Take a look at these impressive bits of door accessory:
Now look at this:
This is the type of cheaply made urn style door knocker we have all got used to seeing. Made on mass, in China, then shipped over here in container ships for a matter of pence for us to then fix proudly on to a door we have probably sold for a bit over £1000. Something doesn’t quite fit in that scenario does it?
I see more and more complaints about failing hardware. Door handles, letter plates, door knockers all suffering from pitting, in places far away from the coast. Some are just simply that poor they fail to reach their 5 year guarantee. But when you see the quality and build of the first two examples, you don’t get the impression that a door knocker worth at least £100 is going to behave the same.
The reason why? It’s made in good old Blighty! Perhaps we are guilty of forgetting sometimes that a lot of what is made in Britain is built to an incredibly high standard in the global context. Countries outside these shores look at Britain as one of the beacons of design, innovation and quality. Yet our companies have outsourced their manufacturing to the Far East, mostly to China, to cut corners and take advantage of cheap labour. Well that tide is well and truly turning now.
It is turning for two reasons. The first is that the Chinese workers have now finally started to realise that the amount they are working for is far less than what they should be fairly paid. They are looking at their European counterparts and seeing their wages are far higher than theirs, yet for the same work. And they don’t like it. Who would blame them? There have been reports over the past 12 months that workers in the factories that produce phones for Apple, Samsung and others have been rioting over the state of pay. Some even committing suicide. Now I’m not saying that our industry specifically is to blame for such a situation. But mass European and British outsourcing has created a scenario where Asian workers are massively underpaid for immense amounts of effort and work. We wouldn’t put up with it here.
The other reason is down to the fact that installers in our industry are starting to run out of patience with cheaply made, imported products. Problems are starting to occur more often from what I can tell, and it makes the already difficult job of being an installations company even more hard work when the products they’re installing are failing.
Take the hardware examples above. The ring pull and doctor knockers are more expensive, but look at how much better they are than their Chinese counterparts. Those who sell these will know exactly what I mean. They weigh a ton (metaphorically!). They’re solid metal. Make a great sound when used – as opposed to the very cheap and tinny sound the other ones make! The same can be said on a wider scale for our industry’s products in general. Composite doors for example. There is a distinct difference in the weight and build of say, a Solidor, with it’s solid wood slab, produced in Stoke, and the foam filled slabs made in East Asia many others do.
The other thing to consider is that the attitudes of the British people are changing too. The disaster last year in Bangladesh in which a factory collapsed killing 1000 workers highlighted the extreme and quite frankly disgusting ways we have allowed to develop in Asian countries. It is simply not right that they should have to risk their lives so they can make a cheap pair of socks, t-shirt or crappy letter plate. Whether you like buying this cheap stuff or not, morally it isn’t right, and since that terrible tragedy, focus is now slowly returning to producing things back home.
The “Made in Britain” line goes down well with customers too. When I tell them that our own suppliers such as John Fredericks, Evolution and Solidor produce a lot of what we install right here, there is a certain novelty that brings with it a higher degree of trust in the quality and build of what we’re about to price up for them. Yes we all like a bargain, but we also like things we buy to last, and be of a certain high quality.
There was a study out recently which says that most people would be happy to spend at least 5% more on items if they were made in Britain. It said people were happy to pay for a higher quality, knowing it was made here, rather than anyone else. We’re not quite at the level where everyone is happy to pay £100 for a door knocker, but we’re on the right path.
Times they are a changing people. Wage rises in China means it is no longer commercially attractive to produce over there. Consumer pride in purchasing British made products is on the rise. The morality of cheaply made, mass produced goods in unsafe environments is being questioned.
Do you produce your fenestration goods in Asia and import them? Are you considering bringing your operations back home? Do you already produce much of what you sell in the UK? I would like to hear from all sides on this one. All comments welcome in the section below.
I have recently decided to avoid a certain well-known brand of door hardware for the very reason you mention. I have had enough of handles and letter plates in particular either failing within a few months of being installed or being flawed when new. The fact that the doorset supplier readily supplies a replacement is of little consequence – the inferior quality reflects badly on my company in the eyes of the customer, as well as having a time/cost implication regarding the service call required. I for one am pleased that there has been a recent, growing trend for manufacturers… Read more »
Hi Rod
You’re absolutely right, quality does reflect on your company. You have to do what you need to do to make sure that your reputation as a quality company is kept. Long term I think we’re going to see this trend of producing in Britain grow, especially now as the British public are more acutely aware of the poor working conditions in other countries and the lack of quality in some of the mass produced Chinese products. We all want value for money, but we also want quality too.
Thanks for your comment.
DGB
To me this reads that all goods made outside of UK are not up to par, German/Austrian engineering is well known for its premium products, quality hardware made to last. Almost all products sold by MACO are designed and manufactured in house in either our Austrian or German plants. In fact many of the tooling machines are also designed and made in house. We are we extremely proud of our Austrian heritage and promote this fact. Time and time again I am contacted by homeowners who have casement handle failures and see the MACO logo on the gearing. They assume… Read more »
Hi Pickle
I know that German and Austrian made products are very well made. In fact a lot of them are better than British made products. The point I was trying to make was that we have been guilty of sending products to be made in China because it’s cheaper, but sacrificing quality and build.
As for your point about fitting a quality window then finishing it off with a crap handle, I totally agree. Why do 95% of the work well then finis the last 5% off with something poor?
Thanks for your comment!
DGB
I imagine finding something ‘made in Britain’ is also quite a challenge in the fenestration industry.
It is. Not that much is made in Britain. But when we do find something that is, the quality is so much better than something made in China. Plus, the customers like it too. There’s a novelty for my customers when I tell them that the Solidor slabs we use for our composite doors are made in Stoke!
There were a handful of British manufacturers who had excellent response from the visitors at the recent international trade show fensterbau/frontale, especially GlazPart (specialist injection moulding) and DEBAR (Bi-fold Hardware). Their experiences as first-time exhibitors showed that the world-wide window industry does see the value of ‘Made in Britain’, and that a Union Jack above your stand certainly draws in the potential customers.
There’s a novelty for my customers when I tell them that the Solidor slabs we use for our composite doors are made in Stoke! But do you tell them all the hardware is made in the Far East, probably not so that’s a bit naughty to be honest :-p. If a product is designed and made to a decent spec then it doesn’t matter where it is made to be honest, its all down the QC. All hardware companies would love to be able to charge a lot more for there products and bring the manufacturing plants back to the… Read more »
I will hopefully be launching my own brand of security products this year,and yes they will be made in
the UK,yes they are a little more expensive to be made,not that much more,but they will look better,and last longer than it be made in China.