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Thread: Got a good product but need it made for less than you can do it?

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
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    iBILD Solutions - Southern NJ
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    7,986

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    I'd venture to say that very few of us here are affected by overseas competition as it relates to our direct businesses. While many prescribe to the doom & gloom outlook, keep in mind that there will ALWAYS & FOREVER be a market for custom items and custom machining in your region. To think otherwise is just poverty thinking, in my opinion.

    -B

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Boca Raton FL
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    81

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    Seems I hit a sore point here. I got to tell you guys I wish like crazy just saying "Made in America" meant something to the US consumer. The reality though is they don't give a care except how much it costs them. That said, we need to look at our strengths not our weaknesses. Our strength is in designing and marketing. Our weakness is labor costs. That weakness is caused by two factors. 1. The cost of living in the US is high. It sounds horrible to you when you hear of someone making $10 a day except that you are missing that for that money they can buy food and housing for their family. The cost of living is lower. 2. There is a shortage of good hard working legal American workers.

    Da Vincis Pocket is only a side business. I spent 4 years setting up a furniture business with my brother handling the design and production. I now do consulting to other companies that are interested in making money with the products that they have designed.

    Many of you may have found a niche where you can sell your US manufactured products and make money. But you may have an idea for a product that you can't make cheaply enough to be able to sell and make money. Its business guys. Simple business 101. You make out a spread sheet, figure your costs, add in some profit. Then you have to see if people are willing to buy it for that price. If not, then you have to look for a way to make it for less.

    The problem isn't people like me, the problem is the consumer. But its really not a problem unless you insist on making something that someone else can make cheaper. What I offer is a way to help you take your designs, get product, and make money.

    The reality is the CNC part of the equation is not the problem. It is usually the cost to sand, paint, and finish. The labor intensive part.

    So, if you've got a product you developed, and tested making on your shopbot and are interested in getting it made so you can sell to mass market, give me a call. I'm here to help. I have thousands of hours of time standing behind a Shopbot, understand how to program one, and understand how to take that code and translate it to other foreign systems.

    Andrew

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Boca Raton FL
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    81

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    By the way, I am not advertising that you should sell your Shopbot. Its an amazing tool and if I had had the space to keep mine, I would still have it. Actually got back on the boards to look for a PRT 48.
    What I am talking about is products you can make on the Shopbot, but are not cost effective to make in mass in the US to sell to consumers. We used our Shopbot for 3 years to design, prototype, and make short runs of products for market testing. We couldn't have done it without a Shopbot and neither can you. By having a Shopbot that you can design and test products with, you really have a big leg up on a lot of people with ideas. The Shopbot has done for manufacturing what the laser printer did for desktop publishing. But you wouldn't use a laser printer to publish a best selling book nationwide.

    Sorry to have ruffled feathers. Be creative guys! Thats our strength.

    Andrew

  4. #14
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Kayco Enterprises, Haslet Texas
    Posts
    78

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    Go to the online auction houses and look at all the big companies closing plants due to cheap China and Indonesia products. New equipment for 10% of price. Eathan Allan, Thomasville, and many, many more.

    No I will keep in house what I can. Some of my best business breaks came from companies that buy from overseas, but had schedule problems. My shopbot and low overhead, coupled with on time delivery beat China.

    I Live in U.S.A. I buy American when I can. I employee high school and college students and teach my craft to those who want to learn.

    Some of my past employees are now my competiters. We compete on many jobs and when we can we partner to do the jobs that are too large for one of our shops.

    Buy U.S.A. products and Sell to the World.

    I will slide my soap box back under the work bench now.
    Olecrafty

  5. #15
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Beckwith Decor Products, Derby/Wichita KS
    Posts
    612

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    Well spoke Kaiwa.

    Most of our work is custom so not effected by this but its the low cost inferior products produced in sweat shops which are imported to undercut the local industry that I strongly object to.

    If you don’t think the importation of cheap products will affect us in the long run then you live in a dream world. Just ask Mattel and all the people who purchased their products how much its cost them.
    The automotive industry was one of the first to recognize this and pushed for tariffs on import vehicles to level the playing field. This helped in overseas car manufacturers setting up plants locally, which in turn increased employment and helped the local economy.

  6. #16
    Join Date
    Sep 2004
    Location
    Online Ecommerce Ltd, Blackburn Lancashire
    Posts
    145

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    I had a great laugh this week.

    we use chinese plywood...... I would love to use Birch.

    An importer contacted us about purchasing/having our products cut in china rather than us manufacturing in the UK.

    He couldn't beat us on price for manufacturing!!!

    I think I should either put my prices up or start exporting to China.

  7. #17
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
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    468

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    Actually we quoted a project for a wood products manufacturer / importer about a year ago. This would have been a steady ongoing contract. He currently imports from his own plant in China but quoted the rising costs of labor, shortage of high quality wood and rising shipping costs. In the end he said we were close but he was going to continue in China for another two years and then re-evaluate again. With rising fuel costs we may be in business yet!!

    As for Chinese plywood, it never crosses the doors of my shop. Way to many quality issues for us.....

  8. #18
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Signs of the Times in Brighton, Brighton Ontario
    Posts
    115

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    Whats the problem Eric? Don't like the sparks, the smell of burning dung and the 6 foot long splinters that used to be laminations....Jeeez no sense of adventure :-).... I try to buy American also, since your prices from our production and forestry companies here in Canada is 10% less than mine. When I called to complain they said it was due to shipping charges....That one really hurt my brain...

    Happy labour day dudes, we all earned it..

    TerryD

  9. #19
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    Albuquerque, NM
    Posts
    861

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    saw news recently that China has abandoned their 10% subsidy / tax rebate to manufacturers and had some other increase in line. Suposedly this increase totals 15% overall immediately so you may see folks shopping again. Not that 15% will make the entire difference but it might be the incentive to look around for other suppliers in light of other problems of late with materials and quality concerns.
    Keep your eyes open, opportunity is always out there when you look for it.
    I think buy america is alive and well so don't fret too much about competitors. just do what you do well and be happy you're able to do it.

  10. #20
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Vasteras, Sweden
    Posts
    412

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    It's easy to carp about inferior Chinese products, but I actually respect what they're doing, because they're in this for real. They care about manufacturing, and they want to excel at it.

    No, they are not all there yet, certainly, but let's put it this way: if you look at the big iron exhibits at Ligna+, where the serious manufacturers of serious industrial woodworking machinery exhibit, you'll probably see 9 chinese investors for every European or American.

    They are going to stick with this, and they are going to be the manufacturing powerhouse of the world, not because their labour is cheap or their government imprisons union leaders or fixes wages, but simply because they care about manufacturing and want to beat the world at it.

    This is about visions. The West lost its vision for manufacturing somewhere along the line when everyone was supposed to be white collar and have a college degree or you're no good.

    And in the end, I think China is our blessing, since they're in this for real and as such the challenge will reach a breaking point -- unlike the low-cost havens that shift every five year, China is a fix star and they're going to force the West to come to terms with our abandonment of the visions of making things, force us to face the crossroads.

    Either admit defeat and deal with it, or take up the challenge and forge a new vision.

    /soapbox

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