资源描述：
《Buying batteries in China》由会员上传分享，免费在线阅读，更多相关内容在学术论文-天天文库。
1、BuyingBatteriesinChina(CaveatEmptor)EverybodyseemstobesourcingtheirproductsfromChinathesedays,attractedbymainlybythecountry’slowmanufacturingcosts.EversinceCommunistPartyChairmanDengXiaoping’svisittoShenzhenin1984,whenhegavethesealofapprovaltocapitalismwithhisexhortation“Togetric
2、hisglorious”,China’seconomyhasbeenbooming.Recentyearshaveseenaverageannualgrowthratesof10%.Butthisgivesamisleadingpicture.Theruraleconomyhashardlyenteredthe20thcenturyandgrowthisslow.Ontheotherhand,theindustrialeconomyisactuallygrowingataratemuchfasterthantheaverageof10%andit’sno
3、tjustthescalethatisincreasing.Itisalsothescope,sothatChinaisfastestablishinganimpressivetechnologybase.Butbeware-LikemanythingsChinese,theymaynotbeastheyseem.BuyingChinesebatteriesfromaproductcatalogueorspecificationsheetcangetyouintoserioustrouble.Chinahassomeofthebestbatteryman
4、ufacturingplantsintheworldturningoutexcellentproductsbutitalsohassomeoftheworst.ThebestsuppliersaremanagedbywellqualifiedengineerswithPhDsinmaterialsscienceorelectrochemistrymanyofwhomhavetrainedinEuropeortheUSA.Theyhavemademassiveinvestmentsinfullyautomatedproductionfacilitieseq
5、uippedwithJapaneseautomationequipment,workinginconditionsapproachingsemiconductorcleanroomstandards.Theworstarenobetterthanblacksmiths’shopswitheveryoperationcarriedoutmanuallywithfewtools,noautomation,noairconditioning,noprocesscontrols,noqualitysystemsandnomaterialstechnologyca
6、pabilities,managedbysomeonewhoseprimeskillsareorganisinganarmyofyoungworkerslivingalongwayfromhome.Thebestcompanieshavematerialsanalysislabswithscanningelectronmicroscopes,massspectrometers,calorimetersandreliabilitytestingequipmentandqualifiedstafftousethem.Theworsthavenothing.P
7、roductdesign,quality,reliabilityandsafetysufferthesamevariation-fromhighqualityengineeredproductstothedownrightdangerous.Sortingthegoodfromthebadinvolvesamajorcommitmenttosupplierqualificationrequiringlocalknowledgecombinedwithplantvisitstopotentialvendorsandindepthassessmentofth
8、eircapabilities.Thelogisticsalonecanbequ
