This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand this format, some or all of this message may not be legible. ---------------------- multipart/mixed attachment List, There have been some good ideas posted here - but also some evidence of our (speaking of us piano technician's) propensity to have a myopic view of things. I am surprised at how even those who have worked for piano manufacturers can miss the real reasons behind poor quality. I feel that some comments have been dead on, though. Most of us would like to have a chance at being a 'savior' of a piano company at some point in our lives, so we ruminate on what our formula for success would be. Our plan naturally is based on our skills and knowledge. If my experience were primarily engineering and R&D, then I would probably see more R&D as the solution. If my experience and education were in marketing, then I would see marketing as the solution. I have some limited experience with piano design, piano manufacturing and piano marketing, (not to mention LOTS of experience listening to people gripe!) and I know that quality processes in manufacturing have something to do with the problem, but I believe the real cause of some manufacturers' decline is deeper. What do American consumers want in a piano? It depends. 1. Some want a musical instrument 2. Some want an investment and/or status symbol 3. Some want something "cheap but good" to use for pianos lessons, to have available for occasional use, and to look cultured to their friends. - The first category is the least volatile buying group. They are the primary targets of quality piano builders. Kawai has focused on the wishes of these buyers, especially with the RX grand pianos and our limited production models, and our sales are up pretty dramatically. - The second group buys quite a few higher priced pianos and many older "heirloom" pianos of every quality level. Kawai has a difficult road to travel to win over these buyers, but there are companies which succeed very well at catering to these buyers. Personally I am happy with the status quo here, but of course our company is always hoping to win over these customers. - The third are the most changeable and highest in volume, and as such are the ones that manufacturers work to sell to the most. Unfortunately catering excessively to this group while losing sight of what a quality musical instrument is has been the primary reason for the downfall of many companies. Kawai works very hard to meet consumers demands without dropping below that difficult to define line of demarcation in quality. Identifying where that line is a very difficult thing to do. It is possible to maintain a price point to the benefit of short term sales, while ignoring quality (I am speaking of design and construction quality together here). This pays off handsomely for a while, but we all have seen what happens in time - the company dies. This is the challenge for the piano manufacturer, striking the correct balance to satisfy dealers and consumers without cutting quality too far. It is very difficult for any company management to watch another piano maker take sales away by making a lower cost product. The challenge is to meet the competition without sacrificing the company's reputation (if any) for quality. Companies like piano manufacturers develop a culture that defines how they market, how they design, and how they manufacture. This culture is closely tied to the market they are trying to fill, so it closely relates to the end product. To change a company from producing one type of product to another requires a HUGE upheaval in the company culture, and is very, very difficult to do. If you go to work for R&D, you have to convince everybody else in company management of your plan, and you have to affect the culture just enough to get the company moving towards your goals. You can imagine how difficult this is. I think of this as being like a small jet nozzle on a big spacecraft, nudging it just a tiny bit so that a few months later it arrives on target at the destination planet. If you have the knowledge and skills to design and build a piano that buyers will want, and you find financial backing (or go to work for a manufacturer who's culture will support your ideas) then you will succeed. Although the piano market is not big enough to support many people in this way, truly skilled individuals have already succeeded and more probably will in the future. My apologies for writing such a long epistle. Don Mannino RPT ---------------------- multipart/mixed attachment A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 5014 bytes Desc: not available Url : https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/93/0d/cb/64/attachment.bin ---------------------- multipart/mixed attachment--
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