I won’t be blogging for a couple of weeks because I am heading east to China to visit some of our key suppliers and do a bit of fact finding at the same time.

My regular trips out there are an essential part of our management of our Chinese suppliers and they certainly help to strengthen what are obviously vital working relationships.

Mila’s got quality control teams permanently employed in China who keep a close eye on day to day issues relating to production, quality and delivery, but it’s important for me to visit as well and see things for myself.

For the same reason, I’ll also be having a look at some potential new suppliers who we’ve already identified in the country.  They’ve already been audited by Mila to ensure they can match our rigorous standards in terms of quality, performance and of course working conditions but I’ll want to talk to them to make sure they can also meet our exacting requirements on delivery and that they understand the fundamental ethos of our business with its overriding focus on customer service.

Whilst I’m in China, I’m taking some time to visit the Fenestration China event in Beijing which promises to be really interesting.  With an associated conference and 54,000m² of exhibition space, it’s apparently the most authoritative exhibition in the region dedicated to windows, doors and curtain walling. 

Whilst it’s tempting just to see China as a manufacturing base, it’s also a massive potential market of course – clearly demonstrated by the fact that there’s a large German pavilion at the exhibition showing products manufactured in Germany and available for export.  As I head east again, I wonder whether we could all perhaps learn a thing or two from that…

Richard