Strike off the band!

windshieldbug · Post by **windshieldbug** » Fri Apr 28, 2006 10:59 am

Sounds like someone wants very eximious and much happy!

davet · Post by **davet** » Fri Apr 28, 2006 4:51 pm

The news article was from April 2. The strike is still going on with no end in sight as of this morning's newspaper.

Chuck(G) · Post by **Chuck(G)** » Fri Apr 28, 2006 4:59 pm

This is so unfortunate. Steinway's big enough to set up (or purchase) the necessary production facilities in China. I'll wager that there have been plans on the drawing board to do just that anyway.

What's commercial real estate worth in Elkhart?

windshieldbug · Post by **windshieldbug** » Fri Apr 28, 2006 5:15 pm

I'm willing to bet that real estate's not the problem in either country. Largest fixed cost for them = labor. And nothing drives up retail costs (profits) like a shortage. I'd also bet that this has been the plan for quite a while. Wait until the projected quality gets up to snuff, then demand cuts, and as soon as the new line proves itself, transfer everything and lock the doors...

Chuck(G) · Post by **Chuck(G)** » Fri Apr 28, 2006 7:17 pm

windshieldbug wrote:I'm willing to bet that real estate's not the problem in either country. Largest fixed cost for them = labor. And nothing drives up retail costs (profits) like a shortage. I'd also bet that this has been the plan for quite a while. Wait until the projected quality gets up to snuff, then demand cuts, and as soon as the new line proves itself, transfer everything and lock the doors...

That's not what I meant--I meant "What would the Vincent Bach/Selmer factory site bring on the open market?"

davet · Post by **davet** » Fri Apr 28, 2006 8:10 pm

I'll wager that there have been plans on the drawing board to do just that anyway.

The word (which may be unreliable) is that management put on increasing pressure to produce quantity- then quality fell off and many horns had to go from the end stage of the manufacturing process back to have the problems fixed (which drove up procuction costs quite a bit). Intentional production cost inflation to justify moving production overseas, or just bad management? Or IS it the productions workers' problem?

"What would the Vincent Bach/Selmer factory site bring on the open market?"

Probably not too much unless you could build RV's in it cheaply. There's quite a bit of manufacturing space available in town right now, I think, though I haven't really looked into it. Several plants have moved production out of town in the last few years, most notably Miles Labs, after Bayer bought them out.

Will · Post by **Will** » Fri Apr 28, 2006 8:31 pm

I guess factory tours at Conn-Selmer University will be out of the question this year.

LoyalTubist · Post by **LoyalTubist** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 3:21 am

Do you remember when Philips/Magnavox bought Selmer many years ago? Everyone thought that was a marriage made in heaven. I guess what the instrument makers have to do to diversify is look back at what the instrument manufacturers did during World War II. Every factory in America, no matter what it was making, was making something for the war. Now I am not saying that the companies should be building for national defense, but rather they all need to manufacture something that everyone can use. Otherwise, we are all going to be playing the off-branded stuff from eBay!

Chuck(G) · Post by **Chuck(G)** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 12:52 pm

LoyalTubist wrote:Otherwise, we are all going to be playing the off-branded stuff from eBay!

Not necessarily. The folks making strings (violins, violas, celli and basses) have discovered that if they procure their own tonewood and send it overseas to be assembled by workers that they've trained, that the product that comes out of the shipping room door is very nice indeed.

Steinway, I believe, has some of its pianos built by the Pearl River Piano Company and they're well-respected. Certainly not like some of the plastic-filled garbage that US firms once made.

Compared to building a piano, making a tuba isn't rocket science.