Mike, do you have a clue about the amount of volume that the Wal-Mart account consumes annually? I'm not talking about 1 sku in limited stores like the Native, I'm talking about 6 sku's nationwide. My assumption is that is that it is a few more than you may think. This account alone makes up more knives than some manufacturers currently do in an entire year.
You mention warranty, and I have mentioned the cost of doing business in the past, as well as the set up's we have here internally here at Kai USA. Over the last 10 years we have learned a great deal about our customers along with what works and doesn't work in moving volumes of knives. With our continued growth (not in the outsourcing business btw), although we don't know everything, we are pretty good at what we do. If you or anyone else here can look past their darksider glasses and feels like they can improve what we do daily, by all means illuminate me send forth a resume ASAP.
We also understand the different steels and materials we use. We have 6 engineers on staff, we build our own robotics, and warranty our own machines. We are as self sufficient as they come. We have some of the best custom knife makers in our stable, with their names being put on the line, they understand what and why we do things the way we do, and it works for them, almost every time. Do we have to sacrifice, most assuredly, but we do it all in the name of a secure future.
We process our knives in a way that allows us to stay in business, as well as keep both the dealers and consumers satisfied (well, most of them anyway). I believe we wouldn't be where we are today, and our growth would fall off quickly if this were not the case. There are reasons for doing it the way we do, and sadly they are not always based on performance. Certainly you all must understand that performance does not come before returns in big box business. Unfortunately performance is a criteria that is rarely discussed when sitting face to face with a buyer.
When you are in the volume knife business, you have a bunch of 50 gallon drums sitting around, they fill up quickly, for reasons that are irrational in most cases. The returns and warranty would make your cringe...we back them up regardless. The uses these knives go through could write horror stories...we back them up regardless.
The above alone keeps the "let's go thinner" conversation to a minimum.
You think 13C26 is stable enough thinner, I think it is real easy for some to criticize from the keyboard, but if for just a moment you pretend the Kai Corp is your business and there are ten's of millions of dollars of your monies on the line, and hundreds of families are depending on you opening your doors daily, are you really ready to take the risk? We are not, I'm not. There are boutique runs for that sort of business.
This Knife Review's and Testing is an interesting place for a volume manufacturer to venture in to. You all are taking everything to the extreme, HT's, locks, geometry, sharpening techniques, etc., and are pretty darn harsh on anyone or any company that doesn't live up to you severe standards. Personally I don't think that Kershaw has been welcomed with open arms here, which is surprising as I would think you would want to assist and support one that comes to this special and somewhat lonely area of the cutlery universe. It seems though this area is for ridicule and damning commentary, a place that doesn't want to take into account all the obstacles that are set before us... yet one is encouraged to stick around and "have fun".
I think there is tremendous opportunity for this area to grow and learn from, but I caution those outsiders to read the signs posted around carefully before entering "proceed at your own risk".
