XQ Manufacturing Group Blog

RMB Evaluation

shaffett — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 07:32:45 +0000

This summer China announced a more flexible policy regarding the appreciation of the Yuan. Early assumptions held that it would lead to a year end exchange rate of $1 = 6.5, but so far the effects have been minimal as the RMB has hovered between last year’s norm of 6.8 and 6.7. We believe the best productions have the RMB ending the year around 6.6 to the dollar. For XQ Manufacturing customers we will do our best to hold our prices steady amidst any small changes in the RMB and pass on whatever minimal savings may be gained from the effect of RMB evaluation on raw material prices.

New Equipment!

shaffett — Mon, 17 May 2010 01:32:21 +0000

XQ Manufacturing keeps expanding our in-house production facilities. Our most recent purchases include, a hydraulic fabric/leather/paper half ton cutting press (ideal for complex or non-woven bags), 5 more heavy duty sewing machines, and several heat transfer presses. We hope our expanded production facility will help us all the better serve your needs.

Announcing Dean & Jake Children’s Book

shaffett — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 12:03:49 +0000

XQ Manufacturing are proud to announce the publication of “Dean & Jake” by our friend Eddie Ritz. Dean & Jake is a wonderfully illustrated story of a boy and his dog’s imaginative daily journeys. Dean & Jake is the 2nd title published by Design Revolutions Media through XQ Manufacturing. Copies are available in Feb. 2010, so visit their website www.designrevolutionsmedia.com today!

CPSIA – Product and Children’s Product Safty Requirements for USA

shaffett — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 01:50:01 +0000

CPSIA (Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act) and our China Manufactured Product
For those of you unclear about compliance with the developing changes to the recent CPSIA law, join the club. In December of 2009 Congress and the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced new aspects effecting standards, enforcement and delays in enforcement. Here is our summary of what you need to know as it stands at the moment.
Labeling – all products primarily intended for kids 12 and under should have a pertinent label on the packaging and internally that includes the following:
Date of production, a Batch or lot number for tracking purposes, information to identify the manufacturer or the importer (RN number or business name), information of manufacturer (this may be an internal ID number so as not to unecessarily disclose unnecessary information to clients), location info (beyond the standard ‘Made in China’ label it appears standard practice will become adding a city name).
Clothing items much carry labels while some other products may be exempt from inner labeling if labeling the item is not practical such as wooden blocks.
A General Certificate of Conformity issued by the importer declaring the product confirms to current standards will be required with import paperwork for children’s products. A summary of the form and what it must include is here http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/faq/elecertfaq.pdf. Currently, certain high risk children’s products such as cribs must have accompanying 3rd party testing certification, while commonplace items such as toys and clothing do not need 3rd party certification with some exceptions such as children’s jewelery and surface paint lead tests (not to be confused with overall lead content testing). General testing catagories and a list of CPSA qualified testing labs can be found here http://www.cpsc.gov/cgi-bin/labapplist.aspx. Regardless of testing certification the importer is still liable that the products meet product safety standards such as overall lead content or phthalates in plastic or plasticol screen printing inks. This combined with the fact that many retailers now require such certification regardless of delays in enforcement of this policy, we recommend component testing for all elements of children’s clothing. Most of the ink lines we screen print with already have existing documentation on their lead content. The CPSIA has recognized that most fabrics such as cotton do not have a risk of any lead content and thus may be exempt from testing on a long term basis.

The CPSIA is still a work in progress and each product designed for Children 12 and under needs to be individually examined to evaluate potential CPSIA conformity. As a manufacturer we strive to work ahead of the changes in this law and protect our customers from any unseen vulnerabilities. Please feel free to ask how we can help with CPSIA compliance in your next project.

Chinese New Year

shaffett — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 02:56:22 +0000

Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year will be arriving on Feb 14th this year. XQ manufacturing will be off the 13th through the 21st. Chinese customs and shippers will be shutting down during that same time or slightly before. Most of our material suppliers will be off from approximately Feb 7th to Feb. 25th. Please keep all this in mind when placing orders as it may effect ready dates.

ISF Regulations

shaffett — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 09:44:57 +0000

With the start of the New Year, our US clients need to be aware that the ISF importing filing regulations for ocean shipments are now being enforced with the threat of a $5000 fine for non-compliance for importers. The list of 10+2 items needing to be filed is required 24 hours before your cargo gets on a boat in the shipping port so advanced coordination with your manufacturer is essential. The ISF 10+2 list includes:

1. Seller’s name and address
2. Buyer’s name and address
3. Importer’s EIN or IRS number (Social Security number if importing as a private individual)
4. Consignee’s EIN or IRS number (Social Security number if importing as a private individual)
5. Manufacturer’s name and address
6. Ship to name and address
7. Country of origin for all products
8. Product HTS numbers (at least first 6 digits)
9. Container stuffing location
10. Consolidator’s name and address
Additionally, the bill of lading number must be referenced in the document (the additional +2 items will be filled by the freight company).

This information needs to be transmitted to your broker or agent and submitted to customs at least 24 hours before the containers are loaded on the boat to be compliant, so again, prompt communication from all parties the week of shipping is essential.

For XQ Manufacturing customers the ISF page is included as the 3rd tab of your electronic invoice which will be sent to you at least 48 hours in advance of your goods being loaded. You should double check it for accuracy and make sure there is no additional information that needs filled in such as your EIN number. If you have any questions please let us know and we will do our best to assist.

Inventory Clearance

shaffett — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 05:39:37 +0000

As we approach the end of 2009, XQ is prepared to offer some attractive prices on the following items as a result of canceled orders and excess inventory from our partners:
1) About 1000 knit caps (beanies) currently blank and ready for your embroidered or screen print design.
2) About 3000 black knit caps and baseball caps with various national flags sewn on them (already at a U.S. location).
3) Beautiful evening/formal/prom dresses. 130 pieces in various sizes, colors and styles.
4) 10,000+ medium to medium heavy weight coats. Polyester lining and padding, with 82% poly/12% polyamide shell. Available for $11.50 FOB China.
5) 100% cotton canvas material suitable for bags such as beach totes, promotional totes, etc. 8 colors available to choose from.

We look forward to serving you!

TV notoriety

shaffett — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 01:43:20 +0000

Recently our company achieved an amusing mark of achievement in cooperation with one of our customers. The only preface needed for the video is that the product shown was proudly made by XQ Manufacturing!

Factory Expansion

shaffett — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 07:36:46 +0000

XQ Manufacturing Group is excited to announce our move to new facilities on the south side of Shenyang. We have tripled our floor space while providing for much greater flexibility and production volume. Recent small machinery purchases include new sewing machines, industrial ironing station, additional fabric cutting machinery and extended cutting table, refurbished a redesigning of our woodworking facilities, and various additions to our warehouse and packaging facilities