ljdm1956 wrote:Holy Moly! No import bashing here, huh? I'd rather deal with a quirk or two when welding with a machine I can afford, then not be welding at all.
I concur. I also have a cheap import, and I got pretty much what I paid for after looking closely inside. I got the service and support that should be expected on such a machine. I hope to get a Miller Dynasty one day, but just can't even swing a used one at this time, so content to be like you, welding on a machine I could afford.
ljdm1956 wrote:Better than not welding/better than walking. Whew! Got that off my chest. Done. Haters out there - flame away.
Not intending to flame you, but to point out that we as customers also dictate where our money goes, and as more of it goes into cheaper import solutions, we will see less made in U.S.A. I've been replacing the accessories with Made In U.S.A. when possible, because I can always keep them with another machine, and sell the imported accessories with the machine if/when I decide to sell it.
I'm not unhappy about my machine, but like to be a realist about it, and looking at some of the components and assembly let me know that I got what I paid for, nothing more.
There's a huge difference between a company like Miller or Lincoln over import distributors that merely turn over product, at least Miller and Lincoln have pioneered many welding related products, where the imports have merely copied the ideas. That is not innovating. Now even Miller and Lincoln are being driven offshore to try and compete. The $64k question is if the import companies can compete at the same level with an imported product. Smaller import companies don't have the capitol to do the same research, the same innovation, something some of the American and European companies have been doing for the past 40 or 50 years or even longer.
To your car analogy, I will use Apple as an example, because Apple took several products to China but were able to produce product better than other competing companies manufacturing in the same plant. It can be done, but it is not easy. You need to have knowledgeable people overseeing the process, keeping the quality up to the level you need, making sure the packaging is what you would do on your own product...look at the MacBooks or iPhones that were manufactured in China. Not as nice as the old Apple products, but better than the competition.
My import welder came in a box that looked like brown Chinese toilet paper. I've seen similar boxes arrived at the customer smashed up with holes ripped in them...only proving my point about Apple packaging.
Alan
