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How Do We Ensure Quality Control in Asian Home Decor Manufacturing?
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Jul 17, 2025
In the world of home decor manufacturing, quality isn’t optional—it’s everything. At Mondoro, we understand that a beautiful product means nothing if it doesn’t arrive at the customer in perfect condition. That’s why quality control isn’t just part of our process—it’s built into our DNA. Listen now as Anita, host of the #GlobalTradeGal podcast, dives into how Mondoro builds trust with global brands by focusing on consistent, reliable, and uncompromised product quality—click here (https://mondoro.com/navigating-quality-control-in-asian-home-decor-manufacturing/) to read more. #manufacturing #qualitycontrol #homefurnishings #asiansourcing #interiordesign #productdevelopment #ethicalmanufacturing #globalsupplychain Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/globaltradegal)
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0:01
[Music]
0:07
Hi, this is Anita, the global trade gal.
0:10
Every once in a while, we'll get one of
0:11
our listeners or someone will contact me
0:13
and say, I produced this order in Asia
0:16
and it was such a disaster. What can you
0:19
do? I think quality control and working
0:22
with the right people is one of the
0:24
hardest things, especially if you're
0:26
trying to do it from a distance. I don't
0:28
know how anyone's able to really do it
0:31
from a distance. I know there's a lot of
0:32
people that do and maybe it's sort of
0:34
the luck of the draw, but myself having
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been here in Asia a long time, having
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been on the ground, having been in
0:42
factories looking at things, I know my
0:45
me and my team and I know what we look
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for. I know how many times we stop
0:50
things that otherwise a manufacturer and
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even a really good manufacturer would
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have allowed to ship. So that's why I
0:58
want to talk a little bit about quality
1:00
control. You know, quality is more than
1:02
just the final check. A good quality
1:05
control is really more than just a final
1:07
check. A lot of times, you know, there,
1:10
yes, there's people that just do a final
1:12
check and that's it. And if you're
1:14
working with a really large factory that
1:16
really has a reputation, has a great
1:19
quality control team, maybe you can get
1:22
away with this. But for for us we found
1:26
that really quality control really
1:28
starts at the beginning. It you know it
1:30
starts with the planning. It starts with
1:31
the design. It starts with the right
1:33
materials and with clear communication.
1:36
These are all things which become
1:38
essential for quality control. You know
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at Muro one of the things that we always
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say is we aim for zero complaints
1:46
which means that we don't tolerate
1:49
acceptable defects. you know, we don't
1:52
wait for something to go wrong before
1:53
taking action. We try to proactively
1:56
manage quality, prevent problems before
1:58
they occur. One way we do this is we're
2:01
always on the ground. And for a lot of
2:02
our customers, um, a lot of things we
2:04
produce, we are there throughout the
2:06
entire production process, meaning we
2:09
see every piece that goes through that
2:11
factory and we understand the quality
2:14
that's going through. We do that because
2:17
of the nature and the type of products
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that we produce. We produce a medium to
2:21
higherend product and so we want to make
2:25
sure that what we ship and what we
2:27
produce is of the quality that is
2:30
required because we have learned through
2:32
I guess through you know mistakes or
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other things we all learn through that
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is that it's really expensive to to
2:39
solve a problem in the United States or
2:42
Europe or someplace else that it's far
2:44
better to solve that problem here
2:46
especially when it comes to communicate
2:48
on things finishes and other things.
2:51
Being present means for us because we're
2:54
present, we're there, we're in the
2:55
factories, we're checking things means
2:57
that we can basically spot issues before
3:01
they scale up or become a huge issue. We
3:04
can ensure raw materials are are correct
3:06
before use. We can confirm that finishes
3:09
are applied correctly and we can verify
3:12
that the packing process is done to
3:14
standard. This allows us to be able to
3:16
basically see the entire process from
3:18
the raw material to the finish to the
3:21
packing. It allows us to be able to see
3:23
it all. There's several ways that we
3:25
also will test for quality ourselves.
3:28
And here are some of the basic ways or
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some of the basic tests that are done.
3:33
One is a drop test. And you might ask,
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what is a drop test and why should you
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do a drop test? Well, one reason why you
3:40
should do a drop test is because in the
3:43
United States, Europe, many places, the
3:46
customer doesn't want to open the goods
3:48
and repack them and then ship them on.
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You know, probably in the, you know,
3:53
like the 1980s and 90s and even some
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into the 2000s, there were a lot of, you
3:58
know, a lot of customers that basically
4:00
would, you know, bring the goods in and
4:03
then they would pack them at their
4:05
destination and then they would send
4:07
them on. There's still some companies
4:09
that do that where they'll basically
4:11
check everything that goes into the
4:13
warehouse. Most of the customers though
4:16
don't want to have to do that. Why?
4:18
Because that's very labor intensive,
4:21
very expensive at the destination and it
4:24
can add quite a bit to the cost. They
4:26
want the goods to be able to come in and
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they want to be able to stick a label on
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them and ship them out. So, one of the
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most important things you can do if
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that's the case is to be able to test it
4:37
for the packing to see how the packing
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will withstand if it is shipped in the
4:43
United States and not opened. How would
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the packing withstand by the time it
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makes it to the end consumer?
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So, this is, you know, drop testing is
4:52
basically about whether a product can
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survive rough handling of transit. And
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and believe me, there you know there's
4:58
no guarantee that when you put something
4:59
on a UPS or FedEx truck that it doesn't
5:02
fall off the back of that truck. And
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that's kind of what you know what drop
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testing does is ensures that it can
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withstand that. If the packing material
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sufficient and whether the inner and the
5:12
outer packages need adjustment.
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So that's why we do drop tests because
5:18
we want to be able to check the packing.
5:21
The other thing we'll do is a cycle test
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which basic essentially is the hot and
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cold. And there again, you know, we are
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in a hotter climate here. A good that
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travels especially in the wintertime
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could go from a hot tropical climate to
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a freezing climate and you know can be
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in a container on a ship in a wet damp
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freezing climate too.
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There's no guarantee where your
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container will be placed on a ship and
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there's no guarantee at all that it
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would not be placed in a cold cold
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environment or the container wouldn't be
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stuck outside on the back of a truck and
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essentially everything gets frozen
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that's inside that container. There is
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no guarantee of that. So we do what's
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called the cycle test which we place the
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item in a hot sort of humid environment.
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We sort of simulate it like a heated
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chamber, kind of like an oven. And then
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we move it quickly to a cold
6:17
environment. We repeat it several times
6:20
to see exactly how it does between hot,
6:22
cold, freezing, and room temperature.
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And this will help us to be able to see
6:26
things like, you know, will the finish
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crack?
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Does it bubble? Will the glue and joints
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loosen because glue is one of the areas
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where it can be affected by hot and
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cold. And how the material will react
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under stress. Another test that we do is
6:41
called the rust test. And this we will
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do essentially for hardware and metal.
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And we will pay place the screws or the
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other things in a bucket of water. It
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has salt in it. And we'll let it stand
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there for a period of time. And we'll
6:57
see whether or not it will rust. This
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will test the durability of the hardware
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itself. And we check for a surface, you
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know, erosion, you know, pitting,
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discoloration, and what will happen to
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make sure that the hardware itself is of
7:11
the quality that it needs to be.
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Normally, you know, a furniture factory
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doesn't also produce the hardware.
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They're buying the hardware from someone
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else. So, this is why doing these random
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type of tests help to make sure that
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their supplier is actually producing the
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hardware at the quality. Another test we
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do is a finish durability test, which
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means basically whether the finish will
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hold up for abrasion. You can use a
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cloth or something to be able to scratch
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the surface. You can simulate frequent
7:38
handling or cleaning. And you can expose
7:40
the surface to water, cleaning
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chemicals. You can look for things like
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peeling, discoloration, fading, or other
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types of issues. All these tests and the
7:50
fact that we go into the factories a lot
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is all about quality.
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It's all about making sure that we see
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the products and we ensure that the
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products are of the quality which is
8:02
required that we have the photos, we
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have the reports, we have the other
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things, we have it all documented to
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make sure that we're producing a quality
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product. And one of the most important
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things with all of this is to be able to
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have the documentation
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because a lot of times, you know, things
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can happen in a container. We have had
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containers where the container had a
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hole in it and you know things got wet
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in the process. That's one reason why
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too we also check and inspect the
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container or maybe the door wasn't quite
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right or there's been times where on
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either end customs has opened up goods
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and they hadn't repackaged them
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properly. You know, all of those things
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can happen. So that's why for us it's
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very important that we take photos of
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the entire process so we have all the
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documentation that we need to ensure
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that our client receives the quality of
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the product that they ordered. If you'd
8:53
like to be able to read more about
8:55
quality and testing for quality because
8:56
this is not just for home decor but this
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really is for any type of product. We've
9:01
written a blog called Navigating Quality
9:03
Control in Asian Home Decor
9:04
Manufacturing. And even though this is
9:06
specifically for home decor, this really
9:09
can do for any type of product that
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you're working with or any type of
9:13
product that you are manufacturing
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overseas in Asia. We will put a
9:18
description in the blog post below so
9:20
that you'll be able to read it. And if
9:23
you have any questions or comments, we'd
9:24
love to be able to talk to you. Thank
9:26
you so much for listening. Thank you so
9:28
much for being part of our community. We
9:30
certainly do appreciate you, our
9:32
listeners or our our subscribers. And if
9:35
you haven't yet, press that button and
9:36
subscribe. It really does help. Thank
9:39
you.
9:41
[Music]
#Business Operations
#Home Furnishings
#Manufacturing