Thank you, Roger for your candid explanation - I didn't mean to be so hard lined about it.??? You do make a good product, and I've found it to be very reliable.?? Bob. -----Original Message----- From: Roger Wheelock <roger at dampp-chaser.com> To: Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org> Sent: Mon, 21 Jan 2008 1:01 pm Subject: Re: Chinese made Yamaha P22s - update Hello Conrad and List,? ? ? I read your concern this morning about the push pins being a problem with the Chinese P22. We used to sell what we called a "pin-peg setter" that eliminated hammering and allowed for easy placement of the push pins. We stopped making them when the demand for them fell to zero. Now, we sell a hex head screw driver which also doubles as a "pin-peg setter" when the handle is removed. Perhaps this tool would be useful with the new P22s. I will take a picture of these and post to the list. It is likely that the "pin-peg setter" can be easily duplicated by technicians.? ? ? With regard to the watering tube, notching of the corner of the front panel is an option for the vertical application instead of making a groove in the underside of the keybed. This technique has been used in pianos with the same problem for many years. Other technicians have brought the watering tube up so it is accessible through the top of the piano. This isn't very useful if the piano owner is placing items on top of the piano, but it might work well in a university setting.? ? ? I would like to address Bob's concerns of our poor response to suggestions and the cost of our product. I know I am taking a risk here and will put on my protective flame suit. Kindly note that I am responding in a positive way in an effort to help technicians understand our business.? ? ? Our strategy at Dampp-Chaser is to provide a quality product backed by quality service coupled with support of the piano technician community. We depend on the technician community to provide us with suggestions and feedback that allow us continually improve and become better at meeting our strategy. That said we realized last year that those submitting suggestions may feel that they did not receive an appropriate response. So, as part of our quality management program, last fall we instituted a suggestion team to evaluate and respond quicker and more effectively. Teresa Severin leads this team which meets regularly to review and approve or reject suggestions. If approved, they are either directly implemented or moved to our product development team led by Ed Ashley. If rejected, Teresa responds to the technician making the suggestion with the reasons we could not approve it.? ? ? Several factors can lead to rejection of a suggestion. 1. The foremost reason for rejecting a suggestion is one that I have seen many times in my twelve years with the company: what one person thinks is a good change, another considers a bad idea. We hear about this after the change, and we now screen significant suggestions with a group of knowledgeable installers. 2. The second reason for rejecting a suggestion is cost. It is often not the cost of the new part, but rather the cost of explaining the change. A simple change can cause the rewriting of instruction sheets in eight languages. And, an unfortunate truth is that many technicians do not read instructions making the change more difficult to communicate. Another cost factor is scrapping obsolete parts when new ones go into production. Design changes to key components require gaining new approvals with domestic and international electrical safety certification agencies (costly and time consuming). 3. The third reason for rejection is that a suggestion may create a new problem that was not first considered. 4. The fourth reason is that we are a small organization (25 employees), and we can only handle so many production changes and design projects at any given time. We have found that trying to do more than we can handle leads to confusion and mistakes.? ? ? All this said, we are trying to do a better job in responding to suggestions and addressing concerns. I hope technicians will find this to be the case in 2008.? ? ? Regarding cost and outsourcing, we cannot depend on a Chinese supplier to furnish us with a product that meets our quality requirements. Regulating relative humidity is difficult and our product must be well designed and manufactured under controlled conditions. A factory tour would reveal an efficient facility operating under what is consider today's best manufacturing and quality practices. I do not believe that there would be evidence of extravagance or wastefulness that is passed along in the price of the product. We have done a relatively good job of minimizing price increases over the years while our cost base has escalated. Ever more stringent regulation and soaring insurance premiums are just a couple of the drivers that inflate our costs. It is only through efficiency increases that we have been able to manage the business effectively.? ? ? While all this may sound like whining, it is simply an attempt to educate and deepen the bonds between Dampp-Chaser and the technician community. It is only through the support of technicians worldwide that we are able to serve you in this, our 61st year.? ? ? Thank you,? ? ? Roger? ? ? Roger Wheelock, VP? ? Dampp-Chaser Corp.? ? ----- Original Message ----- From: "Conrad Hoffsommer" <hoffsoco at luther.edu>? To: "Pianotech List" <pianotech at ptg.org>? Sent: Monday, January 21, 2008 11:18 AM? Subject: Re: Chinese made Yamaha P22s - update? ? > itunepiano at aol.com wrote:? >> I hate the push pins as well. I don't like banging on a customers >> piano, and I'll bet the customer doesn't like it either.? >? > Banging will be unavoidable, anyway. I still have to chisel/carve/erode > in some manner a channel in the underside of the keybed for the fill tube. > What difference are a couple more taps for the pins going to make?? > Nada.? >? > -- > Conrad Hoffsommer, RPT - Keyboard Technician? > Luther College, 700 College Dr., Decorah, Iowa 52101-1045? > 1-(563)-387-1204 // Fax 1-(563)-387-1076? > ? ________________________________________________________________________ More new features than ever. Check out the new AOL Mail ! - http://webmail.aol.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20080121/5776e06c/attachment.html
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