Have a high school buddy that started working at Modine as a welder (make cooling systems like radiators, oil coolers, etc.). Worked his way up the ranks and ended up in Seoul, Korea as head of quality control.
They would at times have him travel to China and even wanted him to move there (Seoul is a very modern city, China where he would have been, not so - he said no).
He said you could show the Chinese a part and they would say "you want part look like that, we make part look like that". And they would. The part would look exactly like that. It might or might not work, might be made out of the incorrect material, but it would look perfect.
I remember when I was about 8-10 years old (around 1962 or so) and we had a 5 & dime store named I think Kresses. My mom would drag me in there and if I was not in the bulk candy area I would be in the back where there would be a bin of tools that I think were a buck or two each (long time ago). They all said "made in Japan" and they were the shoddiest things you ever saw. Anyone old enough will remember the Japanese back then had the same level of quality that the Chinese did about ten years ago.
But just like Japan came up in the world to the point that Japanese products are now and have been for years considered some of the best in the world, so are the Chinese getting a lot better. In the last ten years, I have seen Chinese products improve immensely. They likely will get there, and some of their specific industries are already there.
I remember some of the first Chinese tractor imports. They made the Russian Belarus look like slick machines. The later stuff looks a lot better.
Last edited by snrub; 03/07/17 10:08 PM.
