Precision Matthews imports to UK/Europe (it's about electricity!)

[pontiac428]

This is why I don’t sell direct in the UK since they Brexited. It is somewhat true when the EU changed their rules soon after. But I can still sell to my dealers without the restrictions and red tape, just not direct sales to customers even though the US is supposedly exempt. It’s more about protectionist tariffs than electricity.

Precisely, the factories in the mainland and Taiwan are certainly capable of meeting power standards.

All of the things that I did while wheeling and dealing in Europe were made significantly easier because of the EC. I could charter trucking from all over the continent for very low rates compared to the US. Even more amazing was having access to Poland and Czech markets. Unfortunately, none of that helps you, Brexit killed any easy trade to your island, you can't just drive onto the Calais ferry with capital equipment in the boot of your MG Sprite and wave at the customs officer without stopping on the way out.

 

[graham-xrf]

This is why I don’t sell direct in the UK since they Brexited. It is somewhat true when the EU changed their rules soon after. But I can still sell to my dealers without the restrictions and red tape, just not direct sales to customers even though the US is supposedly exempt. It’s more about protectionist tariffs than electricity.

We were fed a series of soul-less lies about how a main reason for leaving the EU was to lose all the red tape and regulations. In fact, EU regulations, working in common across all the countries, ends up far more compact and efficient than the UK Brexit propaganda painted it. I got snagged by a blizzard of paperwork and charges from the British side because I purchased my mill from Poland too close to the exit date.

We do not have to go into the variety of other motivations for why the Brexit faction were urging exit. Wikipedia is good for that. We ended up with zero trade deals other than the most basic arrangements available worldwide. It has been a disaster! Even though now, a majority of Brits think it was a mistake, but it was fought so hard, and for so long, that there is not much will to do anything about it. It was too big to undo, and would take many years to fix. Most no longer want to hear more about Brexit from anyone. The split was near 50-50. Perhaps a prime lesson in why, if more than a third are against a change, it's too many to embark upon a major structural change.

I would not import if the home-grown stuff was good, and affordable. What happened in UK has only loaded things into territory even less affordable, blighted by more red tape, paperwork, charges and regulation than ever. It would be nice to have kit available from Shars, or McMaster-Carr, and this is possible, but at a premium.

 

[pontiac428]

New equipment has significant value added compared to used equipment, so the tarriffs should be a lot lower on old iron. How much did they hit your wallet for when your mill hit ground? I'm really curious, there's a huge difference between 15% and 50% on the subjective value of a machine.

Now that I think about it, I've viewed many listings on Machinio.com from the continent, but I have never seen listings from the UK.

I suppose if it gets real bad, you can do what I did and decide whether you want a car or a lathe. One of those has many options for living without, especially if you've built a lifestyle out of it...

 

[matthewsx]

When I ran my kart business there were trans-shippers (mostly located in Florida for customers in Brazil).

They would take delivery of items sourced in the US and deal with the paperwork required to import them into whatever country the end user needed them in.

Perhaps a business opportunity for someone newly retired????

John

 

[C-Bag]

We were fed a series of soul-less lies about how a main reason for leaving the EU was to lose all the red tape and regulations.

I don’t get the context of “soul-less lies”, but we were all blitzed by truly Orwellian propaganda. By its very nature it has to cause outrage repeatedly to bypass reason. Everybody wants equity and balance so holding that out in the name of that elusive buzzword freedom has made for the biggest bait and switch in recent history.

I was told by one of my UK past customers that the real move was to privatize the collection of taxes to obscure/hijack its collection. I’ve never been a financial wiz and have no way of knowing but it sounds just as plausible as any other theory out there. I can see how the whole retched process also took the fight out of everyone. Like the rat swimming in a beaker of water it will tread almost indefinitely. But pull it out and hold it still until it stops struggling. When you put it back in the water it won’t even try to tread water and just sink.

What truly brings it home and feels the worst is not being able to just retreat into the shop and envelope oneself in the simple act of using your brain and hands letting this madness recede. I’ve been able to ride along on the discards of our de industrialization that somehow didn’t make it to the scrapper yet. But it took a lot of patience coupled with lesser expectations as to the condition of my used but not totally abused machines.

 

[rabler]

I have little doubt that @graham-xrf could engineer his way around power issues. Regulatory and tariff issues are another matter.

The obvious solution is for him to come to the states, take possession here and ship it to himself. And get in a bit of gliding time while here.

(Obvious and practical are two different things, in case you missed the intended jest).

 

[7milesup]

PM is known for their in house inspection and setup. They could probably easily source their machines in Asia and have them shipped directly to a distributor in Europe. But, how would they duplicate the QC process they have here?

Also, with the constant backlog they have already it would be hard to justify adding new markets to further increase demand. Long lead times would get even longer, and customers wouldn’t like it.

That is precisely what I was thinking too. They can't keep up with the current situation and yet would like to expand. Whenever a business does that, it usually ends in disaster.

 

[verbotenwhisky]

The question ..
On 6/11/2023 2:52 PM, Graham wrote:

The answer ..
Hi Mark,
Unfortunately, we are not currently able to sell to/ship orders to the UK and we do not have a UK distributor either. This is because our current machinery models are only designed and built to run off one of the North American power supplies and no others. But in the next couple of years we do hope to have a few distributors in the UK as well as carry models that can run off of the UK and European power supplies without issue. And as soon as we do have these models available, we will announce the news directly on our website for all customers to see. I apologize for not being able to assist you in your current machinery needs but please keep checking back for any news and updates. And please have a great rest of the week.
Thank you,
John
Precision Matthews Machinery Co. - Sales
1060 Montour West Industrial Park
Coraopolis, PA 15108
Ph# 412-787-2876
www.precisionmatthews.com

Hmm..
Our power supplies are 220V (like Spain) through about 235V (like UK) and similar throughout Europe. Many USA folk use the 220V/240V connection that draws from both 110V phases to drive machinery, because the currents are halved, and the line losses quartered. You don't need such thick copper wires.

Are absolutely all PM machines 110V?
(Also - I don't know who Mark is)

60Hertz vs 50hertz likely

 

[graham-xrf]

I don’t get the context of “soul-less lies”, but we were all blitzed by truly Orwellian propaganda. By its very nature it has to cause outrage repeatedly to bypass reason. Everybody wants equity and balance so holding that out in the name of that elusive buzzword freedom has made for the biggest bait and switch in recent history.

You have it about right! To keep within the spirit of HM norms, I need not directly mention the personalities, and we have the advantage that this began 7 years ago, taking about 4 years to complete. So here then is one of the (lies). It was so spectacular an obvious untruth that anyone with even an approximate notion of arithmetic and how big is a million of anything would know. It was still enough to provide those who would leave for less admirable motives a temporary rationalization.



https://metro.co.uk/2017/04/27/here...ng-the-brexit-bus-350million-lie-was-6600987/



My modest mill was at the customs warehouse, needing various taxes and duties. For @pontiac428, I need to go back and remind myself of the charges which I don't have handy right now. I remember I was shelling out in 3 figures.

I was told by one of my UK past customers that the real move was to privatize the collection of taxes to obscure/hijack its collection. I’ve never been a financial wiz and have no way of knowing but it sounds just as plausible as any other theory out there. I can see how the whole retched process also took the fight out of everyone. Like the rat swimming in a beaker of water it will tread almost indefinitely. But pull it out and hold it still until it stops struggling. When you put it back in the water it won’t even try to tread water and just sink.

What truly brings it home and feels the worst is not being able to just retreat into the shop and envelope oneself in the simple act of using your brain and hands letting this madness recede. I’ve been able to ride along on the discards of our de industrialization that somehow didn’t make it to the scrapper yet. But it took a lot of patience coupled with lesser expectations as to the condition of my used but not totally abused machines.

The real cost to this country has been huge, and it is ongoing. Those who did this, if not incompetent, probably did not really care, because they had more selfish aims. Most HM members in USA will happily hop in their car, and take a ride out of state to fetch some great machine they secured a deal on. Before 2018, if I wanted to, I could also drive across Europe, put a lathe on a trailer, and get waved in at the Dover port. That can't happen any more. Now, the M20 to Folkestone and Dover becomes a huge queue of supply chain trucking and fed-up folk wanting a holiday in France.

 

[C-Bag]

Those who did this, if not incompetent, probably did not really care, because they had more selfish aims.

This has always been the hardest part for me. I’m just a guy who works hard with his hands but it doesn’t mean I’m stupid. I just enjoy what I do and try not to get too involved with the “P” word as it seems to me for most of my life things kind of have a way of evening out over time. But I just don’t see what the end goal of all of this is. The swings have gotten more extreme with the fallout harder and harder to recover from. I just don’t get how far above it all you have to get to make sense of it? Or is it just chaos for the sake of chaos?

It became apparent to me I was going to do like I’ve always done and find a work around like buying these kits that are used low cost Chinese machines and upgrade as needed. But this seems to be going the way of the dodo too as prices keep skyrocketing and dragging the used market with them. Just keep my focus on my todo list and keep keeping on I guess.