IME a few chinese and korean companies consider that the client-manufacturer relationship ends after the sale is closed.
This is a cultural and economical trait that comes with extremely high volumes, very short product lifecycles and low margins.
I once had the privilege of negotiating a large batch of information technology products with a korean manufacturer. They kept me asking how many I needed and I kept asking technical questions. After the third unanswered technical question, I asked: where is your product made, can I talk to the engineers?
The reply was very instructive: IT VARIES A LOT.
Here is the scoop:
There are several specialized companies in the far east that specialize in outsourcing electronics production. An outsourcer plant has dozens of automated board assembly lines and makes cell phones in 5 of those lines, stereos in a couple of lines, boomboxes in another one and car alarms in another one.
Manufacturers open bids/RFPs for the lowest-cost producers, so your prized far-east stereo may be built in one city this month and another city three months from now.
The outsourcer has the liberty of changing part sources, as long as the manufacturing specs are met, so, for example, finding the specific servo board version that matches your laser/transport version made last year at a former outsourcing facility can be a nighmare.
Add to that the "manufaturer's" indifference to last year's product and the consumer is navigating deep, dark waters.
I am not saying that this is the Opera/Consonance business model, just that one should take care when buying far-east mass-produced products. Ask for a warranty in writing and make sure that there is a local distributor to back you up.
In my country, KIA Motors has been in and out of the country two times already, leaving thousands of cars and vans with no spare parts and no official dealer network. One must be a born optimist to buy product from them, no matter at what price.
I can certainly relate to Trelja's troubles and aplaud him for being frank about the maintenance/warranty issues.
This is a cultural and economical trait that comes with extremely high volumes, very short product lifecycles and low margins.
I once had the privilege of negotiating a large batch of information technology products with a korean manufacturer. They kept me asking how many I needed and I kept asking technical questions. After the third unanswered technical question, I asked: where is your product made, can I talk to the engineers?
The reply was very instructive: IT VARIES A LOT.
Here is the scoop:
There are several specialized companies in the far east that specialize in outsourcing electronics production. An outsourcer plant has dozens of automated board assembly lines and makes cell phones in 5 of those lines, stereos in a couple of lines, boomboxes in another one and car alarms in another one.
Manufacturers open bids/RFPs for the lowest-cost producers, so your prized far-east stereo may be built in one city this month and another city three months from now.
The outsourcer has the liberty of changing part sources, as long as the manufacturing specs are met, so, for example, finding the specific servo board version that matches your laser/transport version made last year at a former outsourcing facility can be a nighmare.
Add to that the "manufaturer's" indifference to last year's product and the consumer is navigating deep, dark waters.
I am not saying that this is the Opera/Consonance business model, just that one should take care when buying far-east mass-produced products. Ask for a warranty in writing and make sure that there is a local distributor to back you up.
In my country, KIA Motors has been in and out of the country two times already, leaving thousands of cars and vans with no spare parts and no official dealer network. One must be a born optimist to buy product from them, no matter at what price.
I can certainly relate to Trelja's troubles and aplaud him for being frank about the maintenance/warranty issues.