03 Dec '09 04:52>
in two parts.
First is the notion of "American Made" . Do other countries have a sense of pride
regionally produced goods? Pride might not be the optimal word to encompass
quality, and other factors people appreciate in said products but I hope the point
comes through.
Secondly it is my understanding is that cost is the reason many manufacturers outsource their production to overseas facilities. Yet there is a definite market for locally produced goods. At what point do companies do the trade off and start doing the imported products and neglect the true demands of consumers?
I'll use the example of guitars. US made guitars are for the most part held in high regard by musicians. Yet most guitars sold in the US are made Asia. Companies I'm thinking about are Fender and Gibson. They both have a "high end line" which are built in the states and expensive and both have low end models built overseas that make up the bulk of their sales. Could they feasibly make a low end guitar in the states for an inexpensive price?
How about other products, are there products this could work with? I made a purchase on amazon the other day and was repulsed by the lack of quality this company put their name on. What showed up at the house looked like they took the lowest bids for everything they could and set the price for something of higher quality. I consider myself to have descent taste and have certain expectations about the things I purchase so I returned it. Do I have unrealistic expectations? Does "Made in China" have to be associated with junk? Made in Japan used to have that stigma, but they seem to have overcome it, and many things that were being made in Japan have been outsourced again to Korea or Indonesia.
What I want to know is if the market forces are there for US made products, why isn't there a better selection of US made products?
First is the notion of "American Made" . Do other countries have a sense of pride
regionally produced goods? Pride might not be the optimal word to encompass
quality, and other factors people appreciate in said products but I hope the point
comes through.
Secondly it is my understanding is that cost is the reason many manufacturers outsource their production to overseas facilities. Yet there is a definite market for locally produced goods. At what point do companies do the trade off and start doing the imported products and neglect the true demands of consumers?
I'll use the example of guitars. US made guitars are for the most part held in high regard by musicians. Yet most guitars sold in the US are made Asia. Companies I'm thinking about are Fender and Gibson. They both have a "high end line" which are built in the states and expensive and both have low end models built overseas that make up the bulk of their sales. Could they feasibly make a low end guitar in the states for an inexpensive price?
How about other products, are there products this could work with? I made a purchase on amazon the other day and was repulsed by the lack of quality this company put their name on. What showed up at the house looked like they took the lowest bids for everything they could and set the price for something of higher quality. I consider myself to have descent taste and have certain expectations about the things I purchase so I returned it. Do I have unrealistic expectations? Does "Made in China" have to be associated with junk? Made in Japan used to have that stigma, but they seem to have overcome it, and many things that were being made in Japan have been outsourced again to Korea or Indonesia.
What I want to know is if the market forces are there for US made products, why isn't there a better selection of US made products?