On Wed, 5 Aug 2009 01:42:08 -0400, "Ed Huntress"
wrote:

Interesting. I hear anecdotal things about this from people I still talk to
in manufacturing, but I haven't seen any numbers on it since I was writing
about trade with China. It would be worth checking it out.


I have a friend who has hobby products made to his design in China.
His comment is that he pays about 3c extra on a $5 cost to have a full
quality check, such that he offers a full one year, no questions
asked, exchange warranty on all his products. As a personal
example, one of his units died due to a dead short failure in a down
line component not of his manufacture, he immediately replaced it even
though I did not expect it, I showed it to him so that the next
version (V3) can be made more idiot proof. V1 was DC input, he had a
few returns from people who could not differentiate between positive &
negative or that a 12V does not really like 24V. V2 operates on AC or
DC, 9V to (I think) 36V. The next upgrade will be even better.

He says that Chinese manufacturers will build to whatever quality
level you specify. Specify low quality you get rubbish, specify
higher quality levels then you get what you pay for. He often
requires modifications to test samples to get the top quality he
requires.

Alan