DB-19: Resurrecting an Obsolete Connector (2016)(bigmessowires.com) |
DB-19: Resurrecting an Obsolete Connector (2016)(bigmessowires.com) |
I had some 5/16" paper tape manufactured for use in antique Teletype machines. I tried several US paper tape manufacturers. One quoted me $10 a roll, but made a good roll. One sent me a roll with rough edges that jammed in the machine. Most were uninterested, even for a large order. The US companies were really hard to communicate with, too. Getting emails answered was tough. Phone calls usually went to voicemail. I finally had 1000 rolls made in Fujian, China for $1/roll. They worked fine. Much better customer communication, too.
Some of the decline in US manufacturing comes from this sort of thing.
Any thoughts on why?
The "free" shipping time can take 3-12 weeks to Canada. So I always buy extra and re-sell them on Ebay to recover my costs.
I have 4 micro-businesses for beer money of spare parts people are willing to spend an extra $5-10 to get in ~1 week.
Are you sure it's not the other way around? That the decline in US manufacturing leads to this sort of thing?
Last year a few of my classmates did an "Aggie Challenge" where they designed something for a private party in exchange for some mentorship and a resume bullet.
We usually do small projects for professors/companies that need help with something simple (like a CAD model/Design).
And 2 years later, all the stock on Ebay is still from North America/Europe. I'm a bit surprised.
US manufactures were the first to automate, so many of them are with 1st/2nd generation gear that is designed for high throughput operation and not around setup time. These machines can take several hours to change what they make.
Also, manufactures have become jaded with new customers as they are constantly asking for them to move mountains for overseas pricing. Manufactures typically have a big enough collection of frequent customers that they can use bad first customer support as a means to filter out people who will go overseas anyways after they hear the quote the manufacturer spent a fair amount of time on. If a customer is willing to pass the gauntlet of trying to contact you, they are much less likely to disappear after you give them a quote.
My experience overseas is more like fire off an email with an attachment and have perfect parts a few weeks later.
I believe this is changing though. There are some awesome short run PCB assembly services in the states now for instance.
In the manufacturing I’m involved with recently got rid of their last machine that used 8080 era processors and character only green CRTs.
- "You have to speak with the sales rep for your area for that, and he's out until next week".
- "We don't make that any more." "Then why is it on your web site?"
- "The order form on your web site doesn't work".
- "Live chat is not available at this time".
- "Your call is very important to us. Please leave a message."
Companies in China seem to rely on email, and they answer emails. (I wonder if perhaps spam is less of a problem in China, because the government is very hostile to mass communications from anonymous parties.)
I work in aerospace product development, and my company has projects where we can source components from anywhere and projects where components must be US-supplied.
If I need a 12-fiber Male MT to Female MTP custom wiring harness I have to play email and phone rinky-dink with some regional rep for weeks to get it ordered when dealing with US-based suppliers. Then it has to go up and down the "value adding" chain between the rep, the sales department, business management, purchasing, and finally manufacturing. I have to have an account, deal with purchase orders, and the terms are usually 30-90 days ARO.
Or I can send a crudely-drawn picture with connector part numbers and some basic length figures to a cable house in China, get a quote the next business day, and order the damn thing with a credit card and have it in my hands in a week or two.
And no, the quality is no different. OM3 is OM3, Amphenol connectors are Amphenol connectors, and skill is almost irrelevant when the whole thing gets done up in the same automated fusion splicer that a US firm would use.
With US-based companies that are actually subsidiaries of international firms, I have an entire address book full of points of contact in the "mothership".
With US-based companies that have substantial overseas presences, like the company formerly known as GE Intelligent Platforms, even then the overseas folks are less worthless than the US-based ones.
It actually is a major source of job dissatisfaction when I have to get stuff done and the only POC I have for something I need is "sales@uscompany.ignore.me" when I know for stone-cold certain that there's a Wang Da Nian in Shenzhen who will abuse Google Translate for hours trying to get my employer's money.
And they appreciate the business.
To be fair I have learned better how to get stuff done in the US - pick up the phone. But unless you're ordering for huge military contracts good luck getting past the attitude.
This times 10. One factor is that many US manufacturers incentivize their sales people so heavily that it actively interferes with getting things done, because that sales rep has to be involved every step of the way.
Another factor is the (apparently) natural tendency of all purchasing departments to become little bureaucracies that turn themselves into the customer by requiring the people who want to buy stuff to do it their way. ('Their' referring to purchasing or whatever the department is called.) Often that bad habit of turning themselves into the customer spreads to other departments.
In fact, I have seen software in use that turns entire sales departments into the customer, insisting that people calling for quotes spend far too much time providing information in the order the application requires it rather than allowing sales people to do what they are supposed to be best at: finding out what the customer wants and giving it to them for a price. I could have solved that problem, but it's tough to get directors interested in changing those kinds of things, let alone VPs and C level executives.