Beating dead horses- quality

[LilD]

I know theres been a thread or two about quality but man this ticks me off. Cant anybody make a tailight bulb, headlight or wiper blade that lasts more than a year? Ive had my truck for 2 years or so and have replaced headlights 3 times, not the same side so I know theres no issue with the truck, headlight bulbs in my wifes van twice within a year, taillight bulbs in her van, the same, wipers on her van, my truck and my dads Buick. The wipers literaly broke off while in use. I even bought the most expensive stuff thinking stupidly "You get what you pay for" Yeah, frickin junk no matter what you spend!
Somebody needs to fix this country & get companies back here that can produce a quality product!

 

[Toad]

Sadly it's call planned obsolesce, a stupid idea the auto industry came up with back in the 20's and 30's I think, and still very much alive today!

Toad

 

[RAT FINK]

We live in a throw away world...If you bought it, it's now obsolete...they will come out with a bigger and more advanced one that you will think will be better...and if you keep the one you have it will break forcing you to buy a new one anyway[S...I bought 2 T.V.s 3 years ago and they both quit working 2months apart...when I asked the store what the life span of a new T.V. was they said if you get more than 3 yrs. out of them you are luckyI have an old 13" T.V. in my garage that's probably 30 yrs. old and is covered in dust and it works great.....I guess if things don't break or turn obsolete there would be no reason to replace them leaving a stagnet economy but it would be nice to have things last longer than it takes to pay for them!

 

[LilD]

Yeah I remember having conversations about planned obsolesce years ago when I started working. I get it, just dont like it

 

[Torch]

i think renault and yugo perfected planned obsolescence.

 

[Dirtyrat]

This is pretty true, funny part is, they used to make things that really did last, and thats how brand loyalty should be created.

Anyhow, side note, if my father's garage, he has some old light bulbs that came from Edison Power where my grandfather worked some 40+ years ago, and they are still working fine....

 

[Willowbilly3]

We are buried in substandard import crap because of ourselves, every stinking one of us is guilty. If we hadn't bought cheap crap, the good American companys would still be in business.
That being said, I haven't replaced a headlight in years, or a tail light. Wipers last about 2 years at best but they take a beating in winter.

 

[sgtpontiac]

Does this go back to pricing ourselves out of jobs?

We are buried in substandard import crap because of ourselves, every stinking one of us is guilty. If we hadn't bought cheap crap, the good American companys would still be in business.
That being said, I haven't replaced a headlight in years, or a tail light. Wipers last about 2 years at best but they take a beating in winter.

My opinion is that the same unions that were started to protect the american worker had moved to the extreme....the cost to the companies for doing business became way too much....along with that the cost of the product increases only fed the inflation of the wages and so on and so on and so on.....the initial cry from the work force was an honest days pay for an honest days work....it turned into protecting the sick, lame and lazy....paying top dollar for poor production is what caused our initial problems....for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction...applies to more than physic's

 

[Willowbilly3]

My opinion is that the same unions that were started to protect the american worker had moved to the extreme....the cost to the companies for doing business became way too much....along with that the cost of the product increases only fed the inflation of the wages and so on and so on and so on.....the initial cry from the work force was an honest days pay for an honest days work....it turned into protecting the sick, lame and lazy....paying top dollar for poor production is what caused our initial problems....for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction...applies to more than physic's

True that, it is a complicated series of events that got us here but greed is always at the heart of things and we all liked cheap prices. How many of us would go to Mal-Wart and buy cheap import shirts or shoes when we could still buy American Union made ones that lasted 4 times as long and were actually cheaper in the long run even though they cost 3 times as much. Then it got to where companys had to move to China if they wanted to stay in business. Now every thing comes from there. Everytime you use your I-pad or Droid or Blackberry, remember the people who make them. They work long days in poor conditions, (often child labor) sleep on shelves right at the factory an American couldn't even roll over in and the factorys have big nets outside to catch all the workers who decide to jump to their deaths. And they are pumping our environment full of poison because they have little or no pollution control laws. Given my choice of two evils, I'd rather pay too much for the lazy American version. Sadly I don't have that choice anymore.

 

[LilD]

I agree 100 percent that unions, greed and ourselves put us where we are today. Unfortunately the people that could try to turn it around, in my opinion, dont care.

 

[Sam_Fear]

If union workers were replaced with minimum wage workers, do you really think the cost or quality would change?

 

[sgtpontiac]

My opinion?

If union workers were replaced with minimum wage workers, do you really think the cost or quality would change?

Nope.......problem is far greater than that now....minimum wage isn't the answer.....a decent wage for quality work....28 to 36 bucks and hour for driving a high low is what I would consider extreme....sure isn't a skilled labor.....we could debate these issues all night and not come to any given fix for this....what we need is to bring our jobs back and show that we can produce quality parts for a resonable wage......heck, even China is having problems with their workers now....they want more money....isn't as cheap as it used to be to produce products there now...some companies are actually moving it back here as between production costs and shipping costs, it no longer as profitable.... Greed on the part of the worker, businesses and generally has created a problem that will take years to fix....faster if the politicians stay out of it!!!! This job with the Police Dept is the first and only job I've had with a union.... still don't think much of them (unions)....you can't reward a worker for a good job....it promotes being lazy employees (only do as much as you need to do to get by) and it allows persons who should not be employed to remain employed because they haven't received enough discipline to warrant being fired....just give them a 5 day, then 10 day then 30 day suspension and retraining....BS....if they aren't motivated to work before, they won't be more motivated after a suspension...not that this is a problem here....but we have had our own sick lame and lazy personnel....If a person doesn't have good work ethics you can't beat it into them....JMHO

 

[bob w]

In the 70's I worked in manufacturing plants in Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan. This was before China and even Korea were major players. The factories (small electrical appliances) were not much different than U.S. plants. People worked a 6 day week, 8 hours a day. Two breaks and lunch per shift. Working conditions almost as good as here. There was less automation because labor costs were low so there was no justification for high tech manufacturing equipment. During that time, Japan had priced themselves out of the market and had to move their production to Taiwan & Hong Kong. Toward the end of my tenure they were actually pulling out of those countries and moving to Korea. That was quite a big deal for the Japanese and they didn't particularily care for the Koreans. I was a Quality Engineer at the time and found their production met our specs almost all the time. Very few rejections.

Obviously, China is the new industrial producer on the block. Their quality will improve as they mature in various industries. If China would cease manipulating their currency their product pricing wouldn't be so low.

The Japanese determined it is cheaper to assemble cars for American sales right here in the USA. They do it with lots of automation both in manufacturing and support services which reduces the need for lots of personnel and they have realistic pay and benefit schedules. This scenario will happen for many other products over time. Especially if we back off a little on overbearing regulations on various industries such as foundries.

In the personal care products plant I worked in here we had unions, very high labor rates and outstanding benefits. During the 60's-80's our company was very passive regarding union contracts. Everybody was making money so giving more in the union contracts wasn't a problem. Eventually labor cost was so high that it was easy to justify automated equipment to replace personnel. Over time we went from 1,300 to 600 employees and produced twice as many units.

So, as the undeveloped countries each take their turn producing high labor content goods we will continue to be uncompetitive in those areas. Eventually as costs in those places increases some of those products and industries will come home, but will probably be highly automated.

 

[sgtpontiac]

Absolutely!!!

Well said.... [cl

 

[LilD]

I have to admit that my current job is a low level union job. I dont make enough money to support a family on my own and Im fine with that, so that should bring things in perspective. For what I do I make a fair wage. I work 7 days a week ,weekends and holidays for 2 hours a day, and pay for a good portion of my own benefits.
A few months ago I was happy to see our contract has changed to hold people more accountable. Its a good start. Getting to be more like all the other jobs Ive had. You screw up, you go away.
I do believe some of those jobs that left us will come back again like mentioned.

 

[Sam_Fear]

If union workers were replaced with minimum wage workers, do you really think the cost or quality would change?

I wasn't commenting on unions, I was commenting on owners and corporate officers abilities to not allow any savings to be passed on to the consumer.

Generally, after the original person that built a company up leaves, the workers are treated more as numbers not people and the business becomes a personal bank account for the new operators until they run it into the ground. Customers become marks to be fleeced. Seen it several times.