World’s top bicycle maker is moving U.S. orders to Taiwan factory

A counter example is solar panels. China makes most of the worlds solar panels, and Chinese engineers design them, thereby proving under the right conditions the Chinese can put together a world class manufacturing chain without anyone else. Evidently Chinese engineers are as good at their jobs and any other engineer on the planet which is to be expected given the number of them they churn out.

Given that, what's surprising is Solar panels are the exception. Push bikes are a great example. I'm pretty sure there are more electric push bikes in China, possibly more than the rest of the world put together. All are designed and built in China. So you would expect with that much volume and competition the best ebikes would come out of China. But that's not what has happened: Chinese designed ebikes are crap.

There was a Australian documentary about China and the Chinese mentality called "Two men in China". One of the presenters was previously Australia's Chief Scientist. It's both hugely entertaining and very informative if you can find it. Anyway, they presented a typical Chinese house. It as small and cramped by Australian standards, but everything was shiny and modern. Only there was a problem: the cupboard doors were falling off. Apparently this generally happens after about 6 months. Doors fall off, carpet comes up, roofs leak, electronics breaks, LED lights that should last 50,000 hours died after 500. No one seemed overly upset by this turn of events. No one was demanding someone come back and fix it. It was just accepted.

The difference then between the solar panels and the ebikes isn't the capability of the designed or the manufacturers. Of all things, it's the difference of the consumer. Where the Western consumer pushes back hard when their solar panels don't work (and by push back I mean law suites, legislation, and ultimately people going to jail) the Chinese consumer allows the manufacturers to get away delivering crap and lying about it. Who would have thought discerning customers were a key ingredient in making a great manufacturing nation?

When you are really allergic to peanuts, it can be an issue just to sit at a table where someone eats peanuts. A waiter should know this. Unlike many other things they deal with, it's literally a matter of life and death.