China

[R.G.]

I have had some extensive dealings with Chinese manufacturing, including working at the factory in China for a while.

I get a little tired of people using "made in China" as a synonym for "low quality." It's a lot like the use of "Made in Japan" for low quality before we found out in the 1980s that the Japanese make really, really high quality stuff. Detroit found this out to their detriment. Other industries - like semiconductors - found this out too.

The real problem with quality for items made in China is businessmen from the USA doing the buying. The Chinese, as a group, are as capable of high quality manufacture as anyone. But they are businessmen. When a buyer from the USA says "make it as cheap as you can", they sell him what he wants. Literally every penny gets squeezed out.

Remember USA manufacturing the 1980s? When "made in the USA" became a near-synonym for "made on Monday or Friday junk"? Pennies are squeezed out the same way in manufacturing in China, by cutting corners. But we're asking for the bottom of the barrel. It's not like it's all they can do.

We'll wake up to this, to our detriment, at some point. Don't scorn "made in China" as "junk"; be very afraid that they can do better if they want, because they can.

 

[ScrapMetal]

What you say is absolutely true (IMHO) and I've said virtually the same thing myself many times. The thing is though that "made in China" will remain a codeword for "crap" until we actually start importing their quality made items. By the time we do that manufacturing in America will be completely gone and we will have no choice but to buy the more expensive foreign made items.

-Ron

 

["Mike"]

Of course, NOW "Made In Japan" stands for "check for radioactivity"!

 

[Kennyd]

I am still leery...

If I owned XYZ Widget Manufacturing in China, and Joe America came to me build his widget with sub-standard materials and little to no quality control just so he could undercut the next guy I would refuse the business. I would would lower my standards and put my name on a product that I know is inferior. To do so shows to me the people there are just greedy and could care less as a whole. Like the pictures Charley posted in post #8 of this thread: http://www.hobby-machinist.com/showthread.php/5844-CDCO-5C-Collet-Chuck-Review?styleid=1

In the USA or CA, if a company turned out a product like that they would be out of business quickly, but in China it seems they thrive to turn out crap and sell it to the US?

Just my opinion, probably worth what you paid for it.

 

[Tony Wells]

I hope you guys keep this thread within the bounds we have established. It's not productive to encourage a discussion centered on the negative press received by Chinese (or any import) tools and equipment. it's just to turn into a defense/offense of an individual's position. We can discuss why there are reasons for the disparity in products, but let's not let it get personal.

Carry on!

 

[ScrapMetal]

No problem Tony.

Kenny, you make a point about turning away work that you feel is sub-standard and that's all fine and good (I agree for that matter) but I don't think it applies in this case. The manufacturer in China is offered a great deal of money to produce a product to the price-point required ala the buyer. It will be the "buyers" name that ends up on the product with the only indication of production being "made in China". Being that most of the industrial complex in China is at least partially owned by the government (as I understand it, not an expert on it by any means) and it's all about making a profit. I really see no down-side for said manufacturer to produce what the client is asking for.

-Ron

 

[R.G.]

I hope you guys keep this thread within the bounds we have established. It's not productive to encourage a discussion centered on the negative press received by Chinese (or any import) tools and equipment. it's just to turn into a defense/offense of an individual's position. We can discuss why there are reasons for the disparity in products, but let's not let it get personal.

Sorry - I didn't mean to kick off something that goes incindiary. Tony's right - let's not get into the "did so/did not" stuff. In fact, let's drop it entirely. I had a knee-jerk reaction.

 

[lazyLathe]

Thought i would add this bit of info!

I am on a good many other hobby machining sites, all under my same name so i am easy to find!:biggrin:

There is a company in the U.K called Arc Euro Trade that get most of their stuff made in China.
Here is a review of their latest offering, ER-32 collet blocks.
John, the guy that is reviewing them is very fussy on his tooling.
If it is not to his liking or tolerances he expects he will not recommend it.
A very straight shooter kind of guy!

From what i see the made in China with lack of quality is falling by the wayside slowly.
This is great news for us hobbyists as we will start to see great quality, affordable tools and tooling!

Anyway here is the review link:
http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/index.php?topic=18084.0

Andrew

 

[Gary Max]

The China thing I don't get------ how can the make a item and ship it around the world cheaper than we can build it.
Take plywood---I just don't get it.

 

[ScrapMetal]

The China thing I don't get------ how can the make a item and ship it around the world cheaper than we can build it.
Take plywood---I just don't get it.

You're not alone there. I have a bit of trouble wrapping my mind around that as well. It seems to me that things have to be made very cheaply, incredibly so, in order to be able to tack on the handling/shipping and still sell the product for a fraction of what a domestic product goes for.

On the other hand, they don't have to deal with all our enviromental regs, H.R. regs, health care costs, corporate taxes (ours are about the highest in the world), and liability laws.

-Ron