Over the last few weeks there have been more and more reports about supply problems at Yale. More specifically, supply problems with their door handles and letter plates.
As a company we have spoken to Yale a couple of weeks ago and confirmed that they have had problems with their letter plates as they were easily corroding – the ones bought in from China.
In Door-Stop’s latest email to customers explaining their reason for swapping hardware options, they also mention Yale’s supply problems as the major factor for moving.
So, does this bring in to question the benefits of Far East manufacturing and should British companies now be thinking of bringing hardware manufacturing back home?
Yale get a lot of their hardware from China, buy it in and re-brand it. It’s certainly a cheaper way of doing things, but as we all know, Chinese build quality isn’t that great. It’s all about quantity, not quality. The problem which has brought their supply chain to a halt is their chrome and gold letter plates and handles have been corroding quite badly according to some reports. But with their suppliers thousands of miles away, any problems are naturally going to take a long time to resolve. Should Yale start manufacturing in the UK?
I think so. For two reason. First, Yale’s reputation for quality is being damaged every week this drags on. A 100+ year old company that is known throughout the UK and the general public for being very good at what they do will want to limit the damage done to that image. The second, and more broadly important reason is that it would provide a boost for the UK. Manufacturing in this country has seen a steady rise over the last couple of years, and if Yale ever did decide to bring their manufacturing back home, then it would provide a welcome extra boost.
But we could go further than Yale. This should be a lesson to all those who source their hardware from the Far East. Don’t let this happen to you. Bring it home to the UK where you can have better control over your products and can resolve issues that may occur. While at the same time providing a much needed boost to the jobs front.
UPDATE: I have been informed that IFI are now dropping Yale due to not honoring warranties. Also, Yale looking at 15% price increases to the market due to PVD plating warranty issues. Just what I’ve been told.
Hi The problem with making hardware in the UK is that you guys wont pay for it, the amount of customers that I have spoken to over the years that will switch hardware over £50-£100 a year savings is unreal. I work for a hardware company that sources/manufactures the majority of its hardware in China/far east and I can put my hand on the heart and say the quality is the pretty good as long as it’s the spec that you requested. The problem certainly with gold and chrome products is the cost of manufacture and you get what you… Read more »
Thanks for your comment Peter. The company I work for would gladly pay more for a better product. We do that in all aspects of our product, which is why it makes us a little bit more expensive than our competitors. But I do take your point about most not wanting to pay more for a better product – that’s just the way our industry is, though I like to think we’re different.
Peter is a hundred percent right there although I don’t think every company in our industry belongs in his “you lot” category but I would suspect that many do. I think one cause of this (but certainly not limited to) is that many end users/consumers won’t pay that little extra for a higher specification, albeit rare – and so it continues up the supply chain. I can recall a few occasions where we have lost an order to a competitor supplying a lower specification product for the sake of around £100 or so on a complete conservatory. With regards to… Read more »
Hold the front page – For once I agree with Peter. Well in part anyway. UAP are one of the main suppliers of decorative door furniture, and we do import a lot from China. Our own rejection rate is very minor indeed, and there is a reason for that. We match the metal substrate to the coating to get the desired effect. For example, anyone will tell you that Chrome Plating Aluminium is a recipe for disaster. This is why we stopped offering this more than 5 years ago, and moved to Stainless Steel. It is also no good saying… Read more »
David dont worry we can carry on as normal in the cylinder areas.
Yes stainless steel is great for PVD due to the density of the base however this can be replicated to a degree by using the correct amount of nickel and copper to build a high density base on the zinc hence why the Affinity range of products has the warranty that it has and the reputation of being fairly bullet proof in high salt areas/heavy industrial areas. However that comes at a cost whilst people are paying £4-6 for a gold/chrome handle then they will have problems.
Hi, I think I have the answer to all the technical issues on corrosion use the full stainless steel range manufactured by GTV UK. All finishes have been Ukas tested to 1000 hours. They offer the complete range including a tested Pas 24 lever set. All can be purchased from Titon Hardware under the Overture range.
They hold large stocks in the UK. I hope this helps…
Unfortunately, price is always the driver, but does it really have to be? Our industry is no different to many others in the UK in this regard. Many hardware companies have launched various ranges of Gold/Chrome/PVD/SS and then have re-launched and re-launched with so called ‘next generation’finishes/ranges (God knows what the tooling costs must be). Each time they have started the prices at the level which their company needs them to be at to survive, then gradually the prices drop to a level where the company has to cut costs to make any profit on the given product. The way… Read more »