Yesterday we visited the city of Weifang, famous for its traditional kites. They’re not like our version of kites, like the neon coloured things you can buy, but they make them in all sorts of shapes like butterflies, dragons, birds and they’re really beautiful. We even had a go at making one, but mine was a bit rubbish to be honest and I managed to rip it on the way to the coach!
Also famous in Weifang is Weichai Power, a diesel engine manufacturer serving all of China and many international locations as well. We had a short talk on the company, its origins and plans for expansion, and also had a poke around their factory shop floor. I was quite surprised as it was nothing like I expected. My dad is a director at a manufacturing company in England so I’ve been on the shop floor loads of times, and for some reason I was expecting a Chinese shop floor to be different somehow but it wasn’t. It was just like something we’d have in the UK, except perhaps even better (sorry Dad!). The factory complex was huge and the workers all seemed really happy, in nice, light, air conditioned buildings.
When I speak to clients at Innovate Product Design about their projects they’re often apprehensive about using Chinese manufacturers but from my experiences so far, they seem fantastic. The facilities are great, the people are helpful and often speak a high level of English and there don’t seem to be any real concerns over sweatshops and ethics and other issues that have been in the news a lot recently. In my opinion, anyone planning to use a Chinese manufacturer for their product should seriously consider visiting it if possible – maybe combine it with a holiday, Qingdao is a lovely beach resort! But if not, it seems to me that Chinese companies have a lot to offer us back at home.
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