Buck Warranty, I say do it outside USA

Daniel said:
How is outsourcing warranty work going to save jobs?

What do you think would happen to those folks who are performing those jobs now?

Along your line of thinking, Buck should move everything overseas. That is a bit of convoluted thinking.

This decision may or may not be a permanent decision made to allow the company to be profitable. When economic conditions change, then these laid off employees can be brought back. If you outsource jobs, those jobs will never be back.
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The warranty work would be outsourced to minimize the costs. It's a money loser. Build the knives in America. Do the warranty work one mile over the Rio Grande. It's a win win. The customer gets the knife he most likely stupidly broke, and Buck gets to stay profitable and keep building as many US knives as possible. People that use their tips as screwdrivers won't complain if it was fixed in Mexico. They are just glad to have their USA made knife back.

Warranty work at Buck ain't making anyone a good livin, I can promise you. It's an expense.
 
Silverdagger said:
Warranty work at Buck ain't making anyone a good livin, I can promise you. It's an expense.
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With all due respect, I think that's incorrect. It is the warranty policy at Buck that has helped them to become one of the USA's top knife manufacturer's, and that has provided a good livin for both the family and their many employees over a number of years. In any case, it's a moot point, because according to Joe, Chuck says it ain't gonna happen. So let's move on!!
 
Let's put this in perspective you buy a $26 knife at Walmart and you break the tip so you send it in to warranty.

Let's assume labor is worth $10 an hour.

$5 - 30 minutes to pack it up and stand in line at the PO
$5 - Postage

$10 - 1 hour received by buck and fixed
$5 - postage back to you
====
$25 - Which is the cost of a new knife.

To my way of thinking a Buck 110 does not cost enough to send it in and be fixed. Out sourcing won't fix the problem, it's just not worth it.

Maybe, just maybe it would be worth it if Buck sent sent you a new knife without bothering to fix or examine the sent in knife, but I doubt it.
 
Tin Sue said:
With all due respect, I think that's incorrect. It is the warranty policy at Buck that has helped them to become one of the USA's top knife manufacturer's, and that has provided a good livin for both the family and their many employees over a number of years. In any case, it's a moot point, because according to Joe, Chuck says it ain't gonna happen. So let's move on!!
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Tin, doofloppy was saying warranty work makes for a good job. I'm saying building good knives and standing behind them makes for good jobs. I'm just saying they don't need an American worker doing it. I can promise you one of the fine things about building knives in China, which I despise btw, is that when some dufus breaks it, you just get a slave labor made one that you are making a killing off it, pack it up, and send it. You made a killing so it isn't worth fixing something that a .50 cent an hour employee can build brand new. So the warranty is a new knife on a Wal Mart ChinaBuck. They might as well outsource the warranty to Mexico, if that's what it takes to stay profitable. Obviously they are struggling right now. I'd rather not see them owned by Taylor Cutlery, personally.
 
Daniel said:
How is outsourcing warranty work going to save jobs?

What do you think would happen to those folks who are performing those jobs now?

Along your line of thinking, Buck should move everything overseas. That is a bit of convoluted thinking.

This decision may or may not be a permanent decision made to allow the company to be profitable. When economic conditions change, then these laid off employees can be brought back. If you outsource jobs, those jobs will never be back.
Click to expand...

When you start with a pilot program and then gradually increase it if it proves good, you have time to move employees around as their work decreases. It sounds like a lot of people are cross-trained at Buck, so this would be perfect for them. No layoffs, you could do it all through attrition.

I did not say Buck should move everything overseas.....what I said was that people hate "CHINA" stamped on their new knives but don't care where their old knife is repaired as long as it's a good repair.

Bottom line, we have layoffs and price increases happening NOW that might have been avoided with cheap off-shore repairs.

How would you like to relocate to another state and then get dumped?

Remember, we're just tossing out ideas here and hoping something might click.

I know from long experience that an authoritarian management style can really bring problems when somebody refuses to even test new ways of doing things.
 
Outsourcing will (is) be the end of the U.S. as an economic superpower. Outsourcing means jobs lost in the U.S. When jobs are lost in the U.S., those people can no longer afford to buy goods; then, more jobs are lost. The U.S. will be full of virtual companies.
 
Well, management that can't learn and adapt and try new ideas WILL take any company down.......and the current crisis sure doesn't indicate that this company is doing anything but stumbling.
 
2TONYB said:
Outsourcing will (is) be the end of the U.S. as an economic superpower. Outsourcing means jobs lost in the U.S. When jobs are lost in the U.S., those people can no longer afford to buy goods; then, more jobs are lost. The U.S. will be full of virtual companies.
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Why is this apparent to everyone but the people in power.
 
I don't think it would be good customer service if the knife takes weeks to get repaired.

I don't see something getting shipped to and from China (or most other places) economically quickly.

That would be the real downside, plus you loose the judgement call involved in that type of work and what "right" looks like.

Just my 2 cents.
 
Rocinante said:
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well roc.. buck got were it was with the extra that some buness would not do.
buck out sorced the 300 knives..
i guess they could the repair.. but
Al and Chuck took the company were it is by doing it their way...
CJ will take it places also... he may do it more radical then Chuck did
but then Chuck did it diff then his father also..
Chuck is well the kind of guy you would want to rent as a grandfather for a day! i know i have met him and was amased that he is every thing said of him.
even chuck had to lay off employees once...
busness is busness...
i got layed off from ben hogan even take ing nite shift did not stave off that.
busness is busness and i dont hold no gurdges agenst them and for years would have taken a pay cut to go back...
and i dont have passon for a golf club at all (it is not a knife that i use)
but it was a good thing that i took pride in makeing the best i could ...
and pride in working some place is some thing a company can not buy from employees...
i go out of my way to contact any one that worked at buck at any time...
and only a few have said they would not work there again..
ya might can rent the body but ya cant buys love or pride or respect...
 
My last full time job was at a wrought iron outdoor furniture company until they started shipping in furniture from China. If they can make 1 cent more profit than keeping an American working they will do it.
 
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