This is a good question and has occured to me. Remember, we're talking about events that occured fifteen to twenty years ago.
While when we think of Asian sources, we tend to think of Sony, Toyota, etc., the majority of asian contract manufacturers are small, opportunistic shops. This is especially true if you go to Taiwan, Thailand, Korea, Malaysia, etc.
Some years ago, the company I worked for at the time had plastic pieces made in Hong Kong. One of our engineers was born and raised in Hong Kong and so spoke the language. He translated the name of the company we were getting our plastic pieces from for us. It was "The Happy Smokestack Company". Happy Smokestack did a lot of different things. They made plastic parts for us, then they started making machined metal parts for us, bent sheetmetal parts, etc. And they did this not just for us, but for many other US customers making all sorts of parts in metal and plastic. Once you managed to communicate to them what you wanted, they produced overall good work. The Happy Smokestack Company really didn't have a product of their own. They just made parts for other companies. My guess is that in most cases they had no idea what those parts did or were for. All they knew or cared about was that if you moulded a piece of plastic into this specific shape, this American company would give you five cents for it. If you folded a bit of sheet metal into some other shape, another American company would give you six cents for that.
One day, our customs broker in Hong Kong called us. He was expecting to handle a scheduled shipment of parts from Happy Smokestack for us. Happy Smokestack had never missed a ship date. So he was surprised when the Happy Smokestack truck did not pull up to his dock that morning. He called Happy Smokestack and got no answer. He drove to their facility and found the place closed. He asked around and discovered that the workers had gone home one evening as usual and came back in the next morning to find everything gone, just an empty building. The accountant called the bank and found all of the accounts closed. The owner had taken everything and skipped town.
You've never heard of Happy Smokestack Company, I'll bet. I can't remember how you said the name in Chineese. We always just called 'em Happy Smokestack. But, believe me, you've never heard of 'em. You may own some of their work, though. They made a lot of plastic parts for Zenith, I know. The point is that these companies actually try to keep a low profile.
These companies are also very nimble. If the market for one product or process disappears, they move to a new one very quickly. Very few define themselves around a specific product or industry, even a specific process. This is why they have such vauge names as Happy Smokestack Manufacturing. One day, Happy Somkestack is manufacturing small plastic and metal parts. But, if the market for those parts goes soft, they'll change and make underwear in no time. They don't make a specific thing or even a specific process. They just manufacture.
So, it's been very frustrating for me to try and figure out who actually made such great balisongs as the Manila Folders.
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Chuck
Balisongs -- because it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing!
http://www.balisongcollector.com
