I work in manufacturing and Dave is spot on. Poor quality is very
expensive, processes should continuously be improved to minimize waste. A
quality manager should have the power to shut down a production line when
something is out of spec. Buying materials and paying labor to make
something over really cuts into profits and it is even more expensive if
the bad product reaches the consumer.
John KK9A
AB7E wrote:
That's actually a crock. I spent close to 35 years in a manufacturing
environment (semiconductors), nost of it in management, and as anyone
who knows anything about manufacturing will tell you, proper
manufacturing processes give you both better quality and lower cost.
Generally speaking, tradeoffs between quality and cost occur at the
design level, not at the manufacturing level (although Design for
Manufacturability is an important concept). Poor manufacturing quality
occurs through ignorance or indifference, period. What you don't
understand is that how the manufacturing floor looks is key to how the
product works. Disputing that simply shows ignorance.
MFJ designs their products to meet a particular price point and that's
fine. But there is simply no valid excuse for the quality level of the
stuff they build. I've bought roughly a dozen items from MFJ over the
50+ years I've been a ham and at least ten of them had quality defects.
Not design limitations ... quality defects. Missing parts, loose screws,
bad solder joints, defective components, etc. MFJ has probably the very
worst reputation for quality among any manufacturer of amateur radio
equipment and that isn't because we enjoy bashing them. As you say,
though, the solution was simply not to buy from them again and that is
exactly what I have done.
Dave AB7E
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