this doesn't sound good...

[Robbman]

Kader/Sanda Kan are not the end all be all in the world...

[Gozer the Gozerian]

Feels really good right now to see all those Injection Molding Machines working hard outside my office.   ;D 

Joe
MTL

[Bluford Craig]

If Bluford is in the tank on this, RMW might already have its first order...

Lee

Won't effect us in the least Lee. In fact, I expect the effects on N scale in general to be slight, if even noticeable at all. BTW, you can pick up a pad printing machine for the cost of a good used car. That's the easy part. The hard part is learning how to make good product from it. Expect to take months out of your life (I mean full-time, not an hour a day) and thousands in ruined plastic. Pad printing is a voodoo art with a dozen variables that often change daily. Not for the timid.

Craig
www.bluford-shops.com

[Chris333]

So does this delay code 55 flex track...

[oakcreekco]

I'm going to piss some folks off here, but I have no sympathy of any of the companies that may be affected. They let "Chinese" labor and more control their destany. If you're not in total control of your manufacturing, then things like this can happen, and when least expected.

That being said, I also realize that small companies and start up companies are/were able to do what they do so well because of the Chinese abilities. Buying production equipment and maintaining it isn't cheap, so I can see why many have went to China to "contract", but there's always a business risk when you're "farming out" your product.

Kato has kept control over their loco manufacturing, so they are "on track" with their business plan. I know, I know, folks love to bash the hell out of Kato, but they sure as heck ain't going to be in a pinch because the Chinese have a squeeze on them.

Atlas, hard to tell what will happen, but for myself, I'm not buying ANYMORE "GP's" for the new list/street prices of their latest releases. Just my opinion, but I see more value in a Kato 6 axle loco than an Atlas 4 axle loco, and it costs less??????  I'm lucky that I'm a "western modeler" and have plenty of 4 axle stuff, so I can be picky.

[oakcreekco]

Craig, you posted while I was slowly typing, and that's good to hear. You have chosen the business plan, brought out some great new and needed N products, and keep it up.

I've purchased more of you 86'ers than anything else in the last year. Great product, good price point, and I'll be buying a bunch more too.


Joe, those machines running are probably helping you sleep well too ;D

[Gozer the Gozerian]

Yep.  I'm in the offical MTL Saturday Overtime Work outfit...Jammies and Bunny Slippers.  ZZZZZZZZZzzzzz

Joe, those machines running are probably helping you sleep well too ;D

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Thailand has some really good production possibilities. The products I have seen when over there have been pretty high quality, even better than China. Wages there are higher than in China by a wide margin. Joy was making about $800 a month before she came here, and that was a pretty low level job. I suspect that it would be to expensive to start a plant there rather than just move the equipment here.

I wonder if this is one of the reasons why IM has taken over production of so many other companies. I doubt RC or ESM would be large enough on their own, but together they are?

I'm curious, who makes Trainworx, FVM and BLMA products?

[Sokramiketes]

Feels really good right now to see all those Injection Molding Machines working hard outside my office.   ;D 

Joe
MTL

So this isn't going to affect Z scale mechanisms and track?   

Lots of interesting conjecture in this thread... if you guys only knew the half of it.

[asciibaron]

i guess that explains the wait for the Atlas curved turnouts

[bbussey]

... I wonder if this is one of the reasons why IM has taken over production of so many other companies. I doubt RC or ESM would be large enough on their own, but together they are?

InterMountain has not taken over production of Eastern Seaboard Models nor does ESM manufacture through any IMRC contractors.  IMRC is a distributor of ESM products.

[Atlanticflier]

Feels really good right now to see all those Injection Molding Machines working hard outside my office.   ;D 

Joe
MTL

So this isn't going to affect Z scale mechanisms and track?   

Lots of interesting conjecture in this thread... if you guys only knew the half of it.

.....There would be 'Panic at The Disco' .....

[Robbman]

Feels really good right now to see all those Injection Molding Machines working hard outside my office.   ;D 

Joe
MTL

If only you could design something for them to run 

[up1950s]

If all the importers started a shared manufacturing company they could kick Kader to the curb . If Kader can do it so can a new company over here . Each company that wanted things done could either buy into the company with a % share if the companies estimated output and overhead , or pay as they order but with less pull and benefits .

[ljudice]

I was under the impression that most of the upstart vendors in N were not in the Kader/Sanda Kan universe - that's why their products have been coming and coming and coming.

I mean really, do you think Kader would delay an Atlas product for something from a much smaller vendor?