Adrian Smith 1 Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 I was sorting through a few engine boxes and noticed the both my OS 60 GT petrol engines state on the box they were manufactured in Japan which is I must admit what I thought the case would be. Now looking at the two OS 33 GT petrol engine boxes they are badged at OS Engines Japan, but it clearly states both of these were manufactured in China. I am not sure about all my OS glows as I have sold most of them now, but I wondered if the production of these is splintered in the same way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon H Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 I think a very large portion of the OS range are made in china now. Only the top end engines are made in Japan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J D 8 Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 If you want Japan then purchase Enya. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ERIC DODSWORTH Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 os made irvine engines in china to test the quality when the quality came up to scratch they started using the factory to produce their own engines and dropped the irvine brand so the engines will be as good as the japan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Fry Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 Same with everything, when I was in work, we used top end Nikon cameras, made in China, as were most of the lenses. I had one serious lens, very high spec jobby, serious money, thick end of a months salary, the only one made in Japan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ERIC DODSWORTH Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 china has had its day we have some importers in our office block they are moving out of china they are getting expensive bangladesh is the new hotspot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff S Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 Only 20 yeras ago? I don't think so. It started long ago when products made in Japan were labelled Jap Crap and possibly (probably) even before then. With Japan, it was cameras that challenged the supremacy of Leica and other top end German manufacturers and then those 'rubbish' Honda motor cycles that claimed ridiculous performance from 125 and 250cc machines that we riders of British 500/650cc bikes sneered at - but not for long. Things move on and the 'hand full of rice/day' workers began to demand a more realistic wage for their skilled labour and Japan joined the high income west and is paying the same price we did. It won't be long before China's low wage economy goes through the same process and manufacturers start looking at south Asia. Perhaps the end will come once the whole planet equalises. Geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leccyflyer Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 You saw the same trend in guitar manufacturers 40 years or more ago, American electric guitars were king, with very inferior copies made in Japan, then the quality of the copies -and increasingly own designs from Japan, superceded all but the very hghest quality US-made instruments, which survided by the cachet of that Made In The USA tag. Some of the copies being produced were much better quality than the instruments that they set out to copy, and infinitely better than the then current budget production.. Eventually a substantial proportion of those US brands moved a lot of their production to Japan and produced some excellent instruments. As wages caught up, the manufacturers moved production around the planet - Korea, Mexico, Indonesia, China - they haven't, as far as I'm aware, made the move to Africa yet, but ultimately that might well happen - all to keep one step ahead of rising wages. So it is with consumer electronics and other consumer goods - the labour costs are one part of the manufacturing process that the manufacturers seem determined to squeeze the hardest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatMc Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 Posted by Geoff Sleath on 13/09/2015 10:36:39: Only 20 yeras ago? I don't think so. It started long ago when products made in Japan were labelled Jap Crap and possibly (probably) even before then. With Japan, it was cameras that challenged the supremacy of Leica and other top end German manufacturers and then those 'rubbish' Honda motor cycles that claimed ridiculous performance from 125 and 250cc machines that we riders of British 500/650cc bikes sneered at - but not for long. Things move on and the 'hand full of rice/day' workers began to demand a more realistic wage for their skilled labour and Japan joined the high income west and is paying the same price we did. It won't be long before China's low wage economy goes through the same process and manufacturers start looking at south Asia. Perhaps the end will come once the whole planet equalises. Geoff Actualy I think it happened well before that, Geoff, probably in William Wilberforce's day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Fry Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 Since when has an employer cared if the cannon fodder are alive tomorrow, except for the fact that the machine would not be run without its slave. Will always be so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Engine Doctor Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 So are OS using slave labour now ?interesting but history of slavery is a bit off topic .OS are a Japanese company but with global trading look for the lowest manufacturing costs .Like Nissan cars , generally thought of as Japsnese but vast numbers are made in the UK .OS engines aren't the brand leaders anymore ,Enya ,Saito and YS run rings around them for Quality and Materials JMO . Even the cheap brand engines like SC etc give OS a good run for the money as they have improved and OS have cut back their Quality. OS really hit the skids when their cost cutting in maufacture /cylinder plating ,particularly evident in their 32 sx was out sourced to tiawan and was such poor quality that it would strip off easier than wallpaper; it also cost three times as much as a sc 32 . A good example of shooting oneself in the foot. OS four strokes are probably still better than the Chinese copies but at almost double the price most modellers opt for the cheapies and the more discerning buy the other Japanese makes or even a Laser ! Edited By Engine Doctor on 14/09/2015 09:57:18 Edited By Engine Doctor on 14/09/2015 10:09:23 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Lubbock Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 I have a friend who works in China, The Chinese will make anything you ask at any price point you want, it's just the quality that changes as anyone who has toiled with a cheap Chinese motorcycle will testify, including me, At first look they look pretty good but you soon realise they are very pooly finished and although well made in terms of fit etc., are produced using very poor quality materials. I assume the same applies to model engines, so if you are paying medium to high prices then it really makes no difference if they are made in England, Japan or China, apart from that it would be nice to have a genuine British product to buy. Is it only PAW that are genuinely British now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyB Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 Posted by Mark Lubbock on 05/10/2015 09:47:20: ...I assume the same applies to model engines, so if you are paying medium to high prices then it really makes no difference if they are made in England, Japan or China, apart from that it would be nice to have a genuine British product to buy. Is it only PAW that are genuinely British now? I believe all Laser engines are still UK manufactured... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Lubbock Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 Whoops how did I forget Laser? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevem3akm Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 Don't forget Oliver Tigers as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.. Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 I had some work done on my car last week & they had a new'ish Range Rover on the ramp with a Citroen badged engine in it, that came as a surprise. But not as bad a surprise as the poor owner had with the bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff S Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 Of course, it's not only OS using Chinese production facities to make engines. Rolls Royce also have a production facility in Xian for gas turbine components. A friend of ours was responsible for setting it up and spent several years working there before he retired. He's been back several times since on cycling trips to stay with Chinese friends he mentored at the time. I'm absolutely sure that the quality control is as strict as it is in Derby or at any of the other RR sites in the UK. Back in the 90s there was a Chinese delegation based in Derby and they used the conference room on our floor as their HQ. They were all wearing identical western style grey suits with red ties (even the few women IIRC). Things have changed a lot since then, I suppose but I do remember it was stressed that we didn't try to bamboozle them with BS because they were very astute and would pick up on any inaccurate information. I know one of their number (I think the interpreter) used to watch us playing Bridge at lunchtime. Don't think that everything that comes out of China is rubbish. It isn't. They are just as capable as as anywhere in the west to design and manufacture high quality products but they can also manufacture down to a price with its attendant reduction in consistency if asked to do so. I'm quite sure China will be challenging the US (and Europe) for supremacy in the not too distant future. There's an awful lot of them, too. Geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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