Pre – shipment inspection at Saint – Gobain (Xuzhou) Pipelines Co. Ltd

While implementing construction projects which involve the importation of materials, there is usually a requirement for the client to carry out witness testing for specific imports in the country of origin. This requirement is embedded in the contract documents – usually the book of specifications. Witness testing is a quality control procedure undertaken by a team of experts assembled from amongst the client, contractor and engineer.

The importance of witness testing (inspection) is to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the product being purchased meets a pre-set quality standard. This exercise involves a visit to the factory to witness the actual manufacturing process of the materials and the associated quality assurance procedures to ensure an end product of acceptable quality.

In this article I share with you my experience of a Pre – shipment inspection at Saint – Gobain (Xuzhou) Pipelines Co. Ltd located in China.

Day one and two

When I was a child, there are certain places I dreamt about visiting. China was one of them. I was fortunate to be selected to participate in this witness inspection exercise for pipes intended for the construction of a sewer pumping main.

My journey started at about 11:00 hrs on a Sunday morning. On our way to the airport, I could not help but wonder what kind of experience awaited me. At 15:45 hrs the aircraft, a Boeing 777-200LR took off from Entebbe International Airport and landed at Dubai International Airport around at 21:55 hrs the same day. Our next flight, headed for Beijing departed at 03:30 hrs aboard an Airbus A380-800. This was a memorable flight in its own right. I had never been airborne for more than 7½ hours.

On Monday at 12:44 hrs local time, the airbus touched down at Beijing International Airport. Fortunately, the pilot and his crew had already warned us that local temperatures were -5°C. When you land in China or in any foreign land for the first time, you can immediately feel the difference from your home country. After all the necessary clearances at the airport, we were warmly received by an agent of our tour and travel agency and driven to our Hotel, The Renaissance Beijing Wangfujing Hotel.

At dinner time my colleagues preferred to eat what they seemed more conversant with in order to prevent any unplanned stomach upsets. I, on the other hand preferred to adventure into the world of sea food. I wanted to prove that some of the ghost stories associated with eating things like snails and crabs were actually false. Fortunately, I did not have any stomach upsets.

Day three

After breakfast early Tuesday morning, we left our hotel and drove to Beijing South Railway Station headed for Xuzhou city. It is situated approximately 800 kilometers south of Beijing. The train departed at 10:40 hrs and hit a top speed of 300 km/hr while in transit. We arrived at Xuzhou East Railway Station after exactly 3 hrs.

After being warmly received with laughter and warm cheer, we were driven to the pipe factory. At the factory we were received by the managers responsible for quality control, exports, logistics, sales and administration.

While there we were given a general overview of the activities of the company which include the production of pipes and fittings. The detailed quality control procedures associated with production were explained. We were told that PAM China was set up to produce pipes and fittings for the local Chinese market and to supplement on the export requirements of the home company located in France. The company has a quality management system structured to the 1S0 9001:2008 standard, the 14001:2004 environment management standard as well as the 18001:2007 operational health and safety standard. In order to protect the reputation of the company’s final product’s, the attributes of the in-house quality management system extend to the outsourced products as well e.g. the gaskets required for the pipe joints.

The company has scaled up its production since its start up in China. Interesting to note was the fact that the company uses traceability codes on each pipe beyond a diameter of 600mm in its production process. This helps the company troubleshoot any pipe defects as well as monitor the performance of specific stages along the production line.

Clad in our health and safety gear, we were taken through the factory and witnessed the production of 6 meter ductile iron pipes. On completion of the day’s factory visit, we had a brief stopover at the main factory office before we headed out of the factory to check into our hotel, The Crowne Plaza Xuzhou Dalong lake located along Pengzu Avenue.

That evening, at dinner, we were served a variety of wines, beer, and water, fruits, sea food, lamb, chicken and beef all cooked Chinese style. On this day I learnt and perfected how to use chop sticks for my meals as opposed to the usual fork and knife.

Day four

On Wednesday, we returned to the factory to complete our second leg of the factory visit. We were taken through the production line for the 8 meter ductile iron pipes and visited the pipe fitting section. The 8 meter pipes are produced as an alternative for the 6 meter pipes because they are more economical e.g. for a 1 kilometer length of pipeline, 8 meter pipes require less number of pipes and fittings. A client making an order for 8 meter pipes would require only 12.5 pipes to cover a pipe stretch of 100 meters as opposed to approximately 17 pipes of 6 meter length for the same pipe stretch. We were not allowed to take photographs while visiting the production lines because pictures or videos captured within the factory and eventually circulated outside it, expose the company’s manufacturing processes to competitors. Fortunately, we were allowed to take some pictures in the pipe yard.

Figure 1: Inside a 2 meter diameter ductile iron pipe

At exactly 12:00 hrs, we were hosted to lunch at the factory premises.

Later that afternoon, one of my senior colleagues and I participated in the signing of official documents which served as objective evidence of the witness inspection visit. We departed the factory for Xuzhou East Railway Station and headed back north to Beijing. We checked into The Renaissance Beijing Wangfujing Hotel.

Day five and six

Our itinerary contained a city tour in Beijing which was organised by our travel agency. On Thursday morning, having completed the main purpose of the visit, we began our day with breakfast and left the hotel premises at 09:30hrs. With the help of a tour guide, my colleagues and I visited the Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City and the China Great Wall. The city tour of Beijing was one of the highlights of my visit to China.

Figure 2: The writer inside the Forbidden City

Figure 3: This photograph was taken outside the east end of the Forbidden City

We departed Beijing on Friday and were back home on Saturday at 13:50 hrs.

Lessons learnt

1. Prior to your travel, you will typically receive an invitation from the manufacturer. This is a very vital document because it is required to process your VISA and any other support documentation required. It might also be required by the immigration authorities at your final destination.
2. Most manufacturing processes are not static. Companies involved in the business of manufacturing periodically upgrade their production lines and modify their production processes to improve efficiency. It thus makes sense to visit these factories when the need arises.
3. It is advisable to be fluent in a foreign language – especially if you intend to do business in a foreign land. If you are to be competitive, you need to structure your businesses to accommodate a number of foreign languages. During the entire visit at the factory, the team spoke to us in English. You can imagine what would have happened if the meeting was conducted in Chinese. We would all be lost.
4. The Chinese eat lots of food but eat healthy. It is one of the reasons why statistics have proven that they live longer than the other races.

Conclusion

In case you are fortunate to have an opportunity like this I am sure you will enjoy it. And while at it, be prepared to experience the diversity of this beautiful planet that we are so privileged to be a part of.

Copyright 2015 The Builders’ Garage. Permission to use this article or quotations from it is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to thebuildersgarage.com as the source.