Atlas acquires Microtrains

[Rivet Miscounter]

They weren't shady.  They were up front from the beginning.  You gotta stop with this.

Ha, seriously?   They were massaging the fact that people were using "China" interchangeably with Vietnam to fend off negative press for offshoring production.

They did the follow-up statement after the backlash from everyone about "sending MTL to China/overseas/Vietnam/wherever."   (which, I think it unwarranted backlash, mind you, as I said before)   You can defend them all you want, it's still a bad look, and 100% not necessary.    I agree, if they'd just stuck to their guns with their original statements then yes I agree with you.   But I'm not going to pretend that didn't happen either.

And, why do you think they released now a THIRD statement?   When you have to keep swinging and missing like that....IT'S NOT A GOOD LOOK.     But hey, we can take the positive stance and say....third time's a charm, yay Atlas you got it right!

[nkalanaga]

To go back a few more years on Packers#1's essay, several European countries put tariffs on US goods in the late 1800s, claiming that they were undercutting local industries.  At that time, we were the "cheap third-world country".

[OldEastRR]

To go back a few more years on Packers#1's essay, several European countries put tariffs on US goods in the late 1800s, claiming that they were undercutting local industries.  At that time, we were the "cheap third-world country".

So true!! In the 18th and 19th century the US was the "cheating" country turning out needed goods and materials at much lower prices than European stuff cost. Hell, the US even stole machinery and design plans for things like looms, shoe leather making, and even the cotton gin (first devised in France) (interesting side note: the French invented punch cards, not for computers, but to run sequences of machine operation -- in the 1700's) . Then there was the cheap wool and cloth goods that were undercutting the European markets. European countries made a serious crime to take to America any machinery or plans made in their country. Holy cow, patent stealing was invented by the USA! (ironically)+

[bbussey]

Ha, seriously?   They were massaging the fact that people were using "China" interchangeably with Vietnam to fend off negative press for offshoring production.

They did the follow-up statement after the backlash from everyone about "sending MTL to China/overseas/Vietnam/wherever."   (which, I think it unwarranted backlash, mind you, as I said before)   You can defend them all you want, it's still a bad look, and 100% not necessary.    I agree, if they'd just stuck to their guns with their original statements then yes I agree with you.   But I'm not going to pretend that didn't happen either.

And, why do you think they released now a THIRD statement?   When you have to keep swinging and missing like that....IT'S NOT A GOOD LOOK.     But hey, we can take the positive stance and say....third time's a charm, yay Atlas you got it right!

They released the third statement because people were conflating China with everything made overseas. If the blowback was unwarranted as you accurately stated, then Atlas didn’t misstep. But you keep on believing they misstepped, since that’s what you want to believe. I’m happy Atlas acquired MTL because Atlas is the company that is best capable of maintaining some semblance of what MTL production was before the fire. The new printing process works for the weathered and intricate color releases but it would be nice to see the simple scheme one-paint-color-one-print-color releases be produced the conventional way again.

[Lenny53]

According to one of my preferred vendors that car is one of the preorders still expected to be delivered next month.

Hope so.

https://micro-trains.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=232

[robertjohndavis]

When you have to keep swinging and missing like that....IT'S NOT A GOOD LOOK.     But hey, we can take the positive stance and say....third time's a charm, yay Atlas you got it right!

I am biased because it’s my field, but there are very good reasons PR agencies exist. This case is one of them. I’ll explain why and then discuss the biggest mistake made.

Given the political environment we live in, buying a company that hung their hat on American-made messaging with the intent of changing manufacturing geography was never going to go down easy. Layer on skyrocketing prices and tariff concerns, and you’ve got a tough path to navigate. You need not be Nostradamus to realize the announcement could go sideways.

Atlas needed a partner to help them craft messaging and scenario-plan. It seems that didn’t happen, and now you have them taking a defensive position with a lot of emotion. It didn’t have to go this way.

In all of this, the communications forgot the customer. And this is where the biggest mistake was made…

Atlas took the position of the sale being a good move, but from many customers’ POV Atlas is a company with notorious supply chain issues, long production times, quality control concerns, and inferior trucks and couplers. And they were announcing the acquisition of a very reliable company that turned out product monthly, and produced the defacto trucks and couplers of the whole market.

A humble Atlas would have positioned this (in reality, not just comms) as a way to improve Atlas. Instead, what modelers heard was that MT products would now be subjected to the way Atlas works. That was where it went off the rails and they are still trying to counter it.

This is a common approach unfortunately - the buyer presents themselves as the standard. When that opinion isn’t widely shared by the customer base, you get backlash like we are seeing now.

This was going to be a tricky announcement no matter what, but it could have gone better. There’s no question from a communications point of view that mistakes were made. That doesn’t mean the acquisition isn’t a good thing, but it created a negative backlash that may have been avoided. Never underestimate the need for PR.

Rob

[Rivet Miscounter]

They released the third statement because people were conflating China with everything made overseas. If the blowback was unwarranted as you accurately stated, then Atlas didn’t misstep. But you keep on believing they misstepped, since that’s what you want to believe. I’m happy Atlas acquired MTL because Atlas is the company that is best capable of maintaining some semblance of what MTL production was before the fire. The new printing process works for the weathered and intricate color releases but it would be nice to see the simple scheme one-paint-color-one-print-color releases be produced the conventional way again.

It's not what I "want to believe".    By any account, if you have to do four press releases, in less than a week, for something you've had ample time to plan out, you made a misstep.   99 out of 100 competent marketing departments (where the PR function often sits for smaller organizations) on Earth would advise against the third (second from Atlas proper) message. (the aforementioned one about China)  And the 1 out of 100 would be regretful right now, and sending out another communication to smooth over that misstep. (which they did, and rightfully so, and good for them)

I am also happy that Atlas acquired MTL, for a lot of the same reasons as you stated.   I probably think MTL's issues go much further back than the fire, but I'm sure that was the proverbial "straw" that set all this in motion.  I think this has the potential to make both product lines elevate, with just enough infusion of MTL's people and methods to add some spark to Atlas' organization.  Now they will just need to find a way to deliver. (figuratively and literally)

[John]

It seems to me Atlas was going to receive blowback no matter the message, because the audience of the message has a deeper interest than the average consumer of regular goods.

[thomasjmdavis]

Thank you Rob @robertjohndavis for your excellent brief essay.  I would say it would be difficult to argue with, but I am sure someone will.

It seems to me Atlas was going to receive blowback no matter the message, because the audience of the message has a deeper interest than the average consumer of regular goods.

While we were not owners of MTL in any financial sense, there is a certain sense of ownership and loyalty that comes for customers when they feel they have some direct input into production decisions.  Here, in other venues, and via email, we could engage directly with MTL.  Maybe it is all happenstance, and they would have produced exactly what they have produced without any input from customers, but my gut tells me that they were paying attention to requests, research, and photo submissions.  I would suggest that had it not been for such input, the baggage car would have been stretched to 80' (and a different prototype) and there might never have been a single window coach (those being discussions that happened right here on TRW).  OK, so we never got the combine, but who knows?  I still need to get the name of the Atlas exec who will be handling combine related email and suggestions.

On the subject of China vs Vietnam, I was one of the many who jumped to the assumption that when Atlas said they would be producing MTL models in their overseas factories, that they meant 'in China'.  The reason I jumped to that assumption is that EVERY single Atlas car or loco I have purchased in the last 30 years is stamped "CHINA" on the underframe.  Now, Atlas may have 'worldwide' production facilities, but all the products in my personal collection were made in factories in China that Atlas does not own.  My first ever model from Vietnam arrived last week- from BLI. 

The thing is, I don't CARE whether the models are made in China or Vietnam or Japan or Italy or Germany- all those countries are stamped into the frames of some of my models.  I have/had a particular affinity for a little company in Oregon, but they've now been purchased by a little company in New Jersey.  The production is moving to Vietnam.  I hope the folks being laid off by MTL find jobs that pay as well or better, and no one suffers as a result of this particular business decision.  The world will be a more stable and safer place is everyone has a job where they can be productive, and make enough to feed their kids- and hopefully in the long run, this deal will contribute to Atlas growing, gaining focus in N scale, and the hobby expanding.  At least enough so that Atlas can hire a PR firm.

[basementcalling]

  I have/had a particular affinity for a little company in Oregon,

This hits Atlas's problem on the head. Micro Trains might have the most brand loyalty of any N scale manufacturer. I remember life as a beginning N scaler in the early 80s, dreaming of being able to buy MT cars one day after I finished school. Atlas was the more affordable, if less well detailed and decorated, option. MT cars were also preferred because they came with MT trucks and couplers already on them, and most other companies' trucks in the 1980s/90s were crapola.

Bottom line, MT accumulated lots of love from N scalers for many reasons. The Atlas announcement was more like an obituary to many than a public relations post.


Little companies rarely have budgets that include professional PR firms giving advice.

[nscalersince1969]

My first N gauge cars were Atlas kits, 2 bay open hoppers, that I think cost $.99. I will have to look but I think they are stamped USA. These are still on my layout but now have Micro-Trains trucks. One of the first things I do when I buy an Atlas car is to change the couplers and trucks to Micro-Trains if I can. Very few are not able to be changed due to spacing issues. I have noticed that on two Atlas 3230 covered hoppers purchased recently that they have Micro-Trains body mounted couplers on them. This can be seen in the pictures in the link below. Several other cars released recently such as the beer box cars I believe are Micro-Trains. At one time Atlas offered cars with either Rapido couplers or Micro-Trains couplers, probably in the 1980s, so they always had some connection with Micro-Trains. My hope now is they will dump the Accumate license and switch everything to Micro-Trains. I also hope they are able to produce the Micro-Trains metal wheels again because these tracked much better than most other metal wheels that come on current production rolling stock. I have them on my cars that I had problems with the factory wheels and have had no problems since. I think production of these has been limited after the fires. Also, 1015 couplers fit perfectly in most Atlas locomotives.

https://www.nscalesupply.com/atl/atl-rs-3230coveredhoppers.html

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Little companies rarely have budgets that include professional PR firms giving advice.

It's a shame. I bet folks like @robertjohndavis would've been happy to help in exchange for very little back. Hell, probably knowing he helped a long-term N scale supporter probably would've been enough. I know I do my best to let model manufacturers that I'm always happy to help them sort out web issues in that same way.

Why? Simply because I want to see them succeed. I want them to be able to focus on making trains for me to buy instead of dealing with expired SSL certificates making their customers think they've gone out of business, for example.

[thomasjmdavis]

Little companies rarely have budgets that include professional PR firms giving advice.

Not hiring skilled PR people to do PR (or, more broadly, skilled marketing people to do marketing)  is the equivalent of not hiring CAD professional for CAD drafting, or not hiring accountants to do accounting. If it's a one-person shop, the owner is doing the marketing.  They need to be good at it.  Otherwise,  chances of the business being a success are minimal.  It doesn't need to be a Madison Avenue firm- it can be a one person PR freelancer, or it can be someone on the company payroll.  Next time they hire a business or sales manager, skew the job requirements and interview questions toward marketing or PR.  Or, select the employee who is already doing it (somebody must be, assuming the company is advertising or doing any sales promotion at all), and pay to get them a couple classes in the management program at the local college.  For that matter, ask their professor if the professor moonlights.  The company may even luck out and discover that somebody working in the shipping department is a natural.  But identify who does that job, and make sure they are up to the task.  Otherwise,the company is wasting money on whoever they are paying to make marketing and PR decisions.  Even if that person is the owner or president of the company.

[signalmaintainer]

I am biased because it’s my field, but there are very good reasons PR agencies exist. This case is one of them. I’ll explain why and then discuss the biggest mistake made.

Given the political environment we live in, buying a company that hung their hat on American-made messaging with the intent of changing manufacturing geography was never going to go down easy. Layer on skyrocketing prices and tariff concerns, and you’ve got a tough path to navigate. You need not be Nostradamus to realize the announcement could go sideways.

Atlas needed a partner to help them craft messaging and scenario-plan. It seems that didn’t happen, and now you have them taking a defensive position with a lot of emotion. It didn’t have to go this way.

In all of this, the communications forgot the customer. And this is where the biggest mistake was made…

Atlas took the position of the sale being a good move, but from many customers’ POV Atlas is a company with notorious supply chain issues, long production times, quality control concerns, and inferior trucks and couplers. And they were announcing the acquisition of a very reliable company that turned out product monthly, and produced the defacto trucks and couplers of the whole market.

A humble Atlas would have positioned this (in reality, not just comms) as a way to improve Atlas. Instead, what modelers heard was that MT products would now be subjected to the way Atlas works. That was where it went off the rails and they are still trying to counter it.

This is a common approach unfortunately - the buyer presents themselves as the standard. When that opinion isn’t widely shared by the customer base, you get backlash like we are seeing now.

This was going to be a tricky announcement no matter what, but it could have gone better. There’s no question from a communications point of view that mistakes were made. That doesn’t mean the acquisition isn’t a good thing, but it created a negative backlash that may have been avoided. Never underestimate the need for PR.

Rob

Very good analysis.

[nkalanaga]

OldEastRR:  I didn't know that punch cards were French, but had heard the weaving part.  We were still using those at the bank until 1985.  I have a box of unused ones today, and, occasionally, dig one out for use as cardstock. 

A stack of pieces makes a quite convincing pile of plywood for scenery, or loading a boxcar.  For the boxcar, there's no need to even paint them.