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Father of the Green Revolution dies

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Norman Borlaug – the man who enabled the growth of the globalized world more than any other – has died.

“Borlaug was the Father of the Green Revolution, the dramatic improvement in agricultural productivity that swept the globe in the 1960s. For spearheading this achievement, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970.”

Whether you think the Green Revolution was a good thing or not, it is impossible to make the case that the world could have developed as rapidly as it has in the last 40 years without a revolution in agriculture. China would still be spending 50% of its time (as many in India and Africa still do) just trying to meet its daily caloric needs, were it not for the new strains of rice and wheat Borlaug pioneered. The result is a China that has risen from gruesome poverty and overcome crippling political orthodoxy in less than 30 years to become the 4th largest economy in the world. However, such rapid growth creates a system that is anything but systemic. China for all its success is barely-controlled chaos. This is where PassageMaker’s core services – Sourcing Feasibility Studies, Vendor Coordination, Assembly-Inspection-Packaging and Factory Formation – allow our customers to find safe harbor in the storm.

China’s Fuzzy Math…Who do you trust?

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“China’s growth figures fail to add up” says the headline. And the sky is blue, you say?

“China’s gross domestic product figures are among the world’s most closely watched since they can move markets or boost hopes of an imminent recovery.

But the latest set of first-half numbers provided by provincial-level authorities are far higher than the central government’s national figure, raising fresh questions about the accuracy of statistics in the world’s most populous nation.”

China has made great strides (herculean is a better word) over the past three decades catching up to the rest of the world, but its statistical reporting, shall we say…lags. Just a bit. The USA’s is laughable at times as well, so I am not picking on the Chinese.

So what does one do when you can’t trust the official numbers from the Chinese provinces? The same thing you do when you are skeptical of numbers posted in other countries (did I mention the USA “unemployment rate”?). You go and have a look for yourself; you do your own research; you dig around for the truth. But what with the cost and indignities of international travel, how much better to have an “office” in China to do such looking and watching for you. That is precisely why PassageMaker developed the idea of the Sourcing Feasibility Study. If you could trust everything you read on a sourcing website, getting your products made in China would be a snap. But of course just as the “official” numbers are rarely accurate the first time out, you have about an equal chance of finding a fully qualified vendor on a typical sourcing website as you do finding true love on an internet dating site. And are you gullible enough to give your credit card number and banking information to that lovely lady you just met online? Think before answering…

Excellence is the consistent execution of a good plan. PassageMaker’s Sourcing Feasibility Study allows you to see a range of qualified vendors, not just somebody’s cousin’s stamping factory or their best friend from high school’s plastics shop. In this way, we help you establish the true “China price” from solid supply chain partners, without hidden mark-ups. By controlling which vendors see your design, we protect your IP, and by acting as a “Quality Gate” we make sure you only pay for good product.

Combining PassageMaker’s services with those of our friends at China Quality Focus (factory audits) and GloBIS (financial due diligence), and you can get a very clear picture of your Chinese supply chain.

Our motto is TRUST & TRANSPARENCY, so you know you can count on our figures!

Father of the Green Revolution dies

/0 Comments/in /by

Norman Borlaug – the man who enabled the growth of the globalized world more than any other – has died.

“Borlaug was the Father of the Green Revolution, the dramatic improvement in agricultural productivity that swept the globe in the 1960s. For spearheading this achievement, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970.”

Whether you think the Green Revolution was a good thing or not, it is impossible to make the case that the world could have developed as rapidly as it has in the last 40 years without a revolution in agriculture. China would still be spending 50% of its time (as many in India and Africa still do) just trying to meet its daily caloric needs, were it not for the new strains of rice and wheat Borlaug pioneered. The result is a China that has risen from gruesome poverty and overcome crippling political orthodoxy in less than 30 years to become the 4th largest economy in the world. However, such rapid growth creates a system that is anything but systemic. China for all its success is barely-controlled chaos. This is where PassageMaker’s core services – Sourcing Feasibility Studies, Vendor Coordination, Assembly-Inspection-Packaging and Factory Formation – allow our customers to find safe harbor in the storm.