Have Zodiac moved production to China?

[Flyguy]

I heard that Zodiac have moved production to China. Is this true?

The reason I ask is a friend has had real quality issues with a new zodiac he bought and the replacement so he he got his money back.

[Nasher]

It may well be true that production has been moved to China, however please don't assume that this is a bad thing.

Having visited plenty of factories in that part of the world, and been involved in setting up contracts for manufacture of everything from simple plastic mouldings to complete VHF sets, I can assure you plenty of top companies in Europe cannot compete with a good companies quality regimes and practices from the East, let alone the price differential.

Nasher.

[Mollers]

Originally Posted by Nasher

It may well be true that production has been moved to China, however please don't assume that this is a bad thing.

Having visited plenty of factories in that part of the world, and been involved in setting up contracts for manufacture of everything from simple plastic mouldings to complete VHF sets, I can assure you plenty of top companies in Europe cannot compete with a good companies quality regimes and practices from the East, let alone the price differential.

Nasher.

Agreed, China is the manufacturing powerhouse of the World. From tat to top end.

[spartacus]

Originally Posted by Nasher

It may well be true that production has been moved to China, however please don't assume that this is a bad thing.

Having visited plenty of factories in that part of the world, and been involved in setting up contracts for manufacture of everything from simple plastic mouldings to complete VHF sets, I can assure you plenty of top companies in Europe cannot compete with a good companies quality regimes and practices from the East, let alone the price differential.

Nasher.

Exactly, Dyson did exactly the same thing. However as far as I know they've relocated again to Malaysia. As long as they're still using quality components in the manufacture then the boats should still be the same.

[Flyguy]

That may be true but in my experience the quality drops as with the experience of my friend. Also these cost savings are often not passed onto the customer.
Thirdly I'd rather support European/US industry. Ethical buying is high on my list of priorities.
The reason that China are cheap is sweatshop labour and none of the legislation that our companies have to comply to so they have an unfair advantage.

[Stoo]

Originally Posted by Flyguy

The reason that China are cheap is sweatshop labour and none of the legislation that our companies have to comply to so they have an unfair advantage.

I think that was once true, but things are changing quickly. A client of mine buys high-end steel for his fabricating business. He was invited to tour steel mills in China a year ago and told me that they are bigger, cleaner and far more advanced than anything he has seen here in North America, and even Germany. The quality of the product is apparently superb.

He made an interesting point though, in that as China opens up, wages will increase and also that as the price of fuel keeps increasing, shipping costs to North America and Europe will start to have an effect on the competitiveness of their products...