Originally posted by jrich
rcurley Whats this a FALSE statement
a large electronic mfg. years ago did a study w/mexican, japaneese,and german assembly workers what they found was japaneese do it right extreemly high quality, if it doesn't work perfectly they will fix it perfectly cost is higher, german workers same thing but most costly and slower, mexican workers were fastest and cheapest, however quality was worst.
False, no - a difference of opinions - you betcha - This is going to get way off topic, but IMO the main reason for Japanese quailty is not Japanese workers it's the process!!
Back in the day, the Japanese build quality was a JOKE!!! Are you trying to tell me that Japanese people have changed to somehow become more detailed oriented, or are some how intrinsically better at following directions since the 50's?
Toyota was the main driving force of developing JIT (Just in Time). JIT forces good quality for a multitude of reasons.
Currently, Toyota can make their cars in any order they please (and they do this in CA mind you) - corrola, tundra, corrola, camry, etc. And toyota still has the highest rated quality around.
They have managed to push their setup costs so low and made changes in tooling so quickly that it's economically possible to build in this fashion. The gap is closing for american companies, but they are still far behind.
One thing to keep in mind is that culture is a big problem in Mexico. I don't want to sound racist...I'm the furthest from it in fact, but in Mexico, quaity issues arise because workers tend to cover up problems instead of stop the line immediately and fix the problem before it propogates. The idea behind a mfg system like JIT is to fix problems before they get large...many Mexican workers are afraid to admit to problems for fear of punishment.
Germans have been known for years for their precision engineering. And they definitely do have some of the better designs around. That I won't dispute.
I used to be a manufacturing engineer for passive fiber optic products, a very, very labor intensive product. We had off site facilities in Mexico, Europe and Asia. We had some quality problems across the board, but they were not related geographically. They were spread across loacations and product lines.
For example, most people would say that Korean's can't produce a quality product....well, JL amps are made in Korea...I'd consider that a quality product.
So the story remains the same, if you implement the correct manufacturing style, and you keep a close eye on your QC procedure - ISO 900x Certification helps - IMO, you can build a high quality product in any industrial country you want.
This is why I feel the quality of your process has a larger impact on overall product quality then the actual MFG location....it's ok, we can agree to disagree. I don't want to turn this into a business school class debate!!!
oh curley why dont you install that stuff on your post an get rid of that sad face???????? 
This is even further off topic, but I just got done with a few projects, and borrowed some equipment so I can temporarily install the front stage (got an old, old Punch 4020DSM to run the horns and the mids). With a temp setup, I can start to build the trunk and then move forward. Trust me the last year has been agonizing...I can't wait to get it running...hopefully I'll make the last IASCA comp of the year.
Am I still defying the laws of physics...
