Poorly Made in China

An Insider's Account of the Tactics Behind China's Production Game

By: Paul Midler

Narrated by: Paul Midler

Length: 7 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

An insider reveals what can - and does - go wrong when companies shift production to China.

In this entertaining behind-the-scenes account, Paul Midler tells us all that is wrong with our effort to shift manufacturing to China. Now updated and expanded, Poorly Made in China reveals industry secrets, including the dangerous practice of quality fade - the deliberate and secret habit of Chinese manufacturers to widen profit margins through the reduction of quality inputs. US importers don’t stand a chance, Midler explains, against savvy Chinese suppliers who feel they have little to lose by placing consumer safety at risk for the sake of greater profit. This is a lively and impassioned personal account, a collection of true stories, told by an American who has worked in the country for close to two decades. Poorly Made in China touches on a number of issues that affect us all. 

©2009 Paul Midler (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

Great detail

What a book for someone who is trying to understand and determine how import manufacturing and dealing with China actually works!!!!

Overall good

Sound all to much one sided, I hope to believe that there should be some small percentage of decent manufacturers in China

Accurate story. But poorly read.

I'll start by saying that I have traveled to China for business, mostly product sourcing and quality control, for the last 15 years. Usually 4 to 6 times a year.

I will next say that I find the negative reviews from Chinese nationals unsurprising. The truth hurts. And can sometimes be offensive. But that doesn't make the truth less true.

The book is obviously a work of fiction using the author's personal experience's as a backdrop. No company in their right mind would hire someone not already familiar with shady China factory process to deal with Chinese factories just because they have an MBA and can speak Chinese fluently. But you get that point by the first chapter and keep that "fake naivety" in mind as you continue through the book.

From the very beginning, I was familiar with the author's experiences. I too had been to a factory that was set up to show productivity only to disappear the next day. Funny thing is, they weren't even good at faking it in my case. My coworker and I watched workers pull products out of boxes, unwrap them, inspect them, re-wrap them and insert them back into boxes. This process somehow required six people on a slow moving conveyor belt. We laughed.

And the constant quality fade without passing savings on to the customer is sadly too true as well. When problems crop up in the field and you ask what was changed, the answer is almost always "nothing". Until you can do your own failure analysis and show where the cost-down was done, the factory will continue putting out the faulty product. And once caught, there is no repercussions. No accountability. Just "it won't happen again".... and then it inevitably does happen again.

Whether you already do business in China or plan to, this is a good read. If you have similar experiences to the author, there are some good "oh yeah.. I remember when that happened to me" chuckle. The rest of you will just gasp in dis-belief that business actually can be run this way.

Now for the critique on the audio book specifically: Mr. Midler should stick with writing and not reading. Paul's voice is droning and without any kind of inflections. I have nightmares as to what a book NOT written by Paul Midler would sound like if Mr. Midler were doing the reading.

Absolutely eye opening

Great way to peek behind the curtain of Chinese manufacturing and incorporate some of the psychology intertwined with it.

A peak behind the curtain

This is a fascinating story well told. Stop reading this review and buy it already!

Must read - Intl business and everyday consumers

Excellent insight into international business and cross cultural communications. The book focuses on China but I find that many topics provide the foundation to categorize and ask the right questions to be better prepared for any type of unfamiliar communications. Also reveals long term lack of sustainablability for quality fade on imported consumer products

One of the best books…

This was one of the best books I have ever read. It has everything: story, anecdotes, business lessons, and humor.
The author's narration was great I only can recommend it to all entrepreneurs.

Interesting info; dry delivery

The narrator (who is the author) is pretty close to monotone and I fell asleep several times listening. However, his actual book is interesting and I learned a lot. I wish that it was maybe more charismatic in its perspective and at times, I felt like we were on a tangent that wasn’t needed when a lot more could be said of the main story. Still, a good book to learn more about international business with China.