Assembly?


benjiro

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Here is another odd question, after reading the "A daily report from the Rebirth" topic: Why the hell are people like EvilDragon spending there time assembling Pandora's?


What i mean by this, this is the kind of labor, you normally outsource to China or India. It costs something like 250€ / month in wages, for a Single Chinese Employee to assemble hardware.


If you look at the skill from people like EvilDragon, that skill level is worth a few thousand Euro's / month, and he is doing assembly work?
 
I'm only assembling the first 1000 units (with a lot of help).


Then Global Components (the company on Germany also producing the PCBs) will assemble them.


While outsourcing to China might be cheaper, I'd just not do it.


A device that has been produced and designed to be open and fair and fun for an OpenSource community should not be produced in a Country that is known to have underpaid workers.


While not all companies in China have bad working conditions, it's not possible for us to check this.


The case production can't be moved away from China, though Fatih knows the company and as far as we know, their conditions are okay.


So while it makes the Pandora a bit more expensive, I will rather sell less units at a higher price, knowing most of it is being produced with properly paid wages.
 
As someone working on the Pandora here in Germany, someone who has made a much better wage in the past, I beg to differ with your train of thought.


Do you have a problem with people from China or India? Why do they only deserve a wage of 250€/month?


I can't imagine being forced to work 36 hours straight assembling Pandoras, like someone at FoxConn assembling iPhones/Pads/Pods/etc. My hands hurt, I can't even enjoy playing games currently, but I'm proud and happy to be doing what I'm doing. My middle finger goes up to the WTO, World Bank, IMF, and the rest of the greed mongers who control the global market on labor.


There hasn't been positive job growth in America in the last 12 years, and companies like Circuit Co should be embarrassed to do what they've done to this project, and yet they will take on new projects tomorrow like they've done nothing wrong to anyone. Paying people less doesn't get you more, it just digs the hole deeper for someone else, putting more money into the corporations profits.


When this world realizes that corporate profits don't control anything more than a ticker on Wall St, maybe then people will wake up and stop being cattle. Or maybe they will continue to consume themselves, like the scenario you mention.
 
I totally agree with ED and Link. I rather pay 50 bucks more than having the unit produced at FoxConn or some other cheap slavery business. Everyone in the western world should be concerned about keeping work in their own countries. Big companys only moved there because they can make much more profit, the prices for those luxury toys never really dropped so only the profit grew. Honest production quality has it's price and we should all start to think more about what we buy and what not.
 
As someone working on the Pandora here in Germany, someone who has made a much better wage in the past, I beg to differ with your train of thought.


Do you have a problem with people from China or India? Why do they only deserve a wage of 250€/month?

Do i have a problem with people from China? I'm married to a Chinese! Why will i have a problem with Chinese? Have you been to China?


250€ / Month, is considered a good wage for people outside the big cities. You forget that things in China are not as expensive like they are here for "Western" people. Unless you want to live in cities like Beijing, etc.


Nobody said anything about having people work 36h strait. As a company "owner" like in Evil Dragon's case, you can decide how people are treated yourself. You complain that the work conditions are bad? Then why not hire people at say, 300€ / month, with MAXIMUM work days of 8 hours, 5 work days. And you end up with work conditions that are way better, with more income, massively better work hours, then companies like FoxConn.


For some reason, when this topic came up, i noticed people instantly assume that what i said was, Chinese people need to be misused or something like that? Hell no.


Maybe you need to read a bit less the media, actually go to China to know the real situation. Normal wages for somebody working in Beijing, for mid level jobs, is around 500€. University level jobs are 800€ or higher ( if your lucky ). Low level jobs are 200€. There are of course always exception to that. That is about the average, and we are talking about a city like Beijing.


The more you go to the south or west, the worst condition and also the lower the wage scales are. There is a reason why everybody wants to go to the big cities like Beijing etc ( and also why there is a class system. Even there own government looks down on people from outside the big cities ). For people from outside of the big cities, 250€ a 300€ per month, is considered a very very good wager.


There is a reason why people WANT to work for Western Companies, because there wages are actually better ( even if they are considered ridiculously low in our western eyes ). But i see that a lot of people, really have the wrong idea about what is really going on in China. If you pay a 1000€ for a low level assembly job ( does not require a high level education ), people will literately be stepping ( or worse ) over each other, for a job like that. There is a reason why that amount is considered crazy. Its like having somebody in the west, being payed 5000€ ( without any taxes ) / month for this type of job.


Anyway, it was just a question. I just found it ridiculous to see EvilDragon wasting his time on Case Assembly.
 
Just a question, why can't you say Chinese people? We are all people. I'm assuming English isn't your first language, so I'm not going to harp on this. I've never been to China, I've been to South Korea, lived there for 11 months, I've been to Japan, Tokyo. I have close friends who lived in China teaching English, to Chinese people. They loved it over there, and found coming back to the US a very difficult process as they had to literally re-westernize themselves.


I have no problems with the people of China. What I have problems with is the government, the lacking regulations on the environment, the fact they are damming beautiful rivers to provide power to these cities where everyone now wants to live. All dams fail over time, and messing with the biosphere to produce energy and goods is not the correct answer to the growing needs for energy. They also sensor the internet and people who speak out against authority can disappear in a prison which is sad (also happens in America, ask Bradley Manning or anyone in Gitmo).


Sure there is an abundance of jobs and opportunites in the cities there, but just because a dollar or Euro buys more there, is not an excuse for everything to be produced there. Look at the cases for the Pandora that have been assembled there, it literally took over a year for this project to get cases that were adequate after months of waiting 4-8 weeks at a time for a revision.


It's pretty sad that things "have" to be produced there like the case, or the batteries, or the LCD in order to compete with current market practices and keep costs within reason for average consumers. The interesting thing is that this project is bringing jobs back to the western world in some respects, as well as the iControlPad. Its just easier to pay more for things produced locally than to be left wondering whats happening to a project outsourced.


EvilDragon hasn't been wasting time on case assembly. He's been making sure Linux-SWAT and myself are doing things correctly, and when we transition from one phase of assembly to another, EvilDragon is there to help us out and/or answer questions, giving us a nice step by step demonstration, and providing clarity.


My concern is not jobs in China, my concern is jobs in my country, America. Why are corporate profits increasing but goods are not getting cheaper? Why does an iPad cost €739 Euro? How can Apple be making so much profit on these goods?


If the Chinese ever want their investments back from America, meaning what they've invested into the sham Federal Reserve, maybe they should start outsourcing jobs to America, or finding a way for American's to support their products by fixing them rather than throwing them away when they are broken. Eventually this is all going to fail globally (or is in the process of failing since 2008) as the big companies continue to hoard profits for themselves, they don't pay taxes in America, they don't hire American people. The rich get richer, the poor are getting poorer. That's the basis for my arguement. People will argue, its capitalism, that how it the system works. Look at the PIGS, Portugal, Italy, Greece, & Spain, you can throw Mexico into that mix too, as these countries are failing economically as well. But if you dig a little deeper and see what the bankers have done in these countries and the right wing governments, they are cutting programs left and right that help people, just like what's happening in America.


Our schools have become a breeding ground for a graduating student in the National Honors Society to be a sophomore in college, and not understand how interest works on money. I think I learned how to do that type of math in 7th or 8th grade, and I knew what interest was before that because I had a savings account that got 5% a year when I was a kid. Standardized testing and academics are just a precursor to being a good consumer.


My girlfriend works for a city that is cutting employees left and right to save money, because they have no money, little job growth. This is one city in America, unfortunately, most of the country is fiscally bankrupt, locally, at the state level, and of course the Federal Reserve is happy to do what needs to be done short term to change the worlds focus as CONgress agrees on nothing to help the situation. This happens because there are no jobs, and over a billion people in China who are willing to work for less, or India, or the Phillipines, etc. I'll find it interesting when there are teams of Chinese people coming to America to build roads and fix bridges because it is cheaper than paying someone in America to do the job. People in America made more money in the 1950s and 60s compared to what a dollar buys someone today. And what that dollar buys if you are talking about food, isn't necessarily worth consuming unless its your only choice. Ever been to downtown Atlanta and tried to find food that will nourish you, not just make you fatter?


Unfortunately, the military industrial complex that controls the media, the government, and the people of the rest of the world, has its own agenda. And now the Chinese realize in order to protect themselves, they need to build better planes, a navy, and an infrastructure based on defense, not just supporting the "free" markets of the world. America would not win a war against China, but let me tell you this, the puppet masters would sure like some more money in their pockets for taking on the job of building more guns, planes, and missles in case the Communists decide to come looking for their money.


What will happen to China when the rest of the world doesn't have money to buy the goods they are producing? Its just a matter of time.
 
Just a question, why can't you say Chinese people? We are all people. I'm assuming English isn't your first language, so I'm not going to harp on this.

That is correct. Its technically my third language. Learning German now as a forth language. And somewhere in between a small amount of Mandarin.

I've never been to China, I've been to South Korea, lived there for 11 months, I've been to Japan, Tokyo. I have close friends who lived in China teaching English, to Chinese people. They loved it over there, and found coming back to the US a very difficult process as they had to literally re-westernize themselves.


I have no problems with the people of China. What I have problems with is the government, the lacking regulations on the environment, the fact they are damming beautiful rivers to provide power to these cities where everyone now wants to live. All dams fail over time, and messing with the biosphere to produce energy and goods is not the correct answer to the growing needs for energy. They also sensor the internet and people who speak out against authority can disappear in a prison which is sad (also happens in America, ask Bradley Manning or anyone in Gitmo).

The environment problem is slowly, very slowly becoming a priority for the government here. Its gotten so bad in China, that the government was not able to look away anymore.


The problem for the government is, they are a bit like America. Industry first, nature second. But because of there rapid development in a very short time, this effect is much much worse.


There are massive projects going on, to replant tree's everywhere. If you drive around, you see everywhere your tree's have been planted. Massive area's.


But to clean up the current mess ... going to take 2 generations. Beijing, Shanghai are beautiful cities, but when you go outside of those cities. Dully, desert like. Pollution everywhere. Small ditches for water drainage, filled with empty plastic bottles. Trash on the streets.


For any Western person, European or American, it is a big shock when you leave the big cities.


I know how people jump up, and are outraged how people only earn 200€ in Foxconn factories, while being worked to dead. But, willing or not, those people actually earn more working at that slave labor, then they will ever earn in the country side. That is a unfortunate reality.


You need to admit, justice in China is swift! When you see in Europe how Criminals can go out, kill somebody, get "life", and in 7 years time, they get out of Jail. Our jails are so full, that anybody with a jail time less then 3 years, in general goes free. And let me point out, that 90% of the population in our jails, are not "Western" people. I know, sounds a bit racist, but its true. In China, with the dead penalty, if the family of the Victim does not forgive you, and you show no remorse, after 1 year in Jail = you are dead. No 15 or 25 year appealing the courts.


Of course the flip side of the coin is, when you are considered a Enemy of the State... Its more easy to end up in Jail.


The problem why the harsh punishment don't solve the crime in China, is because the people have a different mentality. We think: "We are going to get caught" , so we don't do a crime or are more limited. In China a lot of people think: "I will never get caught". Totally different attitude. Its not just China...

Sure there is an abundance of jobs and opportunites in the cities there, but just because a dollar or Euro buys more there, is not an excuse for everything to be produced there. Look at the cases for the Pandora that have been assembled there, it literally took over a year for this project to get cases that were adequate after months of waiting 4-8 weeks at a time for a revision.

This is partly there own fault. Rule number 1 doing business with China: ALWAYS go on location, to inspect the product, and adjust the manufacturing process. This was a major flaw, not being there in person, to give instruction. What cost you a year, you where able to do in a month. Because of the long distance relation, they misused this ( and this is not exactly uncommon ). Even the Chinese "People" know this from each other.


There is a major difference in attitude compared to Western people. And Western People make the mistake, that it will be the same in China as in Europe. Wrong, big mistake.

It's pretty sad that things "have" to be produced there like the case, or the batteries, or the LCD in order to compete with current market practices and keep costs within reason for average consumers. The interesting thing is that this project is bringing jobs back to the western world in some respects, as well as the iControlPad. Its just easier to pay more for things produced locally than to be left wondering whats happening to a project outsourced.

The fact that so much is produced there, is actually our own fault. Don't know about the US, but in Europa the taxes are killing the market. Companies move to East Europe, China, and other location for manufacturing. Its not because they want to, but because the taxes are just too much. China has the corruption problem, but we have way to much misuse of our social systems. And wast in our structures.

My concern is not jobs in China, my concern is jobs in my country, America. Why are corporate profits increasing but goods are not getting cheaper? Why does an iPad cost €739 Euro? How can Apple be making so much profit on these goods?


If the Chinese ever want their investments back from America, meaning what they've invested into the sham Federal Reserve, maybe they should start outsourcing jobs to America, or finding a way for American's to support their products by fixing them rather than throwing them away when they are broken. Eventually this is all going to fail globally (or is in the process of failing since 2008) as the big companies continue to hoard profits for themselves, they don't pay taxes in America, they don't hire American people. The rich get richer, the poor are getting poorer. That's the basis for my arguement. People will argue, its capitalism, that how it the system works. Look at the PIGS, Portugal, Italy, Greece, & Spain, you can throw Mexico into that mix too, as these countries are failing economically as well. But if you dig a little deeper and see what the bankers have done in these countries and the right wing governments, they are cutting programs left and right that help people, just like what's happening in America.


Our schools have become a breeding ground for a graduating student in the National Honors Society to be a sophomore in college, and not understand how interest works on money. I think I learned how to do that type of math in 7th or 8th grade, and I knew what interest was before that because I had a savings account that got 5% a year when I was a kid. Standardized testing and academics are just a precursor to being a good consumer.


My girlfriend works for a city that is cutting employees left and right to save money, because they have no money, little job growth. This is one city in America, unfortunately, most of the country is fiscally bankrupt, locally, at the state level, and of course the Federal Reserve is happy to do what needs to be done short term to change the worlds focus as CONgress agrees on nothing to help the situation. This happens because there are no jobs, and over a billion people in China who are willing to work for less, or India, or the Phillipines, etc. I'll find it interesting when there are teams of Chinese people coming to America to build roads and fix bridges because it is cheaper than paying someone in America to do the job. People in America made more money in the 1950s and 60s compared to what a dollar buys someone today. And what that dollar buys if you are talking about food, isn't necessarily worth consuming unless its your only choice. Ever been to downtown Atlanta and tried to find food that will nourish you, not just make you fatter?


Unfortunately, the military industrial complex that controls the media, the government, and the people of the rest of the world, has its own agenda. And now the Chinese realize in order to protect themselves, they need to build better planes, a navy, and an infrastructure based on defense, not just supporting the "free" markets of the world. America would not win a war against China, but let me tell you this, the puppet masters would sure like some more money in their pockets for taking on the job of building more guns, planes, and missles in case the Communists decide to come looking for their money.


What will happen to China when the rest of the world doesn't have money to buy the goods they are producing? Its just a matter of time.

I can give you 100, maybe 1000 examples of things that are done badly in Europe, mostly because of political decisions. That has cost our competitiveness. Notice how i said, "has", reality is, we have already gone past the limit.


Last week, in Belgium for instance, there was a strike. The Belgian operators ( they guide the Ships into the Antwerp Port ), had gone on strike ( about 30 people ). End result was, massive amount of ships where unable to leave or enter the port. The reason for the strike? They wanted the bonuses they get, also count for there pension. Please take a note: they are public servants, who earn somewhere between 3500 to 5000€ / month. Average wages in the country, are more around 1000€ / month. Because of there selfishness, it cost the harbor 1 Million Euro / Hour ( for 3 full days ). Most people where outraged. The biggest Cargo Company MSC ( does 50 to 60% of the ports traffic ) who where already evaluating there position to possibly leave, counted this as another black mark ( reason for not staying in Antwerp anymore ).


If you see this happening, how public servants ( they are part of the state ), for trying to get a even bigger pension ( with there income, they will have a massive pension. Also public servants here pension is much bigger then private workers ). Its only logical that we lost our competitiveness.


People put the blame on China, and other countries for take "our" jobs, but in reality, the blame is also with us. And mostly with those that make the decisions. Unions, Politicians, etc ... They are so focused on there own positions, that the end result is, that we lost our competitiveness.


You can consider the Chinese Government Corrupt, Dictatorial, but they do get things done. Personally, i will not count the Chinese Government as Communistic. For instance, with the benefits that are in place, we are actually way more "Socialistic" then the Chinese Government. I'm amazed at how bad there Social Support structure is, while this is the cornerstone of the Communistic "idea". Karl Marx probably turned around a few times in his grave, as to what his ideal has become.


In my opinion, the moved from Hardcore "Communism" to a mix of Communism / Capitalism, in a massive short time.


-----


The Apple debate, its a brand product, with the correct marketing, ... There profit levels are extreme, but its also our own fault for accepting those prices. If people said no to those prices, and stopped buying the product, you will see Apple drop there prices FAST. But its on logical for the Pandora think they are in the same league as Apple. There products are not bad. They are actually always innovating, moving products out, that other companies where not able to, or just did not belief. That is what drives Apple. They belief in a idea, and they push it out with all force and believe. The iPad ... many had tried before with ideas like that, but its Apple that really created this market.


-----


Anyway, long discussion... In the end, you and me, we can not do anything about it...
 
Why pay a cheap chinese when you can have a french for free ?


^^
 
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This is partly there own fault. Rule number 1 doing business with China: ALWAYS go on location, to inspect the product, and adjust the manufacturing process. This was a major flaw, not being there in person, to give instruction. What cost you a year, you where able to do in a month. Because of the long distance relation, they misused this ( and this is not exactly uncommon ). Even the Chinese "People" know this from each other.
So in reality, it doesn't take "a month", because they basically play the "you're too far away to bother me" card; which is less ethical IMO. Then you have the cost of international visits and calls - visits requiring a visa too.


I don't particularly have anything against China, but I would probably pick an English manufacturer if I was building something, despite the extra cost.


Edit: Oh, and then there's probably a communication barrier, unless somebody in your employ speaks Chinese.
 
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@Beniro,


I think you are wrong by saying that you and me, we can't do anything about it.


10000+ people Occupied the port of Oakland and shut it down for a night. Not sure of the scale of commerce compared to Belgium's port, I think its 1 Billion a day that comes in to that port. In the US those people working the ports aren't public servants (although I think they are unionized of course, just watch season 2 of The Wire), the truck drivers who move the goods out of the ports aren't either. But it wasn't the workers who shut down the port, it was the people of the city who decided to take this action, and it was a success until late in the night when people got hungry/thirsty/tired and walked the few km to get back to their home, those people militant on staying were moved appropriately by the authorities when the numbers got low enough. So no, maybe you and I can't make a difference, but if I tell my friends and you tell your friends, then we can make a difference. Being a part of that event really felt empowering and that people together can affect the change they want to see, I was glad to experience it.


My problem with Apple is they don't want to pay 4 Billion in taxes they owe in the US, but have bought out the CONgress and lobbied to protect themselves because it's cheaper to spend a few million throwing it around different offices in DC than it is to give the entire 4 Billion$ owed. The same thing has been happening for years with companies like Exxon, major banks, etc. This tax cheating is the problem. I think people want to work.


I used the term Communist as tongue in cheek. Anytime someone goes against the establishment in America, they are called Communists/Socialists. I don't feel like China is a totally communist state, but if you watch Fox News long enough, I'm sure they will tell you differently.


Also, this is perhaps the most important question I posted "What will happen to China when the rest of the world doesn't have money to buy the goods they are producing? Its just a matter of time. "


EDIT: Also, Fatih's company has improved relations with some of the parts sourced in China, but in the beginning with the cases, time lost cost the project dearly, as well as the nubs issue which was a planning mistake too, but these are lessons learned and I am glad the project is alive and kicking and about to pop out some outdated hardware. Circuit Co on the other hand, I'd love to know their excuses.
 
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It'll also be interesting to see if CC could even be forced to pay the potential loss... because two years ago the system was on-par with all other systems, we could've sold 10,000 at ease and switched to the DM3730 1GHz long ago... so a potential profit of 2 Million USD is lost.... that would surely be enough for a Pandora 2.


Regarding production in China:


I don't have anything against chinese people, on the contrary.


That's why I DON'T want to produce there. As long as the government hasn't done more to support poor people and raise the wages, it IS underpaid work in my opinion.


The more companies move away for this reason, the more likely the government and companies might work on improving the situation.


And no, a small project like the Pandora cannot afford to always go visit the companies in China to check the working conditions.


Besides, my experiences with the Chinese companies I had to deal with had been very poor so far.


The first LCD cables failed (bad quality), the TV Out Cable company backed out after charging us for the samples and one-time-setup costs, the new LCD Cable company promised me a sample until end of 2011 (it was just finished 1 week ago), and so on.


All my experiences have been low-quality, many delays, tons of missed deadlines.


I didn't have a single problem like that with any of the German companies involved. They all met their deadlines so far and quality is great. And except for the PCB company, I've never visited them.


A lot of german companies (like Sennheiser) tried to produce in China bad moved back due to quality issues. Now there are cheap Sennheiser clones from China...


I know there ARE good companies in China... but it's a hit and miss situation, and certainly not approvable by a company like OpenPandora, as we could never afford that.
 
Here is another odd question, after reading the "A daily report from the Rebirth" topic: Why the hell are people like EvilDragon spending there time assembling Pandora's?


What i mean by this, this is the kind of labor, you normally outsource to China or India. It costs something like 250€ / month in wages, for a Single Chinese Employee to assemble hardware.


If you look at the skill from people like EvilDragon, that skill level is worth a few thousand Euro's / month, and he is doing assembly work?
Uh, maybe you know the long Pandora Story and also know the bad experiences that the OP Team made with China (also USA). Nobody want's that mess again so after this nightmare it is only logical to do this stuff "under control", like Craig did in the past and now ED does.

CircuitCo are going to have to put their excuses in writing soon.
I doubt they will do this without some pressure. ^^"
 
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I'm in total agreement with Ed on China.


China can work for small things but you have to plan in delays and disappointment. You can make huge savings in China, especially on raw materials.


Working with local companies has gone very well for us with the iControlpad and now the Pandora.


When we went with CircuitCo we visited them, TI were using them, and everything should have worked out - but for whatever reason they decided to


behave as they did.


Their actions must be paid for and it is about to come back to haunt them.
 
It'll also be interesting to see if CC could even be forced to pay the potential loss... because two years ago the system was on-par with all other systems, we could've sold 10,000 at ease and switched to the DM3730 1GHz long ago... so a potential profit of 2 Million USD is lost.... that would surely be enough for a Pandora 2.

How much are legal proceedings likely to cost though?
 
You know, before China Britain was a manufacturing giant. We used to have shoe factories here in Norwich, and a chocolate factory. These days you'd be hard pushed to find an anything factory, we've got precious little manufacturing capacity left.


Obviously, we're not Germany, but for any Western company, throwing aside pride and job growth in favour of saving a penny by using China is destroying once great manufacturing capitols of the world.


What are we going to do when China outgrows our business? All in the name of saving a few pennies, we're putting a dubiously intentioned government in charge of a startling amount of the worlds wealth and manufacturing capacity.


Everything made here in the UK makes me proud, and it's not like we don't have a serious unemployment/welfare problem and, thus, a reasonably decent labour pool to attempt to draw from for such projects.


I'm happy that the Pandora is assembled in the West, and I'm happy to pay for it.
 
Now i like my pandora made in the UK...


And i like saving 50 quid...


But what is better?


There's only one way to find out...
 
CircuitCo are going to have to put their excuses in writing soon.

Good luck on that one. Maybe my business idea is different, but i noticed your too kind with companies like that.


A flaw i noticed in a lot of people to be honest. If people smell weakness, they misuse it. Like with those product flaws, delays etc ... They needed to have been put on notice, when thing started to go wrong. From the posts in the past, i looks to me, that the company is in financial or structural problems. And they are mixing productions to try and please all there customers, but as a result, screwing up mass orders. When stuff like that happens, and you nice to them, your put in a bad position.


Company i used to work for in the past had the same problem. You know what customers got priority treatment? Guess who ... The one's that kicked, screamed, and even threat to sue ( and the one that did, ended up suing them ). The one's that where nice, waiting, well ...


I hope you expect more then a written apology. Because words are cheap. The time, money, etc you lost because of there errors, need to be compensated ( but you will probably not see a dime ).

It'll also be interesting to see if CC could even be forced to pay the potential loss... because two years ago the system was on-par with all other systems, we could've sold 10,000 at ease and switched to the DM3730 1GHz long ago... so a potential profit of 2 Million USD is lost.... that would surely be enough for a Pandora 2.


Regarding production in China:


I don't have anything against chinese people, on the contrary.


That's why I DON'T want to produce there. As long as the government hasn't done more to support poor people and raise the wages, it IS underpaid work in my opinion.

You mean Farmers. China has 2 levels ... One is that people who studied, and the other are what the government call's Farmers ( even if they do not do any farming work ). Those with education do get benefits. But the one's with Farmer level, ...


The problem is, its not just pure the governments fault. If they increase wages, who is going to pay for it? Most business is still export. The government is now focusing on increases its internal market, to be less reliant on external business.


In other words, if they quickly increase wages, they can end up driving external business away, without a internal market to compensate = economic collapse.


There is a massive difference between ideology like this EvilDragon, where you say: "Increase the wages", and Economic reality. In my opinion the Chinese Government is actually working fairly good for the Chinese people. Wages ARE going up. Compared to x years ago, a lot of people are earning more. But, one still needs to be realistic. There is like 1 billion or more Chinese people. Try giving them all 500RMB more / month. Do the math what influence this has on the economy.


No mater how much people dislike the working conditions, and the wages. They actually earn way more then in the past. The living standard has massively improved. For a large part, thanks to China opening its borders to Western Companies.


And Western Companies are under pressure to increase the wages of there "sub-contractors" like with Apple, etc. But, one needs to be careful, because if the Chinese Government forces the issue, and wants to increase the wages too much. What if those companies then go to India, Africa ... There are plenty of other "poor" countries where they can set up shop.


It all takes time, but thing do improve. The bad thing is, in the Media you do not get that sense of improvement. One thing that Chinese People HATE, is how China in Western Media is always show as negative. And when you do pay attention, its actually true.

The more companies move away for this reason, the more likely the government and companies might work on improving the situation.

And no, a small project like the Pandora cannot afford to always go visit the companies in China to check the working conditions.


Besides, my experiences with the Chinese companies I had to deal with had been very poor so far.


The first LCD cables failed (bad quality), the TV Out Cable company backed out after charging us for the samples and one-time-setup costs, the new LCD Cable company promised me a sample until end of 2011 (it was just finished 1 week ago), and so on.


All my experiences have been low-quality, many delays, tons of missed deadlines.

Like i said before. You want cheaper products from China, be sure to go to China. Anything you do from remote, is just way to easy to screw you over. I wrote below, that a business trip does not need to be super expensive, and its tax deductible anyway! Keep your recites, and have your accounted give them in.

So in reality, it doesn't take "a month", because they basically play the "you're too far away to bother me" card; which is less ethical IMO.

Sorry but this is reality. I'm not saying they are all like that, but if you want to be sure to check up on them. And watch out for reverse bribing ( like offering you a prostitute. It actually happens ).


You can say, we in the West, have a much higher business ethic. My wife warns me plenty of times, be careful because they will lie in your face. They will even try to bribe the translator of needed ( cut them in on the profit ), to milk the business person.

Then you have the cost of international visits and calls - visits requiring a visa too.


I don't particularly have anything against China, but I would probably pick an English manufacturer if I was building something, despite the extra cost.

Visa takes exactly ... a few days. Go to Chinese Consulate or Visa Center, hand in your papers, a few days later, get your passport back, with approval stamp. It mostly "work" the first time, second time you already know the dealings, and it goes faster. And that is assuming you have a one entry Visa. Normally, for business, you apply for a Business Visa, with a 6 month ( or more ) valid status, and multiple entries.


Flying to China, Direct Flight is +- 550€ Up & Back ( From the EU ). Hotel cost depends where you stay. Taxi ... dirt cheap. What was it again ... 10RBM for the first x km, and then it goes up. Typically, if you drive from the center of Beijing, to the outside, its something like 35 a 40RMB ( makes about 4 to 5€ ). Do the same distance in European Taxi, you end up paying 50 or 70€.


By the way: Get a Life Insurance *haha*. Seat belts ... Nobody uses them there. Good luck finding them in the Taxi's because they put textile above the seat belts. Typical Chinese joke: "You know if a Foreigner is new to China, if they look for the Seat belts". :)

Edit: Oh, and then there's probably a communication barrier, unless somebody in your employ speaks Chinese.

That's what most people do. My wife for instance used to do Spanish <-> Chinese Translation work. Its actually not that expensive to hire somebody for a few days. Don't remember the price, if anybody is interested, i'll ask her when she's back from China next week.


Now, lets say, you end up spending 1000 to 1500€ ( low ball figure ). If that allows you to finish those cases in one month, vs 12 months, do you not think the money is worth it? And if you have a business, those costs are mostly tax deductible anyway, its not like you are paying it pure pocket. And you combine multiple activities on one trip. Case, Cables, etc ... Assuming you do assembly in China, packaging, you go there also.


Anyway, i know this information is a bit useless in this case. But its some advice for anybody every doing business with China in the future. But, i will point out, its not because you do business in Europa / US, that you can also not be ripped of ( especially when its also a long distance production, like CircuitCo ).
 
My work requires me to deal with workers in foreign countries and it makes work just a tad harder. Communication and culture are sometimes so different that you just do not receive the products you expect, even after aligning very much.


I understand that is far easier for EvilDragon to make the pandora near his home, as he can go visit them and talk in his native language. It costs more money, but less time and stress.


Not giving work to chinese is a different discussion for me. They need jobs also, even if the working environment is not what we would like it to be. It's like the lesser of two evils...
 
It'll also be interesting to see if CC could even be forced to pay the potential loss... because two years ago the system was on-par with all other systems, we could've sold 10,000 at ease and switched to the DM3730 1GHz long ago... so a potential profit of 2 Million USD is lost.... that would surely be enough for a Pandora 2.

How much are legal proceedings likely to cost though?
Presumably the losing side will have to pay the winners legal costs. Op might have a good case though.If there was a signed contract that circuit co failed to live up to then hopefully op can win.
 
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