High-end Chinese brands?

[charley1968]

Hi!
I wonder , with the PR China being the worlds largest 'builder', are there chinese
high quality brands of electric tools? If so, could you name some?
Genuinely curious: a.

 

[AlexThePalex]

Never heard of it.

 

[Sparktrician]

Talk about an oxymoron!!! 

 

[dltflt]

Talk about an oxymoron!!!

That I what I thought when I read the subject line.

 

[Rip Van Winkle]

There's TTI, although the tools are usually branded Milwaukee, AEG, and Ryobi.  [scared]

 

[jaguar36]

I've always wondered what the Chinese companies like Foxconn that make high-end electronics are using for tools.  They've gotta have some of the best CNCs in the world to be able to churn out iPhone and Macbook cases in that quantities, and those have quite tight tolerances.  At least as tight as what we use in the aerospace industry.  Are they using American or German CNCs?

 

[Holmz]

I've always wondered what the Chinese companies like Foxconn that make high-end electronics are using for tools.  They've gotta have some of the best CNCs in the world to be able to churn out iPhone and Macbook cases in that quantities, and those have quite tight tolerances.  At least as tight as what we use in the aerospace industry.  Are they using American or German CNCs?

Or maybe the Japanese equipment.

There is a difference in business culture between a multinational and smaller businesses.

There is a glut of cheap stuff on the market because many people swear by low cost.

 

[sae]

I've always wondered what the Chinese companies like Foxconn that make high-end electronics are using for tools.  They've gotta have some of the best CNCs in the world to be able to churn out iPhone and Macbook cases in that quantities, and those have quite tight tolerances.  At least as tight as what we use in the aerospace industry.  Are they using American or German CNCs?

If you watch Dateline or 60 Minutes or the sort, they are usually quick to identify that a large portion of the bidders on machine equipment from shuttered US factories are from China.

 

[demographic]

In the 60s the British motorcycle industry ignored the Japanese motorcycle industry getting set up.
Fast forward a few years and the British motorcycle was largely dead in the water whilst the Japanese industry thrived.

This thread is like that but replace the Japanese with the Chinese.

Look at most powertools nowadays. Made in PRC.

Anyone that thinks the Chinese are incapable of making good quality tools is delusional, hell they are making everything.

 

[Kev]

Low volume high quality goods aren't a viable opportunity for a typical Chinese manufacturing business today. As has been said, it's not a capability issue at all.

The reality is the high end tool market is a small niche. I'd be more inclined to expect some sort of 3D timber processing tool out of China in 10 years, bypassing what we do today ... Imagine passing a rough in one end of something that looks like a lunch box planer and having an accuraraly dimensioned and morticed piece passed out ... or a guitar neck, etc.

... Can you say "dusty unused Festools" ?  [sad]

 

[bertv]

The high end machinery used by Foxconn to make Apple products are provided by Apple, mostly top European milling machines and such. Apple bought tens of thousands milling machines to make iPad etc housings from high grade aluminum.

Quite a lot of the well known western brands of electrical tools are made in China and my guess is that a lot of componenets of the higher end ones are too. Example in case from the electronics industry: when the factory of a components manufacturer was hit by some disaster the production of hard disks stalled for several months; all of the hd manufacturers used the same part, from that factory.
That is called ‘globalization'…

 

[TelcoRandy]

This is interesting:=1189
I think it's somewhat on topic too. I suppose companies that take advantage of manufacturing in China are doing so simply to turn a profit using their business models that call for low prices (with very high markup), cheap labour and high failure rates.

But one thing I never considered was how difficult it could be for a company to manufacture a product that is meant to fail just after the warranty period has expired. I love this guy's videos.

 

[sae]

I love this guy's videos.

Keep your stick on the ice!

 

[TelcoRandy]

sae, I thought for a moment you might be AvE and I got all excited and then I seen your location on the forum: United States. I guess you're not him.

 

[travisj]

In other realms, there are high-end products coming out of China.  Oppo (DVD players) is a Chinese company and there stuff is always well reviewed.  They are on the lower-end of the high-end market, but they are still considered high end.  There is no reason at some point tools couldn't be as well.  The issue tends to be that most factories rely and thrive on voume.  The demand isn't there necessarily to create the need for the supply.

 

[andvari]

Oppo is definitely a high end brand. Terrific support and service too. You could think of them as the Festool of media players. Many if not most audiophile brands start with Oppo players and rebrand them with a few tweaks.

 

[Jonnio]

I think the Chinese just make anything they are ask to make. Unfortunately it's the western buyers who are asking for cheaply made goods so they can make as much profit as possible, being quite content that we the consumer will just blame the Chinese.

 

[Kev]

I think the Chinese just make anything they are ask to make. Unfortunately it's the western buyers who are asking for cheaply made goods so they can make as much profit as possible, being quite content that we the consumer will just blame the Chinese.

There's deffo an element of that ... and it certainly doesn't help. Unfortunately the current trend for "innovate" really leans towards "cheapovate" and the make a buck quick set are all over it [mad] [sad]

 

[junk731]

I think the Chinese just make anything they are ask to make. Unfortunately it's the western buyers who are asking for cheaply made goods so they can make as much profit as possible, being quite content that we the consumer will just blame the Chinese.

There's deffo an element of that ... and it certainly doesn't help. Unfortunately the current trend for "innovate" really leans towards "cheapovate" and the make a buck quick set are all over it [mad] [sad]

I think you both hit it right on, the western buyers aren't Joe Public though. Its the major businesses that want a cheap product so they can make ridiculous profit and still give the illusion of value. I think as far woodworking equipment there should also be a line drawn between Chinese and the Taiwanese machine makers. They seem to be able to make a reasonably accurate and higher quality machine in comparison.

John

 

[Sparktrician]

I think you both hit it right on, the western buyers aren't Joe Public though. Its the major businesses that want a cheap product so they can make ridiculous profit and still give the illusion of value. I think as far woodworking equipment there should also be a line drawn between Chinese and the Taiwanese machine makers. They seem to be able to make a reasonably accurate and higher quality machine in comparison.

John

If that's not splitting hairs...