Technology compared to quality

[baileyuph]

In review, do upholstery products appear to come from higher tech capabilities today than they did many years ago?

Most involved in furniture, automotive, marine, or perhaps something else related, see items manufactured under higher tech capabilities compared to times past.  Interiors are sewn with equipments that most small custom shops do not use in the aftermarket, we see perfect french seams, gathered seams, and designs are for the most part much more intricate.  Some of these boat interiors are rather glamorous, as well as pillow backs in furniture, just to point out a few things.

That said, what comes to mind is; yes, much higher technology out there in the manufacturing setting but does all this correlate with higher quality?

That issue would get a resounding No!

Now, why is it ironic that technology has marched forward but quality is reduced along the way?

Any ideas, philosophy as to why the manufacturing/marketing scene/ has migrated to this posture?  Why doesn't higher technological capabilites directly resulted into higher quality products (specific upholstering)?

What are your ideas about this............give it some thought and provide your thoughts along this matter.

Doyle

[crammage]

My personal opinion is that things are designed to move off the showroom floor as quickly as possible with little consideration of durability.  With all of the computer aided designs they have precision cuting and sewing capabilities but the quality of the materials lack durability of the long run.

We bought a sofa about 5 years ago, looks good on the showroom floor.  Now the cushions are the kind where the finish fabric is only on the top and you can't flip them over to help with wearability.  The front edges are now a 1/4 of the way down the front of where the boxing should be.  The foam is not supporting the edge any longer.  The worst thing we don't even use the sofa that much, only when we're watching TV together which is maybe 5 hours a week on average. 

In summary, the highest quality manufacturing techniques are still only as good as the quality of materials used to produce the goods.

Clay

[timtheboatguy]

We live in a throw away society which seems ironic when you contrast that with the obsession to save the enviroment and recycle everthing today. Everthing has a life span engineered into these days.

When I was a kid we did not throw away milk, soda or beer bottles, they all went back to the store when you bought more. My father once bought a used refridgerator at a yard sale back in 1970 for $15. He sold it last year for $40. it was still working and had never been serviced!

Getting back to the topic of upholstery; from my experience in the boat industry, I see improvement with the roto plastic seat frames where they used to be plywood. The designs and shapes are more complex than they were thrty years ago which makes it harder for guys like us working with more primitive tools and equipment.

I agree with Clay; things are built to move off the showroom floor and this is because we don't need things to last long as we are constantly being bombarded with advertising telling us we need the newest and latest stuff. People do not buy furniture or appliances with the expectation to never replace them as did my grandparents. My wife and I have been married twenty-five years and I cannot think of one piece of furniture that we have today that we started with.

[baileyuph]

What is actually driving the situation of "low quality goods", specifically furniture and other upholstered items?

We, on this board, have commented that furniture manufacturing is technically advanced today (quality different issue) and is much advanced over small reupholstery business (most cases anyway).

That description is a pretty favorable stage set, products put out by the industries are impresssive in the show room.  But, the bad news is, they do not last long enough in most cases.

Reiterating, we have all this impressive capability to build nice things, and equally important, if nice looking QUALITY items can be built using current advanced technology, why aren't they being built?

What is actually driving the situation of poor quality in the things consumers buy and continue to complain about?  

What controls what manufacturers build?  What controls what consumers buy?

In a word, why are consumers buying the impressive cheap furniture instead of the domestic higher quality items.  In recent years, less than 10, the furniture retailers that have gone out of business have been those that sold only quality built upholstered furniture.  

Isn't there some truth in the message here, that consumers are driving the siutation of lower qualtiy furniture being made and sold today?

There is a saying that if people didn't buy it, it wouldn't be built.

Another general point to consider;  40 years ago, people bought high quality built sofas ( prices ranged from $500 to $800).  Today, they are still buying sofas built with higher sophistication, from higher tech capabilities, and are still paying $500 to $800.

What's wrong with this picture, cars during the same period have gone from $2500 a copy to somewhere around $25,000 or more?

Well, if cars have inflated by a factor of close to "10" why haven't sofas?

Again, I am reminded that if consumers did not buy, manufacturer's would not build.

Is it unreasonable to think that if it takes 10 times as much to buy a new car, then it would require at least something like that to purchase a new higher quality sofa?  Meaning the price range could be above $5000 (as a starting point) for a decent quality sofa.

We have all this high powered technology to build, but the market place doesn't demand quality, in the equation, (it doesn't sell).  There is more than one reason driving our situation.

Interesting dilema!

Doyle

[byhammerandhand]

I agree with that completely, but there's also workmanship (and engineering). The typical upholstered frame is now stapled together (even if it's CNC cut out).   Often there are too few (not enough to hold), too many (compromising the integrity of the material), or staples that simply miss the underlying layer.    My last job today was to repair a number of pieces of upholstered and casegoods.   One, a buffet, had a top that flipped over to make a "serving surface".    The panels on both left and right side were loose.   I determined they were screwed onto the carcase (with drywall screws!)   Some of the screws were loose, some were tightened too much and stripped out the MDF underneath, and some were never inserted, just an empty, unused hole.   

Remember, that in many cases, the person assembling and finishing this furniture was tending a farm a few months ago, and will be back there in the next year or two.

I spend most of my day repairing this stuff.

My personal opinion is that things are designed to move off the showroom floor as quickly as possible with little consideration of durability.  With all of the computer aided designs they have precision cuting and sewing capabilities but the quality of the materials lack durability of the long run.

We bought a sofa about 5 years ago, looks good on the showroom floor.  Now the cushions are the kind where the finish fabric is only on the top and you can't flip them over to help with wearability.  The front edges are now a 1/4 of the way down the front of where the boxing should be.  The foam is not supporting the edge any longer.  The worst thing we don't even use the sofa that much, only when we're watching TV together which is maybe 5 hours a week on average. 

In summary, the highest quality manufacturing techniques are still only as good as the quality of materials used to produce the goods.

Clay

[brmax]

1 yes
1a electronic capabilities on sew machines, hot knifes, foam etc.
2 somewhat
3 not realy- but recycled circle if thats the game
4 quantity not a related quality
4b no one could afford the products

Ideas uh, Thoughts i got - old booth seats, mooring covers, burbon chairs,
cool bucket seats, bike & atv seats, marine vinyl and water.  I have always seen people qualify these as worth while and maintain way more than they or i should have.

answer - a lot more of us are in the same range of income

[Rich]

MY .02; I think those who take the American pulse and determine what gets made and how, are responding to a culture that is looking for stuff to fill a sense that something is missing in their lives. They want this stuff and advertisers have actually convinced them that they NEED this stuff. They can't afford the real stuff, so they settle for a reasonable facsimile. Long lasting? Nah, it just has to look appealing in the showroom and hold the promise of satisfying that need to fill what's missing. Of course, the satisfaction never lasts very long and that leaves the door open for the next novelty. Just look at the long  lines gathering overnight for the latest electronic gadget and you get an idea of what I mean.
Rich

[Mojo]

Funny you mention this Rich. When I started my career in marketing I had a wise man tell me " marketing and sales is all based on psychology. The good marketer knows how to get inside the consumers head and make them understand they need a product ".

Chris

[sofadoc]

I would change ONE word in that statement:

Funny you mention this Rich. When I started my career in marketing I had a wise man tell me " marketing and sales is all based on psychology. The good marketer knows how to get inside the consumers head and make them think they need a product ".