Kelvin,
Maybe I'm naive, but isn't it the responsibility of the firm that orders the
manufacture of the item, or decides to offer it for sale, to verify that it is
correct for its application and in all aspects a suitable replacement for the
original part?
And if a supplier will not do that, why can't they simply state that a part is a
repro?
Jay Fishbein
Wallingford, CT
"Dodd, Kelvin" wrote:
> Normally, I keep to myself on vendor specific targeting, and direct e-mail,
> rather than bombing the list.
>
> In this case, a few points have been made, that are valid and hopefully if
> addressed will reduce the back & fro'ing
>
> 1. No vendor stays in business for long selling shoddy goods, or offering
> poor service. The market will walk away.
>
> 2. All product quality changes over time. What was good becomes bad and
> vice versa. Only "now" is important.
>
> 3. If someone has a problem, usually the vendor would like to know what it
> was so it doesn't happen again.
>
> 4. Not all problems can be easily solved, and so get put to the side while
> other problems that are easier to deal with are tackled.
>
> 5. If you ignore a problem long enough, it tends to go away. This is
> usually not a good thing.
>
> 6. Most people are working under pressures and deadlines that are important
> to them, and not to you.
>
> 7. Quality of service, always has a direct relationship to attitude.
>
> 8. Being a British car hobbyist does not put bread on the table. Making as
> much profit for the company as possible, does.
>
> 9. Many of us hobbyists in the business go hungry.
>
> 10. No one in this business is going to buy out Donald Trump. We all drive
> used cars too.
>
> Regarding Product Quality.
>
> If you receive a substandard or ill fitting part from any vendor
> make a note of the part number, date of purchase and as accurate a statement
> of the problem as possible. There will usually be someone at the company
> who would really like to have that information, so that something can be
> done. Chances are nothing will happen immediately. But as stated, your
> input is powerful. But only if useful and measurable.
>
> Comment such as "this piece of Taiwanese #$%&& doesn't fit" is not
> very helpful. Particularly if the part in question is manufactured just
> outside of Birmingham England.
>
> A statement such as "your part # ----------- will not fit on a
> --------- because the center hole boring is 2mm smaller than the original
> which I measured at 15mm" is extremely helpful and will probably result in a
> fax to the manufacturer suggesting politely that they make adjustments to
> the machining of the next batch. Those in stock will often times be pulled,
> checked and if necessary (and possible) rectified.
>
> Even with correct input, the basic pressure of keeping a company
> alive gets in the way of fixing known problems. Heck, I know that the 15"
> Minataur (Minilite repro) will not fit on the front of an MGA with drum
> brakes, without grinding. Lets see how long it takes me to get that
> information into a catalog!
>
> From my experience, 80% of product complaints are from people who
> should not be allowed near a British car. After a couple of hours of tail
> chasing, the problem turns out to be a misapplication, or misunderstanding
> of basic automotive techniques.
> 10% of the complaints concern items that we are pulling our hair out
> already, trying to fix. See item #5 above.
> 10% are items that we thought were ok, but now we are going to have
> to pull the rest of our hair out.
>
> Regarding Choice
>
> If there is a cheap poor quality product on the market. The company
> that sells a high quality, expensive version will not sell many, and will
> not make much money. End of story. I hate it, but I have lots and lots of
> figures to back it up. Ask the owners of Jaguar Car Co., Aston Martin,
> Rolls Royce, Ferrari etc.
>
> To stay in business, one has to meet the needs of the majority of
> the marketplace. Dealing with fringe elements is very costly and
> inefficient.
> The good news is that if you are really good at the first bit, you
> can afford to be nice to the fringe stuff and have fun doing it.
>
> On every reproduction part there are many areas that can be
> improved. If nothing else, reducing the cost is always nice. If someone
> else is making the part, then it is often difficult to enact changes. Since
> your competition is usually buying, supplying and selling the same product,
> your hands are somewhat tied.
>
> The huge gross profit per item on reproduction parts is wonderful.
> Everyone from VPs to accountants is gleeful when you can sell a part with an
> 85% gross profit. The bags full of bills are loaded in trucks and
> transported to the banker, who is wondering why your inventory turnover is
> lower than anyone else's on the planet.
>
> If we make gobs of money on a reproduced part (usually because
> originals are NLS) then the next time something gets discontinued we have
> the bucks and incentive to go make it. A lot of effort goes into creating a
> reproduction part, I have trial fitted more than my share. Cutting final
> cost, is usually not a primary concern, as we can charge whatever the heck
> we want to, as we are the only game in town. Poor reproduction quality is
> usually driven by the manufacturer, rather than the contractor (us) and
> usually happens after the first couple of successful production runs. This
> is the time that we get very unhappy, but have to take the product anyway,
> as there is no alternative. At this point lots of faxes start to fly and
> the hair starts getting thin. In the worst case, the defective
> reproductions are scrapped and the part is again NLS.
>
> Conclusion
>
> There are a lot of companies making British car parts. There are a
> lot of products out there that at some time or another are substandard.
> Quality and source vary all the time, so it is difficult to give
> recommendations. I have no clue what supplier, or quality is on the shelf
> right now for most parts.
> One thing is that there will always be change. On the whole this
> company is more interested in good quality than lowest cost. Believe me or
> not, I don't care. I can state that I would not work here if it were not
> so. I would state that if we could get good quality at a lower cost, we
> would be interested. And believe me if we did not have to pass the savings
> on to the customer because of competitive pressure, we wouldn't. I would
> love to make more money, maybe then I could pay someone to paint my MGB.
> The good news for the public, is that they are protected from the
> dreaded monopoly in the British market, because there is always something
> else you can spend your money on. Computers, Toyotas, Stereo etc. If
> prices go too high, you all will spend your money on something else.
>
> So, we want to keep Classic British cars fun. That means good
> quality parts that fit, the first time, at a reasonable price. End of
> Story.
>
> I hope that I speak somewhat for all the vendors, manufacturers,
> installers, restorers in this small, unique marketplace. No one is making
> bags of money, the only reason to stay in this somewhat obscure sector of
> the automotive marketplace is love of the cars and people.
>
> Thank you for your support of this market. You bunch of Anglophile neer do
> well's
>
> Kelvin.
>
>
>
>
>
>
|