Chinese companies still have a long way to go if they want to become "strategic suppliers" to western tech firms.
Chip giant Intel has just honoured over 50 of its suppliers for the quality of their processes and products, which are mostly used in the chip-making process. But I struggled in vane to find any Chinese names in the top award category.
The 12 mostly Japanese suppliers that earned Intel's supplier continuous quality improvement (SCQI) award scored at least 95% on a list of goals in areas like cost, quality, delivery and responsiveness.
Another 44 suppliers that scored better than 80% earned Intel's 2006 preferred quality supplier (PQS) recognition.
The only Chinese supplier we could find in the PQS category was Catac Electronic (Zhongshan) Co Ltd, which makes printed circuit boards for computer manufacturers in China.
In fact, it is the mainland operation of two Taiwanese electronics companies, Mitac International and Catac Electronic, so its attention to quality issues has likely been instilled by its Taiwanese parents rather than home-grown.
Chinese companies are not yet a major force in supplying much of the specialist equipment used to make chips, so we should not draw too big a conclusion from the results.
But I can't help thinking that there is a real opportunity for western companies and consultancies skilled in quality management practices to sell their services and expertise in China.
