This sounds just like "Rich from Virginia" Post of Hecho en Mexico.
I know that the lowest Bidder concept is always involved.
The question becomes-------When to buy American and why?
Wal-Mart has all the products from Pakistan to Malaisa <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/zombie.gif" alt="" />
>>>*When I retired from my engine shop I realized that 45 years working with engines and vehicles gave me an advantage.
I knew (or I should say I THOUGHT I knew) just about where everything related was made and by whom.
So many times over the years I would open a box with a "brand" and find the part in the box was now something I did not recognize.
Some relationships I had developed over the years was an asset, so I started working on getting past the "middleman" because otherwise there was no way I could ever have control over what my company stuck our name on.
I did have to reject some items because the suppliers would without fail ship one product, then the next order would be something else.
It took a few years but I did learn one thing: Set a spec! That one line in a purchase agreement that gives the right to return any item for full credit that does not meet spec is golden.
I will not sign one without that, no matter how pretty or how cheap the part is. This means also that certain items I would love to stock, there is no source because the supplier won't go for it.
The news will tell us that even a company as large as "Toys R Us" can easily get caught by a supplier figuring out a way to save themselves a few pennies per item, resulting in millions in added profits. The result is that company's stock will be a very good buy in about 90-180 days, something to sit on for 5-10 years.
They will recover but the cost is monstrous to them.
I never really cared where something is made, even though I like to buy American if I can. Often in today's world that can't be done. The trick is to meet that specification.
Toyota turned that into an art form back in the 70's and 80's, thus the reputation.
So we find excellent manufacturers in Canada, Mexico, Israel, Taiwan, yes, even China and on and on. Some even largely American owned, Japanese owned, German owned.
Then we find the "Gasket Manufacturer" in Taiwan that supplies Honda intake gaskets, made of butcher paper and painted. A few thousand of them, made by a couple of guys with cookie cutters working out of a one bay shop. At a ridiculously low price, thus tempting of course.
Several gasket set suppliers got caught with that one some years back. By the time the phones starting ringing the "manufacturers" were long gone. Best to stay gone, too. Some Nations have a simple solution to these things, it's called "convict them and execute", note there wasn't the world "trial" in there.
The point is, we live in a world economy. It really is a jungle out there.
The fact is, it's kinda fun to try and stay on top of things. So when I cut an order, there is a spec. If the spec isn't met and gets past me, it's my fault because it means I didn't check.
Some of you may have noticed, I still open and inspect one box out of about 20. When we first started out, I opened ALL of them, but now I would need a 48 hour day to do that.
So I simply don't care about the "where" something is made, I care about WHAT is in that box. I have to.
Besides, I like the idea of jobs being created in other Nations. It can mean a few less of them slipping across our borders....*EB
