Sewing Machine Upgrade

[Mojo]

China is the new Japan of yesteryear.

Alot of the stuff that came out of Japan years ago was junk. People despised anything made in Japan as it was considered crap and manufactured with no standards. Heck the cars back then that came from Japan landed in the USA and the rust cycle had already started. The metal was so bad that entire frames and bodies would rust out in a couple short years. I had a Datsun 240Z that had the frame rust in half and it wasn't that old.

Somewhere along the line Japan got on a quality kick and everything made in japan was of higher standards. Sony TV's were the best you could buy and lasted years. Look at their cars - Toyota for example. They held the # 1 spot for reliability for a long time. Look at Hyundai. Talk about a turn around. Their earlier cars were POS. Now days they make one of the most reliable cars available here. I just bought a Sonata for the wife actually and we both love the car.

I wonder if China will follow the same path and make a large move upward in quality. My Chandler, made in China, seems to be a very well made machine and I have had no issues with it at all. My Tuffsew ( Thompson ) was made in China and was complete junk. The tolerances were so bad it was laughable. The casting of parts looked like a kid did them. But the Chandler is completely different. It makes one believe that the importing companies that contract production out of China has a lot of input into quality.

I suspect India will follow suit once that country modernizes and comes on line and starts manufacturing more products. It is interesting to watch production of common goods being moved around the globe. First from the USA to Japan, then to China and Mexico and now to India. I did buy some tools made in India and I much prefer those to the ones made in China. They seemed better quality.

Did anyone see that a brand new company just started making TV sets ? They are all made in the USA and inside a brand new factory. They are sold out and their production is fully booked out. Maybe we have gone full circle. :)

Chris

[baileyuph]

Chris your overview is generally the situation in a word. 

China isn't going to be a main driver in the international economy, it already is and they are quite capable of producing high quality stuff.  There ace in the hole today is a cheap but highly competitive work force.  They can produce good quality and do work cheap.

What you say about India and their economic thrust is true, economist have predicted this would happen for years now.  They also are a very intelligent work force who will work for peanuts. 

There is nothing the "uppidity" countries can do but cut labor cost if they want to compete.  If we don't compete then we already see what will happen, first we live off the government then after that back is broken, then we become a Greece.

This will draw all kinds of comments, but to get this country back into manufacturing where labor is required we first have to lower our wage standards and "want" to be a production stalwart again.  If we can manufacture without labor, meaning develop machines that will practically take the labor cost out, we will be back in business again.

This idea if we get a better team in Washington is not all bad but Washington can't do us much good in this arena except stop taxing and get out of the way (reduce the size of government).

That's enough, this is an upholstery discussion board. 

Regarding the sewing machines coming out of China, I see no reason they can't be good.  I am sure some today are good. China, India, and there are others with a very intelligent labor force are a major factor that other countries will have to deal with today and in the future. 

There are several bottom lines to all this but one is but whatever, unions are not the savior for our workers today.  It isn't because they have bad ideas, it is because our competition is beating their brains out!

There is no loyalty today, price sells, and the numbers are bigger when the products are just as good, no matter who makes them, like Chris is saying.

Gone!

Doyle

[sofadoc]

I wonder if China will follow the same path and make a large move upward in quality.

Probably. And when that day comes, China will drastically increase their prices.
Their workers will get tired of working for pennies, and demand decent wages, just like Japan did.
I thought Hyundai was Korean? My daughter bought a Hyundai back in '05. The engine blew at 90K. My other daughter has 160K on her Toyota, still runs like new.

While I worked at Texas Instruments in the late 70's, the company began trying to instill the Japanese work ethic in all of it's employees. We went to motovational seminars, watched films, and were given literature to read.
All I got from it was that they were trying to get the most amount of work for the least amount of money. It didn't catch on here. And it wasn't long after, that the Japanese workers rebelled as well.

[Mojo]

Dennis, Hyundai is a Korean car builder. Their earlier models were complete junk. They went back to the drawing board and put in place much higher quality standards but because their name was poor in the USA they had to offer the best warranty in the business - 10 years / 100 K miles. 5 years bumper to bumper. They either upped their quality or went out of business as their name was a liability due to poor quality during their USA launch.

I think we are starting to see the rebellion in Chinese workers already. Due to public pressure in the USA and European countries, the living/working standards of their workers is under a microscope so companies such as Apple, Nike, Adidas, etc. are demanding from their manufacturers in China better pay and working/living conditions for the workers. If nothing more then to avoid a public relations scandal that has already hit several of these companies and in some cases resulted in boycotts of their products back here and in Europe.

Once the Chinese starts upping the pay and working conditions of their employees I cannot help but think they will start losing a little of their competitive edge. Other countries are already starting to knock on China's door - Vietnam, India, Indonesia, etc.

Still many foreign corporations have huge investments in Chinese factories so I do not see anything changing very fast. What will have the biggest impact on Chinese competitiveness in the world will be their currency. if they ever let their currency go wild and quit manipulating it like they do then you will see a loss of some of their ability to produce and compete on price.

Many US corporations have a foot hold in China not because they can produce products at cheap
prices but also because they have the largest consumer market in the world. 1 billion people can make for some pretty hefty sales. :)

We have mentioned China, India, Taiwan, Vietnam, Japan, Mexico and South Korea but lets also not forget our Southern friends in South America. They are also starting to produce as well. There are three things that has kept the USA in the markets with their products and that is 1.) Our ability to produce at the highest productivity rates in the world 2.) One of the very best engineering staffs and minds the world has ever seen. 3.) The ability to produce on a large scale quality products using quality woods and metals. Metalurgy in this country is superior to other countries.

Chris

[Vtool]

the new hyundai's sonata,s are built in Montgomery , Alabama. Kia builds cars in Georgia.

[texaslady1104]

I have the same Consew you are looking at - it has been great! No issues - I purchased mine new..