Why China?

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winchester73

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I have often wondered why American companies such as SMKW(rough riders ,Marbles etc.), Taylor Schrades, some Bucks, and others chose to have their knives made in mainland communist China factories rather than capitalist Taiwan. Is there that much difference in cheap labor? Anyone know?
 
huge difference.

they need to produce these in huge quantities and they dont have to be perfect at all.
 
Spyderco has knives made in Taiwan. They are excellent and can be expensive. Taiwan is a first-world country, without the PRC's immense numbers of low paid factory workers.
 
Labor costs mostly.... Sal from Spyderco has said that labor costs in Japan are similar to the US. I would expect Taiwan to be about the same.
 
winchester73 said:
I have often wondered why American companies such as SMKW(rough riders ,Marbles etc.), Taylor Schrades, some Bucks, and others chose to have their knives made in mainland communist China factories rather than capitalist Taiwan. Is there that much difference in cheap labor? Anyone know?
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Here's what Sal Glesser had to say about it last May:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...roduction-knife-brand?p=16115427#post16115427

First of all, the first major difference in the cost of product is the country of manufacture. To compare a knife made in China to a knife made in the US is not realistic. I will try to share some info for you.

USA - $1.00 = $1.00
Japan - $1.00 = about $1.00 (although the price of the Yen varies and it could go from the $1.00 costing $.80 to $1.25
Europe - $1.00 = about $1.20 (although this also varies from $1.10 - $1.50)
Taiwan - $1.00 = about $.80 (Spyderco ships US steel to Japan which brings it to about 1 /1
China - $1.00 = $.18
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So it costs about four times as much to manufacture in Taiwan as it does to manufacture in China.
 
If you are concerned about stability and an uninterrupted flow of finished products, there are far more important issues to consider than monetary exchange rates or the average local living wage. Taiwan is really just a large island, and is therefore especially vulnerable to destructive Pacific typhoons. You should also consider that it sits right on the Pacific Ring of Fire and is no stranger to very strong earthquakes. I prefer to support the Taiwanese people with my dollars as well, but I can see why a U.S. manufacturer would opt for taking his business to the PRC.
 
Some companies would make knives in Somalia if it was not such a volatile area. China is cheap and more importantly, it is stable. Except things change when the Chinese workers demand higher pay. I expect the cheap imports to come from some other third world country in the next twenty years.
 
Why china ? Because people have come to demand low cost products and China has the lowest production costs.
I won't buy a knife that an American company outsourced to another country for lower cost, but that's just me.
 
Hickory n steel said:
Why china ? Because people have come to demand low cost products and China has the lowest production costs.
I won't buy a knife that an American company outsourced to another country for lower cost, but that's just me.[*]
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*I am quoting you for a perspective reference, not to disagree or argue.

The demand for low cost is often cited as a reason for outsourcing to low cost countries. It should be considered that more often than not, however, outsourcing is done to increase profit margins at the very top, where point of sale prices do not change (i.e., charging made in USA prices for something made in Taiwan). Citing a "demand for low prices" places blame on the shoulders of the people who lost their jobs to subsidize profit/shareholder gains at the top. My perception is that outsourcing to China is often done for greed.
 
Cheaper labor and no EPA worries, they can dump as much poison in the water and air as they wish, it will be much the same here when the people in charge close the EPA and wipe out regulations on clean air and water quality.
 
Another side of the question is, why not the US?

I think it was either Eric or Sal Glesser who talked about the difficulty of training and retaining employees at their factory. Perhaps it was here on this forum, don't recall, but the bottom line was that every time they train someone, that individual will often leave for another job once they had been trained as a machinist. I think he also said that it takes employees off the production line so they can train new employees.

I wonder if the other US knife manufacturers also struggle to retain quality employees as well?
 
People don't generally run away from jobs where they feel adequately compensated and enjoy the company culture.
 
jazub said:
People don't generally run away from jobs where they feel adequately compensated and enjoy the company culture.
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disagree. i see it all the time with this young generation. baby boomers that was true even gen x that was true. isnt so much true anymore with millennials.
 
jbmonkey said:
disagree. i see it all the time with this young generation. baby boomers that was true even gen x that was true. isnt so much true anymore with millennials.
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I have to agree with you. I have seen many millennials tank a job because they didn't feel there butt was being thoroughly kissed.
 
There are a lot of knifemakers out there who cite experience working at some of the big name shops in their past. So, how many of those guys get experience, gain some knowledge, and decide to strike out on their own to start their own concern?
 
jbmonkey said:
disagree. i see it all the time with this young generation. baby boomers that was true even gen x that was true. isnt so much true anymore with millennials.
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Perhaps. Impossible to verify. If so, simple solution: hire adults who aren't millenials. Plenty of people need jobs.
 
winchester73 said:
I have often wondered why American companies such as SMKW(rough riders ,Marbles etc.), Taylor Schrades, some Bucks, and others chose to have their knives made in mainland communist China factories rather than capitalist Taiwan. Is there that much difference in cheap labor? Anyone know?
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Why are you asking us? Have you tried asking the companies having the knives made? As I recall, A.G. Russell has a statement on that topic.
 
jazub said:
*I am quoting you for a perspective reference, not to disagree or argue.

The demand for low cost is often cited as a reason for outsourcing to low cost countries. It should be considered that more often than not, however, outsourcing is done to increase profit margins at the very top, where point of sale prices do not change (i.e., charging made in USA prices for something made in Taiwan). Citing a "demand for low prices" places blame on the shoulders of the people who lost their jobs to subsidize profit/shareholder gains at the top. My perception is that outsourcing to China is often done for greed.
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Do you work for profit - to you?

Turn down any raises?

Who decides what amount of profit is "correct"?

Anyone here work for Sears or K-Mart? Sports Authority? Macy's? The Limited?

Companies not making that dirty 'ol profit won't be hiring much.
 
Nothing wrong with profit but unless you live in a vaccuum, you are aware that the income disparity in this country is the greatest in history. Pinching the common worker is how that has happened. If you endorse that, fine. I do not and it has absolutely nothing to do with being generally profitable, which any child knows a business needs to be.
 
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