@ChessieFan72 posted:I've read enough of this nonsense, and it really needs to stop. QC is not the reason model train manufacturing should be brought back to the U.S. I have become so frustrated with O gauge/scale/P48, that I decided to try and start a new train company in my spare time. From communications and observations, I have found it's not the manufacturers in China that dictate the QC of a product, it's the company selling model trains. If the model train company takes a laisse fair approach, you get the same result in the product. The HO train companies I have observed that put out top notch products are in China watching after their product from the first molding to final inspection and packing. They don't OK a pre-production model half way around the world and then sit and wait for the models to arrive. That lack of leadership and management is how you end up with poor QC. And I have been around enough workers in the U.S. who do just as poor of a job as those who "Make in China" per your claim.
And before I get the rebuttal that I don't know what I'm talking about, this is a prototypical 40ft. ISO container side that I have researched and rescaled to 1/48 (O) with accuracy to 0.00001". This took me over a week to find sources, double and triple check my math, and create in CAD, ensuring angles, measurements, bottom C rail and top rail were dead on or as close as mathematically possible. This one side costs $0.96 to produce. The mold itself was quoted at over $9,000 from multiple American manufacturers. To have 5,000 sides (2,500 containers) and to recoup the cost of the mold, each side would cost $5.52 (using $9,000 for the mold.) That's before American labor, paint, packaging and my profit are included. Compare that to $0.68 per side and $4,700 mold quotes from China. The gap grows bigger as the quantity per run is increased. That is why companies choose to manufacture in China. Whether my models are made in the U.S. (my preference) or another country, the QC of this container will be as stringent as the rest of the effort I have put into this model. My QC standards. So saying such-and-such a company has mediocre QC because a product was made in China is ignorant and makes that company look really lazy.
Stewart, make sure you contact me if you decide to do ANY kind of promoting of your new company here on the forum.
Thanks!
