Project Management in China: The challenges of managing your manufacturing projects in developing China
This article stems from my ten years personal experience and the experiences from managers in multinational facilities managing manufacturing projects in China. Managing a manufacturing project in China reveals many challenges and frustrations that have to be understood if a foreign manager is to succeed and not go crazy. On the surface China’s cities seem like any other major city around the world. Glass and steel sky scrapers, decent infrastructure of roads, lighting and high end cars everywhere you look. When you’re engaged in manufacturing it is a whole new world and you begin to see why they still consider China a developing nation.
In manufacturing this country is really forty to fifty years behind the west and this becomes apparent when you work in an often modern facility but your dealing with people who are struggling with whatever has kept China underdeveloped. Whether it is an ancient culture, communism or the way they learn you will quickly run into a lack of common sense, continuous misunderstanding, and people that look for the cheapest way to do things cutting corners that almost always has a negative impact on your project.
Consider “context” of manufacturing in China. Most of the people working in factories are low paid, under developed and have a very limited perspective of this world and little to no understanding of your products. Understand that a majority of children grow up in small towns and villages where they have very little to develop their minds, skills and abilities. Is it the 21st century where the developed world has advanced considerably over the last few decades but this is not the same for China. The average twenty to forty year old person grew up in a culture that was extremely poor and had no disposable income to invest in education and development. My wife for example at thirty years old raised in a local town had literally nothing to do and certainly did not have the variety of toys and games that facilitate development. She has simply not been exposed to normal things western children are exposed to and as a direct result has a very limited ability to grasp concepts, solve problems or apply techniques that can get things done with any amount of efficiency. This applies directly to manufacturing and must be understood when managing projects because the facility will be full of nice, lovely people that are under developed and it will be your job as a manager to influence the process and people to get the results you need to get.
You will also have problems explaining to your western superiors or clients why things are not going as planned. This is very difficult because it is extremely hard to put in words, it is one of those things that you have to experience. Many things the Chinese do just don’t make any sense to us, this is not right or wrong it is just different and we have to seek first to understand before being understood which is much easier said then done. Hopefully this article will help you find the words and analogies to better explain what you experience but more important to help you make the necessary changes you will need to make to work, live and thrive in China.
Let’s consider some of the strengths and weaknesses of the Chinese manufacturer. As a foreigner when talking about this cultures strength and weakness we have to first understand most of our products and processes are foreign to the Chinese so grasping what we are doing and more important why we are doing this is hard for them to get. In my experience the Chinese manufacturer is not good at planning, solving problems, applying common sense and or doing things in an efficient or even logical way. In fact they love to do things the hard way. Spend a week here driving around, shopping and just doing regular life and you will be continually baffled as to the way things are done.
Their strength is to copy and or repeat a process which even this is not done that well. This relates directly to your products. Managers have to go through the pain staking process of getting the products done right and once we get that approved we can lean on the Chinese so called strength and copy hundreds or thousands of times. Your work is definitely is not over once they do get things right but at least it is mostly maintenance and ensuring they continue to repeat what was done to get the results you wanted.
Weaknesses:
1. Disorganization of the working environment.
2. Lack of preparation of the materials and or work environment.
3. Use of the proper tool for a task.
4. Lack of communication from management to shop floor workers.
5. Poor problem solving skills.
6. Lack of common sense and innovation especially with foreign products and processes.
7. Inability to applying common sense, new ideas or strategies.
8. Bullshitting, lying, cheating and cutting corners.
9. Running meetings that produce results with new actions.
10. Following a logical methodical path or procedure. (Ever seen the way they drive?)
11. Being accountable.
Strengths:
1. Copying. (Debatable if this is a real strength.)
2. Repeating. (Debatable if this is a real strength.)
3. Working long hours and many days without breaks.
With this list I think you can begin to see why manufacturing is a big challenge and why the world still consider Chinese product to be inferior. The Chinese have another bad characteristic that seems to run through many developing countries as you may full well know. This is their little white and the ease to cheat and cut corners.
Cutting corners is one of the biggest quality problems we find with your average manufacturer. It seems to be a well ingrained habit and almost never has a positive outcome so I consider this a weakness. Manufacturers here constantly look for ways to make things cheaper and increase their bottom line. This is not seeking to do things more effective or more efficient to increase their bottom line but to cheap out on processes and or materials and they will not tell you before hand. This can be one of the most frustrating things a manager deals with in the China factory. At Bili we have clauses in our contracts that clearly state “No changes without written authorization”, in meetings we emphasize this over and over and a week or two later you find the quality has dropped off and then you find someone changed something and didn’t tell you.
I used the driving analogy on a previous article. The roads in China are built quite well. Big, wide, two and three lane roads with nicely painted lines, good lighting and signs. They really are good but they are full of cars being driven by people that don’t know the rules, don’t follow the rules, drive picking their own path which is always the shortest possible route. They cross the double line 50 meters back from the light and travel down the wrong side of the road to make their left hand turn cutting the corner very tight. The factories are similar in a way. They have these huge buildings full of machines and equipment but it is full of people that just don’t know how to use the facilities they have, they work on the floor and find the cheapest way to do it which almost always leads to cutting corners, just like they drive. Nobody seems to care it is just the way it is done and on the roads it produces chaos at every intersection. Similarly in the factories when they cut corners it almost always makes for a poorer quality part, affects deliver and or prematurely failure at the end user.
They are also not the best problems solvers and always do things the long hard way. It is a constant battle for us as we explain a different and more effective way to do something we can sense immediately that they don’t really get it and as soon as we turn our backs they just go back to their common practices and habits. The Chinese strength is to copy and repeat. Once you have a product that has been fully approved by client or end user then the Chinese can repeat that process and get relatively the same result but getting to that place of approval is a definite challenge.
That list of weaknesses is what makes the difference between the west and the east. Because they are quite disorganized, do not take time to prepare the work environment, prepare and plan the outcome well and execute a good method with accountability and responsibility they need several tries to get it right. The Chinese fly into things without careful thought and preparation. It seems like they just don’t care but this is not the case, they do care it is just the way things are done. Driving again make for a perfect analogy. Not only do they cut corners but they fly into intersections without yielding and or even looking half the time. If you can believe it there are no stop signs in most of the country. T-intersections only have a yield sign which doesn’t mean anything to these people for they fly into these T-intersections all the time and surprisingly don’t have as many accidents as you might think. They are masters at throwing a bunch of people and or cars into a bottle neck and then just push their way through. Yes they have lots of little bumps and kisses and every car has little scraps and scuffs all over but that is just the way it is and that is the way it will be with your products.
A perfect example of this is a die casting project I work with. The supplier has a nice, well organized facility with all the latest machines and equipment. They are busy as ever and producing large volumes of product and on the surface you would think they could get excellent results. Well they can but they don’t approach a project like you might think, they fly into it and just start pumping out stuff until it gets to a point where they are producing a good result. This relates into being short on every order and having to sort through a bunch of carelessly produced product until it starts coming out correctly. Never have I seem them take the time to prepare everything, prepare a plan, prepare the work site, prepare the tools, start producing carefully examining the work along the way and give me a result. It is always jump into it, scattered and disorganized running around the shop pumping out shit stuff until you finally accept things. Their first and second and sometimes third or forth off process is extremely inefficient and ineffective just like twenty cars flying into and intersection all on a slightly different path causing a mini grind lock for ten or twenty minutes but slow but sure they push their way through and everybody goes on their way.
About the only thing that can be done is struggle through those first processes letting them do it their way until it gets to a point where there is some consistency and order you can begin to manage. You’re like a traffic cop at the intersection directing all the people going left, going right, going in the different directions until everyone has got through and flowing smooth. You as a manager will need to hang around the facility watching every process and help direct it like that traffic cop, recording the whole process and create the documentation tracing the flow of work to an outcome.
What we do is create process or procedure documentation that lays out every detail throughout the manufacturing process. We work with the supplier and record each step of the process, document in detail the procedure, record what machines are used and machine settings and record the quality checks required during the process. Then we ensure by contract and periodic checks that the supplier follows these procedures when making that part. This “Manufacturing Procedures” document has to be created for each and every part right through to the assembly, testing and packaging of the product. With detailed manufacturing procedures in place and regular checks being performed you can be confident to get the same result. This is basically what is required in ISO management practices and principles. The idea is to have all details of the processes and procedures documented and followed allowing for full traceability to correct any quality issues and this also allows a facility or project manager to find ways of doing things more efficient to reduce costs or get better results.
From here it is all about holding the facility and or factory workers accountable not change any part of the process and or fall back into their bad habits or cut corners. Accountability is a big problem here too and also not easy to achieve because people are habitual creatures and it is easy to go back to what you have been conditioned to do but with good documentation and regular checks you can generally get them going in this process to create the new habit and then their repeating strength kicks in.
You as a manager will need to understand all this and adjust yourself to them not them to you. You will have many personal challenges as you struggle to understand, adapt and find a way to work in this chaotic environment. China will be a huge test of your patience and you will likely go through periods of loving and periods of hating until you can find a way to appreciate and respect the way it is. If you think you’re going to change them then you're wrong, because it will be China that changes you.
Sincerely,
Daniel A. Janssen
General Manager:
Qingdao Bili International Trading Co., Ltd
Related articles from Bili International:
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Quality in China: What is and How to get Consistent Quality in a Developing ChinaUnderstanding quality in China: What to look for and how to manage a quality system in this developing country China.
How to Check Out a Chinese CompanyBili International shows you how to check a company’s status with the government of China to ensure that it is properly registered and in good standing with the official industry and commerce bureau.
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Wholly Owned Foreign Enterprise (WOFE): How to set up a factory in ChinaBili International explains the general rules, steps, and common pitfalls in setting up a foreign owned company in China, generally known as a “Wholly Owned Foreign Enterprise” or WOFE.
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