Kader reduces its losses

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

40 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

Plus there has been debate within the company about concentrating its plastics moulding and assembly business on simpler, but more profitable, products than complex railway model - fortunately model railway products still seem to be continuing and hopefully that strategy won't change but tempus fugit

There's a long term pattern of model railway production migration to the next low cost location. No reason to believe China will be any different, it's not if, but when.

[adb968008]

On 20/04/2024 at 20:31, Ravenser said:

 

I may have been a little pessimistic about the Jinty - it seems it was run quite a few times between 2004 and 2018, but not since.

You wait 6 years and three preserved ones arrive at once.

 

[jjb1970]

On 28/04/2024 at 20:51, 34theletterbetweenB&D said:

There's a long term pattern of model railway production migration to the next low cost location. No reason to believe China will be any different, it's not if, but when.

 

It's not just model railways. There are always claims that manufacture of X will stay in country A because they're the only ones with the capability and skills to do it. What that really means is the economic and operational arguments to make the necessary investment to build skills and capability somewhere else don't (yet) stack up. If the calculation changes then the capabilities can be developed elsewhere surprisingly quickly.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

7 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

...capabilities can be developed elsewhere surprisingly quickly.

Once a country or region has the majority of its population educated in school to age 18, with a competent technical management team, light industry can be introduced and brought up to full output in three years is the established rule. (This will even work in the UK once the global economy

is uniform, but that's several lifetimes away... )

[jjb1970]

I am old enough to remember advocates of Japanese brass models claiming models made in the Republic of Korea were inferior and couldn't match Japanese craftsmanship. That may have been true in the early days but Korean manufacturers like Ajin and Samhongsa surpassed the Japanese.  Later, it was said Chinese producers couldn't match Korean brass in the remaining brass micro-niche despite the fact they very quickly did.

 

In a more serious and consequential example, I was assured by Norwegian ship builders that shipyards in the Republic of Korea would never match them for LNG tank fabrication. They very quickly matched them and did it more efficiently and for less. The Koreans said the same about China with similar results other than I think the Korean yards still have an edge in efficiency. 

[Legend]

9 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

 

It's not just model railways. There are always claims that manufacture of X will stay in country A because they're the only ones with the capability and skills to do it. What that really means is the economic and operational arguments to make the necessary investment to build skills and capability somewhere else don't (yet) stack up. If the calculation changes then the capabilities can be developed elsewhere surprisingly quickly.

There  are also political factors . I believe Apple is moving production of some of its products from China . This is causing Foxconn its leading subcontractor to lay off employees.  I think the West is finally waking up to the fact that all its manufacturing eggs are in a Chinese basket .