China

[Kennyd]

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

Bingo Ron, you hit the nail on the head. Government is making it nearly impossible for US companies to compete globally-even locally in most cases.

 

[randyjaco]

Hey RG,
I am not trying to be cute, but how does one access the quality stuff from China? I can't really say that I have seen a quality tool made in the Peoples' Republic. I have seen some good stuff from Taiwan. Are there distributors here in the US? We can eliminate Harbor Freight 8^)

Randy

 

[R.G.]

I am not trying to be cute, but how does one access the quality stuff from China? I can't really say that I have seen a quality tool made in the Peoples' Republic. I have seen some good stuff from Taiwan. Are there distributors here in the US? We can eliminate Harbor Freight

I wish I could tell you. First you have to have a distributor willing to place a million-dollar (literally) bet on being able to make a decent profit, and a bigger profit for their million by going quality than by going cheap. That's a tough sell in the USA market. The experience of Japanese cars being better quality has not seemed to trickle down to the tools market like it did to the auto market.

Grizzly and Jet are almost-starters there. Their rep is "better than HF"; their prices are higher. If the market overall wanted that, HF would go bust, or get better quality.

I don't have a good answer for you. But I have toured and worked in factories in China and dealt with engineers who earned my respect as an engineer. I've seen some amazing CNC manufacturing equipment side by side with workers hand-fitting stuff. I did that as part of my day job designing electronics. The company I work for manufactures in China. We get quality the hard way: you design the very best you can, work really hard at getting the factory to understand what's needed and acceptable, and then *keep on working* with them until you close out the product line.

We need to find a distributor that's hanging on in spite of customers spending hours online searching for another dollar cheaper per unit; more likely, we need to convince one to take it up. Then support them.

I for one wish I could buy a new South Bend, wherever it's made.

 

[ScrapMetal]

I'd be willing to bet that there are dealers/exporters in Hong Kong that one could get quality items from. Maybe ask some of the Aussie guys here. They may know.

-Ron

 

[randyjaco]

I guess that until there is a Chinese "Lexus" brand that is successful, we will continue to get cheap and inferior 8^(

Randy

 

[ScrapMetal]

I guess that until there is a Chinese "Lexus" brand that is successful, we will continue to get cheap and inferior 8^(

Randy

I think it's more, "as long as the American consumer continues to clamor for cheap and inferior, we will contine to get cheap and inferior"

-Ron

 

[12bolts]

I'd be willing to bet that there are dealers/exporters in Hong Kong that one could get quality items from. Maybe ask some of the Aussie guys here. They may know.

-Ron

Nah Ron,
To the best of my knowledge we are in the same boat as the US.
Unfortuanately Made in China=POS.
I would be happy to find a supplier of quality Chinese made products.
I also dont get how we can chop down our trees, sell them to China, and buy them back as finished products, be it paper or building materials. Or ship in fresh fruit or vegetables from South America to Australia and sell them for less than the local farmers can produce them for

Cheers Phil

 

[Tony Wells]

How they do it is probably more than we want to know, really. Why seems to me to be that the world's consumers (not just USA) are trying their best to survive in a struggling world economy, while still having "stuff". If everyone in the world who supports this type of economy gave up having every new gadget that comes around, things would change. People seem to accept throw-away goods, and reckon that since the price seems "cheap", it makes up for it. After all, what exits now that won't be "obsolete" in 6 months?

As long as people are willing to buy inferior goods, people will find ways to buy them for resale at prices that allow for profit. That's the Capitalist way. It's a downward spiral, to a point where people simply decide they are really wasting money. Then the push will come for higher quality, and not everyone can or will be able to buy. The haves and have-nots will distinguish themselves. Only when people stop buying cheap goods, for whatever reason, will this cycle be broken. I'm not thinking it will end soon.

 

[Tony Wells]

Well, it's certainly not due to any one thing, and developed over time and interplay with the world economy. It's not just the US, I guess is my take on it. It always seems like it's an Us vs Them kind of thing, but I don't think so.

 

[NevadaBlue]

Well, I wouldn't have any machine tools if I had to buy US made stuff. My lathe, mills, drill press, and small bandsaw are China made. They work fine for my hobby needs. I do have a small shaper that was made here during WWII and a large bandsaw that is US made. The saw is fine, but no better than a China product.
If one doesn't have access to large money or used US equipment, there isn't much choice.