On Sat, 24 Nov 2007 16:50:50 GMT, "Edwin Pawlowski"
wrote:


"Frank Boettcher" wrote in message

I am retired earlier than I had wanted to be partly as a result of
woodworking machinery moving to china.

About 350 very good, experienced, productive friends and collegues are
similarly positioned or are working below their skill level as a
result of moving product to China. These "greedy, slothful"
individuals were making a pure killing at an average of $13.50 an hour
with an average experience level of 25 years.

While working the transition of the product to china, I got to see
first hand the differences in the component quality. I got to see
cast iron that ranged from 145 to 225 brinnell hardness replace iron
that ranged from 195 to 205. I got to see pilot lot after pilot lot
that never was machined to statistical capability, and final the
powers that be turn their heads and use it anyway. I got see
literally every batch of finished product from China reworked before
it could be distributed. I got to experience missed deliveries,
emergency air freight shipments, orders constantly on quality hold,
and these things added to the shipment costs, warranty costs that
tripled, and the overhead required to" manage" chinese purchasing, I
got to see that those anticipated "savings" never really materialized.
Maybe some day.

I understand where you are coming from. The one sentence that really stick
out is: "I got to see pilot lot after pilot lot that never was machined to
statistical capability, and final the powers that be turn their heads and
use it anyway." I have a problem with a company doing that.

I believe it happens often. Picture a company making this decision
after listening to the consultants telling them how great it's going
to be. Then they set up a time line and start to build bridging
quantities in their U. S. operations that are being shut down. Then
things don't go well with the transition. Those promises made by the
Taiwanese brokers (who are really running the show) aren't kept. The
bridging quantity gets depleted. You are facing a season with nothing
to sell. So what do you do? You sell the stuff that is not quite
right something you said in the beginning you would never do.

Frank

I'd realy like to know the answers to so many questions when companies
decide to go overseas. Profit, of course, is a big motivator, but there are
many "what ifs".

The US built tools have to compete with other major brands, such as Jet and
Grizzly. In the end, what is the real cost difference when you back out the
emergency air shipments and re-work? What happens to the company reputation
when quality drops? What happens if the US manufacturing is kept in place,
but at a reduced capacity because some sales are lost to the cheaper
competition? How many people are willing to spend $xxx more for brand D
knowing they have superior quality of a machine built by experienced
craftsmen?