Z
zedonist
Guest
You see i would disagree on your China comments, its not "you get what you pay for", its actually "you get what you ask for", the chinese are very good at meeting customer requirements, and most buyers start by testing the water so just ask for a price using very limited information, they then get stars in their eyes at the cheap price that comes back and place an order, in europe and USA if i asked a european or USA supplier for a bolt without any specifics, he would assume what i wanted based on knowing me as a customer and my industry and apply the relevant specifics to the part and the quote, in China you get what you ask for literally, its a culture thing and why spend money making something you dont need, and on bolts that means bog standard commercial level manufactured to an AQL (Acceptable Quality Limit) which allows for defects to present and acceptable, when in fact in the automotive industry you want it manufactured to a zero defect plan, and be accompanied with a 32 page confirmation of quality document. there are some excellent bolt manufacturers in asia, i know because i have been there, assessed them and approved them for use on Ford, BMW, Jaguar, Land Rover plus others, so the articles are in your vehicles now and working.
Unfortunately the UK still does not fully embrace technical buying on fasteners, yes they focus on the expensive items like forgings, castings and machined items, but at the end of the day these are fastened to something using bolts, screws or nuts, so your big lump of metal is not the critical item. I don't know which turbines you reference Tony, but assuming it is wind turbines, the above is totally true, i looked at one at one of the big trade shows and counted 12 different head markings (suppliers) in just one application, i quizzed the guy on the stand and he did not understand the concept of batch control and grade segregation so it's no wonder that there a number of accidents with these turbines and bits falling off. It all comes down to technical knowledge, good engineering and buying smart not cheap, give China a break
Unfortunately the UK still does not fully embrace technical buying on fasteners, yes they focus on the expensive items like forgings, castings and machined items, but at the end of the day these are fastened to something using bolts, screws or nuts, so your big lump of metal is not the critical item. I don't know which turbines you reference Tony, but assuming it is wind turbines, the above is totally true, i looked at one at one of the big trade shows and counted 12 different head markings (suppliers) in just one application, i quizzed the guy on the stand and he did not understand the concept of batch control and grade segregation so it's no wonder that there a number of accidents with these turbines and bits falling off. It all comes down to technical knowledge, good engineering and buying smart not cheap, give China a break
