I went to China twice last year and visited 7 ARTF factories in 3 different regions of China.
The quality standard of all but one was surprisingly high. All had CNC Laser cutting equipment and CAD stations for the design. The asssembly areas were on the whole pretty clean and well lit and the workers did not seem to be under any undue pressure. They had radios going on their work benches and it all seemed pretty relaxed.
All the laser-cut parts were assembled in a jig before gluing up. And at 6 of the factories there was a quality gut checling the alignment of the fuzz wing mounting to the tail using straight alignment gauges. But it was the dexterity of the workers that has to be seen to be believed. The way the girls cover a model is unbelievable, sooo fast and acurate.
All in all I was pleasantly surprised, and talking to the factory owners and technical managers I was able to discuss openly and influence the design of several models where I saw improvements could be made. They all seemed very keen to take these ideas on board and to improve their products over their competitors.
I will be returning again later this year looking at more models and factories.
The pictures below show the alighnent being checked and the covering area of one of the factories.
Cheers
Pete
www.planenutz.co.uk