piano manufacturers

[Delwin D Fandrich]

Stephen Birkett wrote:
> 
> In reply to Delwin's message:
> 
> I realize you weren't "blaming" the Japanese...what I really meant to say
> there is that the Japanese instruments are really a red herring and
> obscuring the real reason(s) for the demise of the piano industry. (An
> easy scapegoat for some in the industry).
> 
> We can learn something by taking a look backward. 19th century consumers
> would think us a little ridiculous renovating our old pianos...the
> disposability you describe for the car industry now was much more
> relevant to pianos at that time. Hence the industry was not continually
> competing with its previous work. Pianos changed with time...consumers
> wanted an up-to-date model. We are too complacent in our "modern"
> design...maybe it isn't so modern as we think.

My point exactly. People wanted and up-to-date model because it was a
better piano than the one they already had. They got rid of the old one
and bought a new one. That is no longer happening because the industry
has stagnated. Face it, the only real research going on within most
existing companies is manufacturing research.

> It seems unlikely to me that much of the basic research already done on
> pianos will have direct application to design (of course some results have
> already been useful!)...to really get to this level of complexity we will
> need to use much more sophisticated tools than have been available in the
> past. Current knowledge is still very much an "ideal" model and requires
> too many "simplifications" to be realistic.

This is really a failure to get the researchers together with the
designers. As I have studied some of the research done over the years I
could almost cry with frustration. So much work has been done in the
wrong areas or in ways that were not really applicable to the real
piano. But, I guess that is often the nature of research. Even so, there
is much information already there that can be used to move the design of
the piano forward that has not yet been exploited.
 
> I agree that shortsightedness in R&D is a fundamental flaw in our
> economic system...the level of expenditure is huge in Japanese industry
> and they are able to recognize the long time frame required to achieve
> the big steps. You get what you pay for!

One of the problems with today's "results oriented" management is that
every expenditure must have a next quarter payback. There is little
freedom, and less encouragement, to follow an unknown path. Pursuing the
unknown may lead to failure. Of course, it also may lead to a new world.

ddf