Putting your money where your mouth is???

Peanuts !!!!! Popcorn !!!! Cold beer !!!

 

I'm looking to buy a computer and you know what? There are NO AMERICAN COMPUTER MANUFACTURERS! I can't find a single electronics manufacturer that makes their parts here. They're all made in China even if it's an American company. Same goes with TVs, cell phones, and stuff like that.

What happened?

 

What happened to what? It's been over 20 years since Texas Instruments were making components and even then many of the chips were from overseas. That is an industry that never really had deep American roots.

 

That really sums it up, there was another thread along the same lines, there's very little portion that wants to put the effort and hard work it takes. So many people have a sense of self en***lement around them, the younger generations especially lack the work ethic that once existed in this country. It's too easy nowadays to make a buck screwing over the next guy. It's too easy to pick up the phone and order what you want, overall we're a nation of instant gratification.

This world has become more about profit margins than doing a good job or putting out a quality product. You're only as good as what your clients and consumers say about you, if they think you're ****, then you probably are.

Customer service is another big thing, count the number of threads on this board alone where people have written off american based companies, not just the products, b/c of their poor customer service.

 

Cut your margins on American made products...

Then the price gap would narrow...

Oh wait, that wold be putting YOUR money where YOUR mouth is... Sorry.

 

If our leaders are willing to throw their greed out the window, they should bring all manufacturing back to the USA. I recently bought a BBQ "made in China". I just bought a Brinks deadbolt lock set, "made in China". During Christmas, I was checking out some Lionel train sets and guess what, "made in China"
If the FEDGOV really wants to solve the economy crisis, bring manufacturing back to the USA. Lets make everthing here, from "A" to "Z". Just think how it will boost employment and the economy. People will build the things we need and at the same time, buy those very things they built. This way, the money circulates within the USA AND STAYS IN THE USA.
We did it once before, we can do it again. But we need to let the GOV. know we mean business and we do that thru voting. We need to vote out those lifelong POLITICiANS. And if the replacements are not any better, than show them the boot.
TAKE BACK THE USA.

 

Edelbrock has been hurt quite deeply by overseas ripoffs of their products that have caused such a large drop in sales that their foundries were rumored to being taken over by the financial ins***ution. It didn't help that they invested about $150m just before the financial crisis.
Apparently they also have had an issue with a very large loan from B of A being called in, $65m if I recall correctly.
The point is that the American Companies that ripped of Edelbrocks products and made them in China are forcing their hand, just like so many other companies have had done to them.
Not the only cause of the problem, but certainly a HUGE portion.

Many products that are only made off shore now are that way because someone went there first and the consumer followed which forced the other manufacturers to do the same or fold.

When I was a kid we laughed at Japanese Transistor Radios (what the hell is a Sony? we said) and TV's. Now try and find an American made one!

 

If you don't believe that every American made product that has a Chinese counterpart isn't already taking a very short margin compared to that Chinese part just to stay alive, you are very naive my friend.

 

KELLY...are you running for office, are just off your medication?...POP.

 

Lots of responce to your posting but you haven't answered a fair question raised... why arent you an Alliance Vendor, for that matter, not even an Alliance member?

 

Hate to say it, but the rush to proclaim "made in the USA" has lost it's meaning to the average consumer. The last few items that I bought that were "made in USA" were of **** quality to the point that had I made the items, I would have been ashamed to put my country's flag on the box.

Here's a question we should ask ourselves.... if they (other countries) can buy our s****, pay to ship it to their country, reprocess/reclaim it, manufacture a new product, then ship it over here, pay the import taxes, and still sell it for a cheaper price, why is it that we can not use our own resources, leave out the import taxes, and thousands of miles of transport and still not be compe***ive in pricing?

I'm not saying that the blame lies soley on american businesses or workers....our government holds a huge ammount of responsibility in the matter as well (taxes, epa compliance/permitting, etc), but it's not hard to see how the middle cl*** is disappearing and will continue to do so.

 

No worries....

The PREZ is gunna send me a check.

(sarcasm)

Then...I'm gunna buy some some parts from SPEEDWAY.

(Gotta luv globalization!)

Gotta go...my wife just got back from WALMART....

(Gotta luv low prices from child labor!)

 

*****!!!!!

 

I go out of my way to buy US made stuff, and I'm not talking about hotrod parts specifically. When we registered for our wedding I went crazy using only American made stuff: Pyrex gl*** storage, AllClad pots&pans, etc. We just got a new mattress: made in Hollywood, CA. It's a big deal, and if it means spending a little bit more on a product but knowing it keeps an American in a job, I'm ok with it.


edit: and Walmart, oh boy.....DO NOT get me started on that place.

 

times are tough !! maybe he cant afford it as the moment? i mean, if mine was up right now, id be toast! course, ryan thinks im so dreamy he'd foot the bill for me im sure!!!!
btw, love the chevy on your homepage kelly....!

 

The largest freight liner in the world is owned by Walmart. It is bigger than a Carrier. It makes several trips a month to the US from China (filled with goods). It always goes to China empty.

 

Why do members post rants like this and then leave and never reply to questions asked by other members!

Plenty of Chinese junk on Kelley's website. Maybe he should start by cleaning up his own shop before pointing fingers.

 

Here in Australia we suffer the same problems and have done for many years. We don't have a manufacturing industry base worth talking about and yet the catch-cry here is "Buy Australian"
Try buying any locally made speed equipment at a reasonable price here. It just aint possible. We rely on imports to a very high degree and are routinely ripped off in the process, for instance, locally produced rodding magazines, which are pretty good value for money, sell for around $7AUD. But, if an imported US mag is what you desire you pay a little more i,e. cover price in US $5.99USD, price here $14.99AUD, slight mark up? Even more interesting when you consider that the exchange rate is $1USD = $0.92 AUD. Shipping on magazines must be very expensive.
Same deal with parts.
Globalisation, bah humbug.

 

Don't forget U.S. Government greed. American companies are forced to pay more in taxes than foreign companies do. The U.S. Government needs to lower tax rates, cut spending, and stop en***lement programs. As long as companies are being choked around the neck from high taxes, unions, EPA regulations, etc., they will continue to move overseas.

 

You rang big boy?

 

We do sell many of the same parts as others offer and never hidden that fact that many are made over seas . My thought is this, why complain about where items are produced and buy them anyway. When was the last time anyone asked where your taillights were made or what country your brakes came from? We prefer american parts, but we are a small company that is trying to survive a tough economy.. We build parts here in Wi. and a very proud of that fact. The post is due to the fact that we are having a very tough time finding american made brake parts to use in our new brake kits. Sorry it turned into a huge production!! P.S. if anyone is interested in the backround of Kellys hot rod parts please pm us and we will answer your rather personal criticism.

 

An old chinese saying is, "water finds its own level"

and an american saying "we have found the enemy and he is US"

 

lmao!

 

I've been thinking about starting a small company manufacturing parts. I know I would get some business, but this thread is really making me think twice about it.

Now that I typed that out I looked at it and realized this - Things are to the point now that prospective new businesses are saying "why bother?"

Great!

 

Kelly don't apologize this is a very valid argument plaguing the US economy and in particular the automotive/hot rod hobby. There are a lot of valid points in this thread.

True Edelbrock may be forced a hand by copies of their products. But at the same time we all would rather buy an Edelbrock, in fact we do. The same could be said for reproduction grilles and lights, etc. We know the chinese made copies are inferior yet we still buy them. Why? B/c the price is right, american manufacturers can't keep up and lets all face facts, we do pay a premium for "made in america" products. Unless a company can do everything in house, there is a lot of overhead caused by other companies costs, government regulations and cuts, political greed etc etc, it is a cyclical relationship that will forever haunt us. Unfortunately we can't set the clock back and reverse what has happened.

I think a lot of us have found it's cheaper to make things on our own. Sure we don't count our time into the cost equation like the companies do but when it comes down to it raw materials and a bit of our time more than likely equate to 1/4 of the price if not more. We buy b/c we either Aon't have the experience to do it ourselves and don't want to try, or B:We don't want to wait and would rather whip out a credit card then spend a few hours getting dirty (not most of the people on this board there's threads for days to prove it)

When something is not made available to us we innovate, we invent. Look at the past tech threads, the homemade, more than half this stuff can be purchased, but we choose to build it b/c most of us don't have enough money to just go buy something and we can more often than not make it ourselves.

 

Don't let this stop you! Take what you read here and utilize it to design your business rather than letting it be doomed to failure before you start.

The benefit of a small business is you don't have so much ******** to go through as the big businesses. Just look at the list of alliance vendors, or better yet in the HAMB-o-dex, just small businesses working and thriving (i hope) b/c their work ethic is what people here look for in a company.

 

I hate to break it to you, but a good deal of the cost of a manufactured product is the cost of the material to make the product from, the labor to ***emble/create it, and the overhead ***ociated with maintaining your physical ***ets and compliance with government rules and regulations. The overhead for a lot of things is lower for a small company, but it is all still there, and since most government costs are fixed regardless of business size, they impact small operators to a proportionally greater extent.

Profit comes last, and if you're lucky, it's a positive number.

I know everyone likes to talk down profit as "greedy" or whatever, but in reality, that's the only reason anyone would put up with everything a businessman has to deal with now a days. It's too much trouble to be in business if you're not going to make any money.

Like my old man says, "I can do a lot of things and lose money, and they're all a lot more fun than running a business."

If I was going to spend all my time on something that loses money at every turn, I'd still be racing stock cars.

 

When places like Harbor Freight, Walmart, Bombay Company, etc
can retail stuff for less than the cost of the materials, it is difficult
to compete with imported goods based on price alone.

 

for the most part... Wal Mart

lol, sounds like a pretty uneducated reply, margins are already thin...

yep, they tax the hell out of imports...

 

Exactly.

I was working up a design for a set of fixtures to machine those square tube and wing nut panel clamps, but I stopped when I ran the numbers on the material costs. My wholesale cost for square tube and wing nuts was more than what Harbor Freight charges for the finished product.

Honestly, I don't know how they do it. Steel has got to cost money in China too.