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50 Deep

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That's what happens when everything gets sourced to China and their idea of handling a pandemic is to lock everyone in their house with a metal gate and a padlock.
I wouldn’t go that far. I produce several parts in the US and the employee shortage is just as bad. Even with supplies things don’t get done, people don’t call you back and quality is diminished. I love the US bro, but we drop the ball as well.
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JeremyPro5.0

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I wouldn’t go that far. I produce several parts in the US and the employee shortage is just as bad. Even with supplies things don’t get done, people don’t call you back and quality is diminished. I love the US bro, but we drop the ball as well.
I’ll disagree.
If you are using a questionable domestic source, ok you have issues. Pay a little more to use a reputable guy and not one that almost hits Chinese Pricing.
I own a machine shop that does aerospace, medical, hydraulic, etc. definitely issues with personnel and material supply. The difference is good shops manage it and still meet customer expectations and needs.

My guys are just about 100% OTD and we held pricing from prior to pandemic on all our contracts.

Choose better suppliers, not the cheapest.
 

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I’ll disagree.
If you are using a questionable domestic source, ok you have issues. Pay a little more to use a reputable guy and not one that almost hits Chinese Pricing.
I own a machine shop that does aerospace, medical, hydraulic, etc. definitely issues with personnel and material supply. The difference is good shops manage it and still meet customer expectations and needs.

My guys are just about 100% OTD and we held pricing from prior to pandemic on all our contracts.

Choose better suppliers, not the cheapest.
All my US suppliers are top notch. They all have issues. The solution you listed is the heart of the problem.

If you have a shop big enough to do large contracts, then you generally don’t have bandwidth to assist smaller production as it’s not worth your time to setup machines. Seen many a shop turn down work because it’s not worthwhile. Meaning the price the big shops have to charge is too far above what makes a product feasible to build for the market.

Smaller shops don’t have the skill, tools or consistent work force. Meaning you can’t use them without fear of losing staff or other issues new businesses face.

This leaves the shops that are skilled enough to build your parts, but not big enough yet to have military, aerospace or big ticket contracts. Those shops are maxed out and hard to get on production schedules for. Same as any reputable automotive shop. You’re not just waking in and getting a blower installed

I’ve spoke with many entrepreneurs trying to get parts made in the US. It ain’t shooting fish in a barrel. It’s shooting fish under the ice
 

JeremyPro5.0

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All my US suppliers are top notch. They all have issues. The solution you listed is the heart of the problem.

If you have a shop big enough to do large contracts, then you generally don’t have bandwidth to assist smaller production as it’s not worth your time to setup machines. Seen many a shop turn down work because it’s not worthwhile. Meaning the price the big shops have to charge is too far above what makes a product feasible to build for the market.

Smaller shops don’t have the skill, tools or consistent work force. Meaning you can’t use them without fear of losing staff or other issues new businesses face.

This leaves the shops that are skilled enough to build your parts, but not big enough yet to have military, aerospace or big ticket contracts. Those shops are maxed out and hard to get on production schedules for. Same as any reputable automotive shop. You’re not just waking in and getting a blower installed

I’ve spoke with many entrepreneurs trying to get parts made in the US. It ain’t shooting fish in a barrel. It’s shooting fish under the ice
You really know a-lot about manufacturing. You must have read a-lot on the internet.

Just about every single thing you said above is entirely wrong, but hey you go with that because as we have already determined, you're the expert.
 

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You really know a-lot about manufacturing. You must have read a-lot on the internet.

Just about every single thing you said above is entirely wrong, but hey you go with that because as we have already determined, you're the expert.
You’re missing the point.

My information is not meant to be definitive. I am sharing with you my personal experiences in dealing with development, design for manufacturing and production. It also incorporates the experiences of other small/medium business owners attempting to bring parts from concept to a tangible product.

This crosses multiple materials types and production methodologies with carbon, steel, titanium, aluminum, 3D printing, CNC machining, casting and injection molding.

This isn’t something I read on the internet brother. It’s the actual state of production in the US today as myself and many others are currently experiencing.
 

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You really know a-lot about manufacturing. You must have read a-lot on the internet.

Just about every single thing you said above is entirely wrong, but hey you go with that because as we have already determined, you're the expert.
So, I had a handful of small parts made for my GT350 this year. Camber lockouts, some custom brake hydraulic adapters, etc. While I was sourcing the bits back in February, I came across a local (1 hour drive) shop that could anti-corrosion plate the steel parts I was looking at having machined in the USA. Turns out, the plating shop was attached to a manufacturer that made the exact type of parts I was looking for. So, full of enthusiasm about getting them made locally, I sent in my CAD files for the parts and waited. And waited. They never responded. A couple of follow up calls. No response. If they'd called and said "your order is too small, we can't make it", I'd have been fine. But it was, as @50 Deep said, no response at all.

In any case, I shifted gears and had the parts made in Shenzhen, PRC. Customer service was great, precision was excellent, timely and cost effective.
 

JeremyPro5.0

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So, I had a handful of small parts made for my GT350 this year. Camber lockouts, some custom brake hydraulic adapters, etc. While I was sourcing the bits back in February, I came across a local (1 hour drive) shop that could anti-corrosion plate the steel parts I was looking at having machined in the USA. Turns out, the plating shop was attached to a manufacturer that made the exact type of parts I was looking for. So, full of enthusiasm about getting them made locally, I sent in my CAD files for the parts and waited. And waited. They never responded. A couple of follow up calls. No response. If they'd called and said "your order is too small, we can't make it", I'd have been fine. But it was, as @50 Deep said, no response at all.

In any case, I shifted gears and had the parts made in Shenzhen, PRC. Customer service was great, precision was excellent, timely and cost effective.
Go China. We love you.

The US is Totally screwed with this generation.

My firm isdefinitely small but we fight for what we get and our customers are happy.

Sometimes are margins are good other times they suck.

Not sure why either of you feel that someone owes it to you to get back to you.
Maybe your order is too small or your expectations on price, quality, visuals, etc are unrealistic.

Who knows, pull up your big boy pants and move on. Unless you have a solid pre-existing relationship with a firm, don’t ever expect a call back.
If I had a dollar for every moron who called me for work they wanted me to do, said our pricing and delivery were good on; and then never called me back, ai’d be retired.

Its called life and unlike what your mommies and daddies all told this generation growing up, “Your not all special and you sure as hell ain’t all winners”.

Life doesn’t give participation trophies.

I and my team work damn hard for what we have and do and are extremely proud to stamp our product “Made in the USA”.

The reason there are supply chain issues now is primarily due to decades of outsourcing overseas, that’s a fact Brandon.

Enough of my stump speech. I sure nobody wants to hear it or even gives a damn.
 

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nobody wants to hear it or even gives a damn.
I agree with everything you said. I see you were banned for something recently. I hope it wasn't for your above post because I thought you nailed it.

Edited to add:

There is a huge difference in experiences between someone who still produces and manufactures in the United States and someone who uses another company to produce a product and have it imported. Jeremy manufactures and produces products in the US. Others have it made elsewhere by other companies and branding it as their own.

Jeremy is an expert in manufacturing and fabrication. Others who have piped in here do not have the same qualifications or experience.

It's unfortunate that we as Americans got sucked into China and Taiwanese manufacturing. One of our biggest assets as Americans was our manufacturing base. We have since outsourced a vast majority of our manufacturing for the sake of cost savings and now we find ourselves dependent on other countries who have demonstrated hostility towards the west and fundamentaly oppose our way of life.

I agree with Jeremy on his viewpoints pertaining to outsourcing, fabrication, and manufacturing. It's a damn shame what it has come to.
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