tenbears10 said:
Found that after I had posted John. That is a big shame because the last catalogue I had from them was full of "what a great kiwi company we are" and how all the products were NZ originals designed and made.
I suppose if everyone else is making stuff abroard at a fraction of the manufacturing costs you either join them or go bust.
Quality definitely suffers. I had the chance to compare karrimor's top of the range KSB's when they switched production from Italy to China and the difference was amazing. The new Chinese ones being utter rubbish compared to the old ones. Funny the price was still the same they never seem to pass on the savings they make to the customer.
Companies should not forget that we do know where their stuff is produced and we notice when they change. Some of Lowe Alpine's far east stuff is mass produced crap but soon there will be no alternative by the look of it.
Bill
Hi,
Yep it's sad that Mac Pac had to go off shore but its also an economic reality for them I guess.
I think quality always suffers when manufactures do this.
This is from Mac Pac's website
"Since deciding to move most of our manufacture to Asian countries in 2003 our experience has been that excellent quality exists and that, as with everything, you get what you pay for."
You get what you pay for.
So what are they saying? Their paying above the average rate in Asia to secure better quality from their subcontractor? Then why move off shore?
Obviously they are saving money and enjoying an increased margin on the product. Have you noticed Mac Pac gear comming down in price?
So if they are not dropping prices and their margin has increased then the decision to move off shore was not really about having to face up to stiffer compitition and reducing prices it was about maximising the margin on the product.
So quality ( and a bunch of manufacturing jobs) were traded for a hike in product margin.
Thats business
From my experience the problem with manufacture within China is not so much the ability of the worker to do the actual job, sewing a seam on a tent for example. It's just a lack of fundemental understanding of the product they are making. Our cultures are so different, lightweight camping doesn't really exist in China so to the machinist making the product, the need for quality is a grey area. They understand the task but not the product they are making.
As for Karrimor well it's sad I thought that they had some great products in their range. What is also sad is that of course now that they have gone into liquidation all of their surplus stock is being sold off really cheap.
Which must give companys like PRI a bit of a headache. For example Sabre 30 rucksacks at 20 quid instead of 70 quid. You'd be daft not to grab one or two with prices like that?!! The knock on effect is it hits PRI's sales (perhaps to the point of sending them over the edge into liquidation. lets hope not)
I hope that Karrimor finds a buyer soon its in our interest as consumers of outdoor equipment that they do. I'm less worried about the short term lack of a warranty, I am more concerned that slowly we have less and less choice in the range of products available and the quality of those products that are available is slowly reducing.
Sorry if this a bit off topic.
Cheers
John
