Hi Everyone,
I've been in preliminary talks to meet in person with our Factory Rep. Either I will be going to China or he will be coming to the USA. We're working on details. I'll keep everyone posted on the progress of this.
Regards,
John

Just curious as to the significance of this?
(not being rude.. just curious)

We can discuss issues face to face and hopefully find ways to improve service and products.

Ask him if he can guarantee consistency - of densities, bleached knots and durability with knots that are anchored securely into the base and don't unravel when they come into contact with shampoos.

Traco,
There's not a factory in the world that can make those guarantees given the intense handiwork that a hand knotted hair piece involves. There is a lot of human labor involved in these units--it always amazes me what is required to make a piece . But rest assurred that these topics will be discussed---consistency is a goal and that's why we stay with the same factory.
Regards,
John

John,
I think it's great that you are meeting with the factory rep. Density consistency has always been the biggest problem that I've noticed. Two different workers should be able to agree about the density of a piece within no more than 5%, allowing for a slight margin of error. That should be a much easier task than the much harder process of making the piece (which they already do so well). Another thing that would be great to discuss would be the various types of ventilation that they do (freestyle, flatback,...). Do they understand what we mean when we say one of these words? Sometimes I am not too sure they do, possibly because of language barriers. There is also the issue of consistency of wave pattern. Maybe pictures could be used to help communicate these different aspects.

Dino,
The factory rep speaks fairly good English. And he is very knowledgable. That's a good suggestion to bring pictures---I'll do that, thanks.
Regards,
John

I live in China now and fluent in mandarin , well of coz since i am a chinese.
Do you need a tour guide? I am interested to join.

Hi Emery,
That's very nice of you to offer! I will contact you as plans move ahead and take you up on that if the meeting is in China. Again, thank you for your kind offer.
Regards,
John

consistency is great but every person here is looking for something different. Some people like thick and full, others want smooth and not as full (me included) I think if they can give us and Toplace the options we are looking for, that would be a step to real custom hair replacement. Making sure knots are bleached, perhaps looking into a way that the hair sheds less, and bases dont tear or fray would be an interesting topic. I would love a swiss lace with the durability of french lace. I would love knot sealer already in place, but then the knots have to be well bleached and sometimes they need additional bleaching. Considering how far things have come from 20 years ago, we can suggest things that will carry forward to the future.