Very nice post Alan. Cheers RicB -------------- Setting aside all the political and human rights issues for a moment, let's just look at the pianos: I believe that the real problem with imports, aside from the occasional engineering/material disaster (like growing brackets), is impatience. Let me explain... Most of the complaints we have seem related to fit, finish, warp, and dimensional-change problems with wood. The Japanese have learned, pretty much, that you can't shortcut the process of preparing wood. Kawai, in particular, has become very particular about the wood that goes into their pianos. It seems to me that in the rush to develop manufacturing in China--both by native Chinese companies AND foreign investors (including America, big time)--that buying the best wood, storing it properly, and sitting on it until it could be reliably shaped and finished, has only been slowly improving. Pianos that work fine in the final inspection at the plant have then been subjected to tipping, crating, shipping (across a very large and somewhat moist ocean), and storage in a variety of controlled/not controlled environments. If the wood is not stable, problems start appearing in the showroom or the customer's home. If you talk to Americans who have visited Chinese factories as technical consultants and trouble-shooters, they will tell you (or at least I've heard them say) that the Chinese are very eager to produce quality. If problems are pointed out, production is sometimes halted altogether to rethink the process. They really listen when people make suggestions. Notwithstanding, however, they are under considerable pressure to produce pianos fast and cheap. Fast, cheap quality? Thus the conundrum: Red Adair, the famous oil field firefighter, was often asked to get his very best crew to put out a big fire immediately, for a rock-bottom price. His reply would seem to speak--profoundly--to my thesis: "You can have it good; you can have it fast; you can have it cheap - pick any two." I don't think "Chinese piano problems" have anything at all to do with the culture or capabilities of their designers, engineers, and factory workers--except where a relative lack of experience may exist. I think what problems have existed were born of economic pressures and the growing pains of new industry. I, for one, am grateful that SOMEONE is making pianos that my customers can afford. I frankly need the business. And, remember, it is the consumer who has learned to make "cheap" the number one priority ... hello, Wal-Mart. Alan Barnard Salem, Missouri
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