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MakerBot Is Outsourcing Its Brooklyn Manufacturing Jobs to China

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Re: MakerBot Is Outsourcing Its Brooklyn Manufacturing Jobs to China

#21

Post by FullyFunctional »

LastZactionHero wrote: post #7
sbarre wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So what would you say is the best 3D printer on the market right now?

Really depends on your requirements and price. I'd recommend Lulzbot and Ultimaker.

I'm looking too and based on reviews I read, I'd agree with LastZactionHero.

We have three MakerBots at my company and at least the two Replicator 2X have been fraught with problems. Service from MakerBot was terrible so in the end we had to repair it ourselves as best we could. Based just on that experience, I'd recommend against them.

Re: MakerBot Is Outsourcing Its Brooklyn Manufacturing Jobs to China

#22

Post by chinathrow »

Animats wrote: post #19

MakerBot sucked at manufacturing. Laser-cut wood frames for a production product? Please. What they need from China is manufacturing expertise. People who can design injection molds and stamping dies. They were in love with their "replicator" fantasy of one-off manufacturing, forgetting that 3D printing costs orders of magnitude more than injection molding in quantity, and produces inferior plastic.

Manufacturing expertise should have been there since Stratasys bought them.

The way I see it, they simply want to lower production costs, cut jobs, save money. Stratasys overpaid heavily.

Re: MakerBot Is Outsourcing Its Brooklyn Manufacturing Jobs to China

#23

Post by Vivtek »

talmand wrote: post #17
legitster wrote: post #15

A lot of people wonder why large companies can't just stay in the US and compete on quality, and here is a great case for why. It doesn't matter how great your workers are, you can't sell a product for $3,000 when others are selling it for $600. Especially when it's a technology still in development. And I know we pay extra for the warm and fuzzies knowing that something is made in the states, but I'm sure the home t…

I often wonder if costs could be lowered for many of these companies if they would stop locating in some of the country's most expensive places to operate and for their employees to live. I know the arguments about workforce availability and all that, but I've never seen a proper look into it.

Yeah. MakerBot could easily move to Indianapolis, after all. Or even less expensive locations elsewhere in Indiana, for that matter. Brooklyn is one of the most expensive markets in the United States, yet Indiana has just as many qualified technical people. Perhaps more, to be honest. Purdue is a pretty fantastic engineering school.

Re: MakerBot Is Outsourcing Its Brooklyn Manufacturing Jobs to China

#24

Post by jdietrich »

talmand wrote: post #17
legitster wrote: post #15

A lot of people wonder why large companies can't just stay in the US and compete on quality, and here is a great case for why. It doesn't matter how great your workers are, you can't sell a product for $3,000 when others are selling it for $600. Especially when it's a technology still in development. And I know we pay extra for the warm and fuzzies knowing that something is made in the states, but I'm sure the home t…

I often wonder if costs could be lowered for many of these companies if they would stop locating in some of the country's most expensive places to operate and for their employees to live. I know the arguments about workforce availability and all that, but I've never seen a proper look into it.

It still wouldn't help. It's cheaper to manufacture electronics in China even if the labor costs are the same. The logistics are vastly better over there. If you need PCBs or components, you can have them direct from the factory on the same day. If you have a production problem, you can get a specialist engineer the same day. If you need a new production line with 200 extra staff, you can have it up and running in two weeks.

An established EMS company like Jabil has huge economies of scale and tremendous in-house resources. They have long relationships with suppliers and consultants. A startup can't possibly compete with that.

Re: MakerBot Is Outsourcing Its Brooklyn Manufacturing Jobs to China

#25

Post by CBalin »

santaclaus wrote: post #11
sbarre wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So what would you say is the best 3D printer on the market right now?

We've had good luck with the products out of formlabs (the print quality is awesome), although dealing with their resin is a royal PITA.

I've heard that the resin cartridges that Formlabs 2 uses are much easier to deal with.

Re: MakerBot Is Outsourcing Its Brooklyn Manufacturing Jobs to China

#26

Post by CBalin »

sbarre wrote: post #5
dammitcoetzee wrote: post #3

Of course they are. It's been lies and flim flam for a while. Worst printers on the market, just look at the reviews. They had US manufacturing going for them, but I guess even that much of their previous reputation, honor, and pride was too much to hold on to.

So what would you say is the best 3D printer on the market right now?

Printrbot is probably the best of the low-budget options.

Re: MakerBot Is Outsourcing Its Brooklyn Manufacturing Jobs to China

#27

Post by MBCook »

Animats wrote: post #19

MakerBot sucked at manufacturing. Laser-cut wood frames for a production product? Please. What they need from China is manufacturing expertise. People who can design injection molds and stamping dies. They were in love with their "replicator" fantasy of one-off manufacturing, forgetting that 3D printing costs orders of magnitude more than injection molding in quantity, and produces inferior plastic.

The laser-cut wood was when they were just starting out and more DIY. Their recent more professional printers have had steel frames.

Re: MakerBot Is Outsourcing Its Brooklyn Manufacturing Jobs to China

#28

Post by MBCook »

3dfan wrote: post #18
reustle wrote: post #4

First the Closed Source discussions [1], and now completely outsourcing to China? What sets them apart from any other hardware company now? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MakerBot_Industries#Closed_sou...

We really should try to promote 3D printing companies that support the open source movement and local manufacturing. Maybe we should set up a wikipedia category for open source 3d printers? Product Chart has a section for 3d printers with open source design: http://www.productchart.com/3d_printers/sets/4

They tried. And the result is that as they got press and notoriety people took their open plans and made replicas in China and sold them at a cost that massively undercut MB.

If they had stayed open source they would have gone under years ago, probably years before Systrays bought them.

Open hardware doesn't really seem to be a sustainable business, at least not when what you're making costs as much as a 3D printer. A brand name isn't worth a ton when an identical rip-off product is 40% cheaper and performs the same.

Re: MakerBot Is Outsourcing Its Brooklyn Manufacturing Jobs to China

#29

Post by bardworx »

talmand wrote: post #17
legitster wrote: post #15

A lot of people wonder why large companies can't just stay in the US and compete on quality, and here is a great case for why. It doesn't matter how great your workers are, you can't sell a product for $3,000 when others are selling it for $600. Especially when it's a technology still in development. And I know we pay extra for the warm and fuzzies knowing that something is made in the states, but I'm sure the home t…

I often wonder if costs could be lowered for many of these companies if they would stop locating in some of the country's most expensive places to operate and for their employees to live. I know the arguments about workforce availability and all that, but I've never seen a proper look into it.

Makerbot Studio is in Industry City, where rent isn't exactly "expensive".[0]

Rent (for employees) is also very accessible in the nearby area, nothing close to Manhattan or some swanky neighborhood in BK. (I live nearby)

In my opinion, especially in technology, its just hard to operate at scale and not produce products in China. Not only is their labor force less expensive but the parts that you require are manufactured there as well.

[0] : https://commercialobserver.com/2015/09/brooklyns-sunset-park...

Re: MakerBot Is Outsourcing Its Brooklyn Manufacturing Jobs to China

#30

Post by legitster »

talmand wrote: post #17
legitster wrote: post #15

A lot of people wonder why large companies can't just stay in the US and compete on quality, and here is a great case for why. It doesn't matter how great your workers are, you can't sell a product for $3,000 when others are selling it for $600. Especially when it's a technology still in development. And I know we pay extra for the warm and fuzzies knowing that something is made in the states, but I'm sure the home t…

I often wonder if costs could be lowered for many of these companies if they would stop locating in some of the country's most expensive places to operate and for their employees to live. I know the arguments about workforce availability and all that, but I've never seen a proper look into it.

I've always been off-put by American Apparel's "Made in Downtown Los Angeles". Like I'm supposed to be impressed by it. For Middle America, it might as well say "Made in Downtown Dubai".
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