[hluska]

I had a (shockingly) similar experience with Chinese manufacturers five years ago. My experience cost me a company, my shirt, and a whole lot of lost sleep. Consequently, I too decided that I will never, ever do business with another factory in China. Not sure that is fair (as manufacturing problems happen everywhere), but it is what it is...

Frankly, my story is useless - it is one entrepreneur's story of woe in a sea full of them. However, when you take stories like mine, Pen Type-A's, and the legions of others that have had problems in China, something more macro starts to emerge.

I'm beginning to detect a strong country of origin bias against China - many people are refusing to contract work out to that country. If this trend strengthens, it will affect demand for Chinese manufacturing. As demand drops, the Chinese economy will be starved of the western currency that has fueled its unbelievable growth.

I'm not crying wolf, rather I'm just seeing some ugly clouds growing over the horizon...granted, getting screwed by a Chinese factory is nothing new, but....??

[makmanalp]

Eh, I don't see this happening because China still has the big manufacturers, and they keep the big clients happy. Most of those manufacturers probably are good at building to spec, but would not entertain a small project like pen type a.

That's what China is all about: mass (with a capital M) manufacturing. In pen type a's case, the up front costs and haggling are a major trouble but for an order serveral orders of magnitude larger, the up front costs are a mere rounding error.

[hluska]

Great points - thanks for your perspective! I think I got a little caught up in the cult of me....:)

[makmanalp]

Not to detract from your point though, I do agree (and I'm fairly certain there are numbers somewhere to back this up) that the super-custom small batch manufacturing industry is alive and kicking in the US and other non-fareast countries because of exactly what you describe.

[ricardobeat]

> the Chinese economy will be starved of the western currency that has fueled its unbelievable growth

Don't be so sure about that. China itself is currently the main growth driver for consumer goods, even for companies like Apple.

[hluska]

Great point!

Thing is, the Chinese demand is met through RMB - the RMB has a whole ton of problems. My concern is that items like potash and oil (which the Chinese are hungry for) will become too expensive to keep the growth moving.

However, I haven't thought about your perspective, so I'm likely wrong. Thanks a lot for your feedback - it gives me something new to think about!!