Trainwreck Chassis via Funkalicousgroove??

[Rick]

All you have to do is make a chassis from 0.090" aluminum (almost any alloy) and it will have all the strength and qualities needed in about 98% of the amps in existence.

[CaseyJones]

... It'll be interesting what happens when labour is no longer where savings can be made on production...

What a thought provoking idea

Probably off topic but advances in production technology have made labor costs pretty irrelevant. For our purposes we have a craftsman fabricating a chassis on a press brake so labor cost is a factor. In an industrial setting with advances in robotics and automation the need for skilled labor has been virtually eliminated. The machinist becomes the much less skilled machine operator. The machine operator requires a small skill set of two primary skills: One, the ability to stay the hell out of the way of the process and two, the ability to quickly stop the process if the automation fails.

The ideal is to eliminate the need for labor entirely. What we need to do then is to work the model backwards and elminate the tangible product. And yes, there are businesses that do exactly that every day.

[gearhead]

That's well and good, but how do I play an intangible product?

lol.

[CaseyJones]

That's well and good, but how do I play an intangible product?

lol.

Air guitar?

[jedd63]

Probably off topic but advances in production technology have made labor costs pretty irrelevant.

Yeah, but don't forget the savings associated with reverse-engineered manufacturing equipment that is programmed with pirated software.

[CaseyJones]

Probably off topic but advances in production technology have made labor costs pretty irrelevant.

Yeah, but don't forget the savings associated with reverse-engineered manufacturing equipment that is programmed with pirated software.

I've already accounted for that in my latest cost effectiveness model.

[Tubetwang]

reverse engineering?

I have my first guitar up for sale.

1960 broom.

I start playing it after The Beatles first Ed Sullivan's show.

Never modified. Plays well.

It's been in the garage for the last 43 years.

A player's broom.

Best offer.

[ChrisGS]

That comment about business eliminating the tangable product now rings true for me...

I used to work in construction as an electrician, but I have developed problems in the lumbar area of my back. Now I'm becoming involved with construction management.

I visit job sites as one of many many people that do very little that actually contributes to the final product, but there is a lot of paperwork, and phone calls, and meetings. On some very small projects there are sometimes more people involved in the manegment of a project than there are men on the jobsite.

What shocks me is that some of these people point to cost of the wages for the actual tradesmen as "The Problem", and yeah, they look to the idea of ways to replace skilled tradesmen with general laborers (often immigrant laborers) to cut down costs, and increase profits.

It never seems to occur to them to cut down on management, in fact it seems that they hiring addition" managment trainees" which I think are to be used as scapegoats ...When something goes wrong , blame it on a trainee , and fire him or her.

The company that I work for as a "consultant" is a big worldwide corporation, and I guess a large source of income is being a middleman between the customer, and the people who actually supply goods and services.

But, what do I know?, I'm happy to have a job.

[drhulsey]

... advances in production technology have made labor costs pretty irrelevant...

If that is currently true, why the migration of manufacturing jobs out of the country? Do the line robots work cheaper in Mexico and Southeast Asia? It seems that manufacturers and the economy in general haven't realized that labor cost is "irrelevant."

[mhuss]

Not all manufacturing lends itself to robot labor. Chassis do, for example, but probably not (yet) sneakers or handbags.

Plus, a *real* cheap labor force can postpone the purchase and deployment of robots (even with pirated control software) for a long time.

China's huge network of little 'mom and pop' factories, biz networked and feeding odd parts to the bigger places is a fairly interesting case study.

Ever seen the pictures of the Shuguang factory? A lot of people running 50-year-old manual equipment. And producing fairly good product!

--mark

[LeftyStrat]

Ever seen the pictures of the Shuguang factory? A lot of people running 50-year-old manual equipment. And producing fairly good product!

--mark

Good point. If you spend a huge sum of money on something like a Bridgeport CNC 5-axis milling machine, you need the keep the thing running to recoup your investment, i.e. you're paying for it whether it produces product or not.

If work falls off for your cheap Chinese milling machine operator, you simply lay him off. Not saying it is right, just the nature of the beast.

[Tubetwang]

with all the Western Corporations pushing China to produce...the Chinese worker is not about to be layed off anytime soon, i don't think. Although they are quite a number of them folks.
Cultivating is backbraking and below poverty material.
Delivering coal ain't much better.

These companies (Wallmart, Canadian Tire etc.) are hard businessmen.
They want it for yesterday and for the cheapest price possible. They know we will not purchase if the price ain't right.

The Chinese milling machine operator or the little girl sewing jeans will probably have to do some overtime again.

Oh well... another 20+ hour day...at 1 Euro a day...
not much left after paying for the dormitory, food, electricity and what not. Get sick? No pay. No wonder they eat so much garlic.

Wait!!! figure two months wages to go see Mom and Pop at Christmas in your far away province. That five day trip will cost ya Boy.

You wont see me applying for a job in China anytime soon.
Not until the Union come in.

[benoit]

with all the Western Corporations pushing China to produce...the Chinese worker is not about to be layed off anytime soon, i don't think.

Official numbers for unemployment (i.e. what the govt wants the world to think) were around 40% last I heard. In reality its probably more like 50. The government isn't necessarily helping. The poeple who lost jobs or never found work for a company used to buy a cart and sell food or other products on the street to try to make some money but the government has been cracking down on these people because they feel it makes china look backward. Things are probably on the mend, albeit slowly, based on the growth of the chinese economy, but its still not very pretty.

[Tubetwang]

albeit why wages are so low. I would'nt want to be unemployed in China.
Being employed is bad enough.

I'm wondering why have'nt they started buiding Boutique Amps yet????

They are building Strat copy for cheap money.

One can purchase one in Mtl for 100$.

After a quick pots/tuner upgrade and ajustment, They make a fine player.

[tele_player]

I'm wondering why have'nt they started buiding Boutique Amps yet????

Malaysia's got it covered.