Not only is China kicking our butts in manufactoring....

[Crazy Dave]

Their merchants and dealers are starting to exceed in customer service and delivery times with their US counterparts.

Example #1: I order ten widgets from US supplier who claims they're in stock and ship same day. Three days later I email or call asking where my shipping notice is, US supplier tells me I need to be patient and they'll ship as soon as they get them in next week. Acts like he/she is doing me a big favor too. Average 12 - 14 days ordering stateside.

Example #2: I order ten widgets from Chinese distributer and the item is usually cheaper, ships same day and is at my door within 6 - 11 days. Send an email if something is broke or not all items shipped, immediate apology, re-shipment or credit issued within 24 hours.

This is happening more frequently as I have an online business just getting off the ground and need to keep steady but not excessive inventory.

[KT2000]

1. Cost-cutting

American suppliers are now maintaining bare-bones stock to make the bottom line look better. Sometimes you will have to wait for the order to be manufactured.

[Crazy Dave]

2. Others can wait if they choose to...

It doesn't help my bottom line any, although small, waiting for two extra weeks.

When I asked one guy here in the US why it was taking so long for my order to ship he said the items would not be in until the next week and if "I" was lucky he said maybe they would get them before Thanksgiving. I reminded him that his website said he had over 50 in stock and that they ship within 24 hours, his reply was a rude "So?".

About three weeks ago almost an identical story and very rude people working there too.

[KT2000]

3. Exactly

My brother works for a company that makes test equipment that is now manufactured in China. They have many problems with what was once a stellar product. They keep US inventory as low as possible. They had a surge of orders and then could not fill them and had angry customers.
This is how to ruin a business that took 50 years to build.

[Crazy Dave]

4. My wife's grandmother told me a story once...

About how all people who she knew for over 70 years that owned all the small businesses in her small Illinois farm town. The old owners had all retired and their kids and/or grandkids inherited the business and just didn't care about customers like her that had shopped there for over 70 plus years. The old owners knew what their customers needed and kept those things in stock or they would order and say they would have them the next time she came in the store. She said one store she went to quit selling a certain brand of something she used and she asked one of the new owners could they order it for her. They told her very rudely that she was the only customer they had that uses it and they were not going to keep ordering it and wasting their time and shelf space just for her. And so on with everybody else who had shopped there over the years, rudeness, "what do you want?" versus "how can I help you", etc. and she said when most of them went out of business they all blamed it on the Walmart that was over 15 miles away.

[KT2000]

7. know what you mean

I live in a small town that is converting from family owned businesses (the old-timers won't hand them over yet) to chains. The family businesses are still oeprating the old fashioned way but the chains (no special orders there) are taking over.
The thing that kills me is when they list the donors for everyone's charity runs, auctions etc., it is the family owned businessses that contribute. Wal-Mart lists their donations on a bulletin board in the store but they are for charities in other towns!

Don't get me started on the new generation.....

[howaboutme]

12. Small retail business

needs to differentiate themselves from the big box stores and one way besides offering good service is to get to know customers by name. It requires effort but it will bring back people to the stores just as it does to to restaurants. There is nothing people appreciate more than to be thought of as an individual and person who is important enough that the owner and employees will make an effort to know them by name. Any restaurateur worth his salt understands this. Yeah I know price always matters to many and I've gone that route too. I now consider service as very important and rarely will enter a Wal-Mart.

[Crazy Dave]

13. Exactly

The poor woman told my wife and I that she didn't know she was the only customer they had that bought whatever it was (can't remember, back in 2000). She said she go buy it once or twice a month and then one day it was gone after all those years and after someone else in the family took the store over.

I can see it now, "Nobody buys this stuff, why do we sell it?", "Because Miss Ida has been coming here for over 70 years and she buys a box once a month so I always keep a couple in the store just for her".

We were there for almost a week and she had so many great stories. Way back during the depression and probably even at the same store she said since nobody had any money in town everyone bartered.

Oh goodness...and every meal was made like we were going out to work the fields. You should have seen the breakfast spread, farm fresh eggs, bacon, biscuits, gravy and she was right there with us but eating a small portion of course. My wife asked her the silliest question, "Grandma, should you be eating like that?" , the woman was 91 at that time and said she had already outlived her doctor :rofl:

[jtuck004]

5. Your brother is well-positioned for an opportunity. Wouldn't be easy - heck

is likely scarey, but angry customers are a foot in the door. And when things fall apart, if he can be ready, he could profit from it.

The problem is getting some capital together, but with a couple of unemployed engineers, couple of business folks, a few worker types and some relatives they could form a self-owned company and find people to approach in the industry.

I know there are all sorts of reasons not to, but that is how we will wrest control of all this from the people who screwed us over.

[KT2000]

6. Good idea

and getting back control is essential.
Our manufacturing sector is increasingly under control of people who use the business as financial instruments. That just does not make sense.

[jtuck004]

8. It won't be easy, and without capital they will have to start small.

But the future holds no promise as long as they are just a number in an investment bank's computer.

And small will be better than nothing in the future.

For our sake, we need to realize that we are the only ones that can change this.

[KT2000]

9. Am I ever glad

you responded to my post. I checked your profile and clicked on your "homepage." It had a link to info about feral cats and I am in the middle of trying to figure out what to do about two young feral cats I seem to be responsible for. The site had just about everything I need to know - just excellent information.
I have been having real stress over this and it really helps, so thank you.

Going to chalk this up to one of those holiday miracles.

Am going to talk with my brother about your idea - there are plenty of laid off engineers from the company too.

[jtuck004]

10. Feral cats are so easy to deal with. Cities just need to provide a bit of

funding for spay/enuter and traps. Rescuers who will provide copius amount of free labor, transport, medical follow-up, food - everything else. Returning the cats to the area prevents other cats from moving in. Trap, neuter (or spay) and return.

Sometimes people can even calm the cats enough to become pets. I am more into encouraging spay/neuter events for the community, but it is all part of reducing the numbers. I have noticed that once we get the dog numbers under control the cats begin to appear again.

A lawyer friend of mine creates little cat homes from a couple of plastic tubs (the ones with lids) from Walmart - she turns one over on the ground and cuts an entry hole in the side. Then she places another,smaller box with some hay or blanket pieces inside, also on its top with an entry hole, but pointed to the wall - turned 90 degrees from the entrance to block wind. She then fills much of the space around that one with straw or blanket pieces, then turns the larger crate over on top of it's lid. Then she sets them out for the cats in as much of a covered or hidden place as she can. She puts food near them. Said she used to set it inside until a sleeping kitty nearly took her hand off.

I am glad that information could help. Please PM me if I can help find any other resources. And thank you for helping the cats.

[KT2000]

11. Thanks again

It was the housing I had to figure out before the local group would help with spay/neuter. Copied your lawyer friend's plans.
But I am hoping to socialize them if my cat allows.

:hi:

[Warpy]

14. The problem is that their quality is still PISS POOR

Yeah, they can make the stuff cheap using near-slave labor. They can even manage to fly it around the globe if somebody needs it quickly.

What they can't seem to do is make stuff that works when you plug it in or doesn't break quickly.

They also can't seem to stay away from toxic paints and other materials and cheating in drug and food manufacture.

We're getting to the tipping point here. Either China has to start cleaning up its act (which will increase those bargain basement prices to a more reasonable level) or those jobs will start to come back.

[AtheistCrusader]

15. Kicking our butts in manufacturing? A nation of over a billion people, to a nation of 310m? 1% or so

more manufacturing output?

That's 'kicking our butts'? They just JUST arguably surpassed us 2 months ago. And as manufacturing numbers are updated, that is subject to change.

At worst, we're #2 in the world.

[jtuck004]

16. The fact is they equaled our output in 30 years. what it took us over 200

to accomplish.

And of their 1.3 billion people, a far higher percentage exists in rural China, in villages without running water, than our population. Yet they still did it. They are investing tens of billions into their people, into infrastructure, even building
a canal to bring water from the South to supplement water in the Northern part of the country. And putting 1500 new cars on the road every day.

The next 30 are going to be interesting.

We, on the other hand, have 30 million people unemployed, underemployed, or too sick of trying to get jobs that have 5 people looking for every one job that they have quit looking (a record increase of over 400,000 last month).

And no plan, not one, to invest in our people and country, to bring us up to be able to compete in the next century (cause this one's likely lost). Oh, wait, we are sending pitiful little checks to people without jobs, but arguing about that. Geez... It is possible that those jobs will come back - when the dollar collapses to levels we have never seen. Which likely means the death of thousands of people, mostly the aged and infirm, because food is increasing and our system is set up to require huge amounts of money for health care. Neither one will be sufficient at that point.

At best (worst?) we will be in debt to them for at least the next 50 years. Which is the consequence of a an arrogant people who stick their head in the sand and ignore what is going on around them. Won't be the first great nation to go that way, won't be the last.

[AtheistCrusader]

17. I'm actually excited that they are progressing so well.

Don't have a problem with that at all.

The debt thing... yeah, that's not so good.

[jtuck004]

18. Me too. We should look to them for lessons as to how you invest in your

people and your country, 'cause apparently we have forgotten our history...