Is there anything that's NOT made in China?

[ComedyPilot]

Our company tried to source some large quantity components from China, but the metals used were crap quality, the finish was abyssmal, and they were not made to drawing - ie they were effectively scrap.

We now make all manufactured components in-house or with local sub-con precision engineers.

 

[ComedyPilot]

Our company tried to source some large quantity components from China, but the metals used were crap quality, the finish was abyssmal, and they were not made to drawing - ie they were effectively scrap.

We now make all manufactured components in-house or with local sub-con precision engineers.

 

[Globalti]

The problem is they are paying peanuts over there and expecting skills which have taken half a lifetime in industry to acquire in the west. One of our customers was getting profile drawings done by one of their subsidiaries in China. I've not seen one in about 6 months now which is just as well because we found so many mistakes in the geometry that we had to go back loads of times to try and get them resolved. We find the same problem with a Nigerian customer as well - real back of the fag packet stuff, and a prize pain in the arse to sort The language barrier is a real problem as well!

Don't get me going on Nigerian (or any African - even South African) customers. You get a very clear indication of the level of education and technical expertise in a country from the quality of the enquiries you receive. We regularly find ourselves defending our quality control and going almost into forensic detail to do so, whereupon it always emerges that they've changed something in their production and the product isn't working, but we get the blame. We spend a fair amount of time resolving simple technical problems for customers, who never seem to learn. The South Africans will ask the same questions again and again; they don't seem to be able to think things through.

What's really irritating is that they are operating in an environment where they are accustomed to being cheated and robbed and they automatically assume we are also cheating. The irony of it is that if we did want to cheat them, we could do so easily and they would never know.

 

[Globalti]

The problem is they are paying peanuts over there and expecting skills which have taken half a lifetime in industry to acquire in the west. One of our customers was getting profile drawings done by one of their subsidiaries in China. I've not seen one in about 6 months now which is just as well because we found so many mistakes in the geometry that we had to go back loads of times to try and get them resolved. We find the same problem with a Nigerian customer as well - real back of the fag packet stuff, and a prize pain in the arse to sort The language barrier is a real problem as well!

Don't get me going on Nigerian (or any African - even South African) customers. You get a very clear indication of the level of education and technical expertise in a country from the quality of the enquiries you receive. We regularly find ourselves defending our quality control and going almost into forensic detail to do so, whereupon it always emerges that they've changed something in their production and the product isn't working, but we get the blame. We spend a fair amount of time resolving simple technical problems for customers, who never seem to learn. The South Africans will ask the same questions again and again; they don't seem to be able to think things through.

What's really irritating is that they are operating in an environment where they are accustomed to being cheated and robbed and they automatically assume we are also cheating. The irony of it is that if we did want to cheat them, we could do so easily and they would never know.

 

[The Jogger]

The Rolls Royce factory is just up the road from here, so Rollers I suppose.
Also, New Balance running shoes .

 

[The Jogger]

The Rolls Royce factory is just up the road from here, so Rollers I suppose.
Also, New Balance running shoes .

 

[Globalti]

Everything by Hope Technology - proudly made in Barnoldswick, Lancs.

 

[Globalti]

Everything by Hope Technology - proudly made in Barnoldswick, Lancs.

 

[very-near]

Everything by Hope Technology - proudly made in Barnoldswick, Lancs.

I forgot to say that most of the machines we make our stuff on are made in Taiwan, as are the cutters

 

[very-near]

Everything by Hope Technology - proudly made in Barnoldswick, Lancs.

I forgot to say that most of the machines we make our stuff on are made in Taiwan, as are the cutters

 

[slowmotion]

Marmite

 

[slowmotion]

Marmite

 

[bauldbairn]

On quality, you should see the numbers of raw material deliveries we reject that come from China and India. We check them with gas chromatography and we find about 15% of incoming batches to be adulterated.

Ditto.

A company I worked for ordered a large electric motor(worth £60K) from a company in England, who in turn ordered it from their parent company in France, who then had it manufactured in Mumbai India.

The electric motor arrived 6 weeks late(incurring customer delay penalties) - without paperwork. Which was essentual for it's insallation in the petrochemical environment it was destined for.

To say it's manufacture was amateur is an understatement. It had so many tolerance / insulation / structural integrity issues that I rejected it immediately.

A team was dispatched from England to confirm my quality issues. The English engineers said that 90% of their work was remanufacturing failures from India. Managers flew back and forward to try to solve what was now becoming a money pit. With the final bill to them exeeding three times what we originally paid. This is true in so many British engineering Co's at the moment unfortunately.

 

[bauldbairn]

On quality, you should see the numbers of raw material deliveries we reject that come from China and India. We check them with gas chromatography and we find about 15% of incoming batches to be adulterated.

Ditto.

A company I worked for ordered a large electric motor(worth £60K) from a company in England, who in turn ordered it from their parent company in France, who then had it manufactured in Mumbai India.

The electric motor arrived 6 weeks late(incurring customer delay penalties) - without paperwork. Which was essentual for it's insallation in the petrochemical environment it was destined for.

To say it's manufacture was amateur is an understatement. It had so many tolerance / insulation / structural integrity issues that I rejected it immediately.

A team was dispatched from England to confirm my quality issues. The English engineers said that 90% of their work was remanufacturing failures from India. Managers flew back and forward to try to solve what was now becoming a money pit. With the final bill to them exeeding three times what we originally paid. This is true in so many British engineering Co's at the moment unfortunately.

 

[Night Train]

Morgan sports cars are made in the Malvern Hills.

We do need more manufacturing in Britain. We are more then able to compete in the highest quality of engineering but we don't for many reasons. We should do and we should specialise in the level of expertise that is harder to replicate in global mass manufacture.

About 14 years ago I had the option of being an importer of Chinese made engineering and workshop machines. I looked a the quality and decided I couldn't sell that level of poor quality and still have any integrity. I could have been quite well off doing it but I wouldn't like myself.