Lines Made in China???
- Thread starter McGill-X
- Start date
Adrenaline
Active member
hmmm. about a year late on this exhausting post.
LineRoyalArmy
Member
Yea its true. As soon as K2 went over there, and saw that the quality will still be high so did Line. Thats how you can get a great ski like the invader for under $300. This was the first year over there, so the quality and craftsmanship will only get better too.
LineRoyalArmy
Member
I didnt mean to imply that they are. Just when its new for people to know how to make them thats all.
pocket-rocket
Active member
line k2 liberty...china made..nothing new buddy, along with 90% of what is around you...
reezyfbaby
Active member
chinese factories produce better quality skis than american factorie
CooksCorner
Active member
ya, but the chinise can mass produce high quality stuff like champs. i think they just need some time.
roussillon
Active member
i thought k2 has always been good quality skis, anyway... By the way my P-Es are made in china too
potatofarmer
Active member
all they did was move all their equipment to china, same stuff, diff. place. Its only making a difference cause some chinese guy is operating the machinery. the quality is just as good...but...as for the invaders, I donno what the fuck happened
Coalescent
Active member
both my pairs of lines have been completely fine...
Big-Punisher
Member
two things:
1) caleb: you are completely wrong about the cost of shipping destroying the savings in production costs.
shipping costs are reasonable, and they don't override savings in production. shipping to north america via containers out of the port of Hong Kong, or even Shanghai, costs relatively nothing should you wish to compare it to the cost of manufacturing almost any product in North America. you have to consider some of the factors in north american production that don't really exist in China. things like worker's compensation, insurance, minimum wage, powerful unions etc. the cost of shipping really doesnt override any of these savings. it's not as if line is flying their skis back to North America on a private jet. hang out in the port in hong kong for a few hours to see what is being moved out on some of the dirtiest boats in the world. Nike, Adidas, North Face and so many others. none of these successful businesses would be importing products in such a manner if they weren't saving tons of cash.
As for problems with quality, I can almost guarantee that Line does NOT OWN a factory in China. Chances are, they outsource to a factory owner who is already making similar products for other companies. Quality control in that type of relationship is extremely difficult: not only are factory workers more prone to error ( for a bunch of reasons I won't bother getting in to), but more importantly, it is exceptionally difficult for a north american corporate representative to establish a successful relationship with the factory owner, who himself most likely doesn't even live in China, but in Taiwan or Korea. It's a question of trust on the ski company's part that they have selected the right manufacturer for their products.
To sum up, doing business in China is insanely complex, especially in the manufacturing sector, and newly established production relationships can be difficult to manage. While tons and tons of money is being saved by avoiding production in North America, so many other factors play into these relationships that it is super difficult to move production without a bunch of hiccups along the way.
as for what karma said about dropping prices for the consumer's benefit, i think that he/she couldnt be more wrong. Line has moved production to Asia for its own benefit; it's a question of fiscal survival when every other competitor has outsourced its production. As soon as one company makes the jump to asia, all of its competitors really dont have a choice but to do the same. at the end of the day, it's a question of Line's survival. Small companies can't afford to maintain North American factories when their competitors are producing the same stuff for a tenth of the price elsewhere.
think about it...
1) caleb: you are completely wrong about the cost of shipping destroying the savings in production costs.
shipping costs are reasonable, and they don't override savings in production. shipping to north america via containers out of the port of Hong Kong, or even Shanghai, costs relatively nothing should you wish to compare it to the cost of manufacturing almost any product in North America. you have to consider some of the factors in north american production that don't really exist in China. things like worker's compensation, insurance, minimum wage, powerful unions etc. the cost of shipping really doesnt override any of these savings. it's not as if line is flying their skis back to North America on a private jet. hang out in the port in hong kong for a few hours to see what is being moved out on some of the dirtiest boats in the world. Nike, Adidas, North Face and so many others. none of these successful businesses would be importing products in such a manner if they weren't saving tons of cash.
As for problems with quality, I can almost guarantee that Line does NOT OWN a factory in China. Chances are, they outsource to a factory owner who is already making similar products for other companies. Quality control in that type of relationship is extremely difficult: not only are factory workers more prone to error ( for a bunch of reasons I won't bother getting in to), but more importantly, it is exceptionally difficult for a north american corporate representative to establish a successful relationship with the factory owner, who himself most likely doesn't even live in China, but in Taiwan or Korea. It's a question of trust on the ski company's part that they have selected the right manufacturer for their products.
To sum up, doing business in China is insanely complex, especially in the manufacturing sector, and newly established production relationships can be difficult to manage. While tons and tons of money is being saved by avoiding production in North America, so many other factors play into these relationships that it is super difficult to move production without a bunch of hiccups along the way.
as for what karma said about dropping prices for the consumer's benefit, i think that he/she couldnt be more wrong. Line has moved production to Asia for its own benefit; it's a question of fiscal survival when every other competitor has outsourced its production. As soon as one company makes the jump to asia, all of its competitors really dont have a choice but to do the same. at the end of the day, it's a question of Line's survival. Small companies can't afford to maintain North American factories when their competitors are producing the same stuff for a tenth of the price elsewhere.
think about it...
potatofarmer
Active member
damn... you got a good one of them edumenamcatations
switched
Member
That post is way too long. How can you expect someone to sit at there computer desk and stare into the screen long enough to fully read the entire message that you just gave to all of us. I know for me, that just looking at the screen for thiss long is causing my eyes to water and turn red and I keep blinking. But that may be because I have skiid all day and I am dehydrated and fatigued. But that is not why I am talking about this, because if you wanted to know about my skiing, then you could just read the thread I posted a few minutes ago. Anyway I wanted to just let you know that most people are not going to want to read that entire post on this thread because it just takes to long to read and it makes you very tired. Normally, if I wasn't giving you advice about this subject, than I would have just skipped past this post and completely ignore. So if you want your opinions to be heard and listened to on this website, then start practicing making your responses like a mini skirt. Long enough to cover the goods, but short enough to keep it interesting. If you need any more advice from me about getting you opinions heard, then just send me a message and I will try to contact to promptly. Have a nice day.
bikerocker
Active member
see, you are right, small companies can't compete because most of us as north american consumers don't give a fuck as to how what we buy is made. Look at cars, we destroyed much of our own economies by swiching over to foreign manufacturing, and buisness. THe only way we can keep quality up is if we just quit buying things because they are cheap. If we bucked up and bought stuff because it had soul, we wouldn't have the problems we do today. It's time to realize that Buying things from companies out to make a solid product because they care instead of because of how cheap it is, is the only way to go. Stay with soul, buy stuff from your shop instead of the internet, becuase one day, when there is no "little guy" left, we'll all pretty much be fucked.
salomonskiier12
Active member
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
i agree
i agree
chillonhill
Active member
There are no maple trees in china so what wood do they use now in the core or do they ship the maple over there too, could of done all that in mexico too. but probebly even worse relations there than in china
chillonhill
Active member
real good ovation guitars are made in korea
its all about labour & productions costs
its all about labour & productions costs
