak management system for custom promos

With different shareholders and no clear cut leader, it always ends up in a confusing manner. First of all, meetings are not productive because every shareholder is a decision maker, chances are, they can’t agree with one another. That leaves the factory with unsolved problems and inconsistent decisions.

With no strong leadership, the flock usually gets lost. Factory workers in this case have no idea which boss to listen to, since all of them have different decisions and all of them are bosses.

Also, behind closed doors, politics happen. ODM has seen these factory bosses play politics behind the curtains and the blame gets pushed around. Without a clear leader, things just cannot get done and problems are always left hanging. It is best to therefore avoid factories that have a management system in place.

The problems are as summarized –

• Meetings are not productive
• Everyone are decision makers
• No clear leader for workers
• Inconsistent decisions
• Unsolved problems
• Nobody wants to be responsible
• Politics

Solution

Consider adopting the pointers below to solve these problems.

• Employ a professional to manage the factory
• Ensure respect is commanded from all shareholders
• Earn workers’ trust
• Make all decisions for your clients’ benefit
• Make it a known fact that you are in charge

These methods can be introduced; however you must be able to make the factories listen. Some factories stand up against external leadership and it might be tough to handle that. Most importantly, the employee placed in the leadership position must be capable and knowledgeable enough to manage a factory.

Complications

There can be certain complications to take charge of a factory.

These complications include –

• Uncertainty of factories’ details (e.g. Financial standing) to make wise decisions

Without full knowledge of the factory business operations, decisions may not be made wisely. It is still best to seek advice from the factory leaders in this case.

• Opposition faced

Of course, opposition will be faced when decisions are made. The leader must be able to cope with these opposition faced and ensure that the right action plan is being carried out.

• Politics within shareholders

There will be shareholders who are with you, and those who are against you. Probably best to play these politics right.

• Other orders which factories took up

Factories usually have more than one order going on at a time. By managing the factory, the limitation lies to matters regarding your order only. Take for example, the factory has taken up another order and half of the factory’s resources will need to be used up. In this case, as much as there is tight deadline for your order and additional resources are required, it is just inevitable.

Approach us for more advice.