Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/09/24
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Well, that's not exactly what I said, or meant, though I suppose you could reverse my logic (if you find the logic logical) to suggest as much. I meant that what is manufactured in Portugal is just as good as what is manufactured in Germany; so I guess with that equation, you could say Germany=Portugal/Portugal=Germany. If we think that the German Leica manufacturing facility is the state of the art, then the Portugal factory is as well, because it was designed/built and is part of Leica AG. The people who work at Leica are Leica employees, regardless of their location or the languages they speak. My objection to the post was the insinuation that somehow the workers in the Portugal factory were substandard, or that the quality was substandard, or that other unsavory idea, that Leica might be farming out the work to Portugal because of some assumption that labor is less expensive there. I think there are products manufactured in Portugal for reasons that have to do with the products themselves and the type of equipment and facility that is available in Portugal. Leica has simply located some parts of its manufacturing operation there, and that's where certain parts are made. Anyway, aren't we talking about the European Community? That would be like saying that something made in California was inherently better than a comparable item made in Maine, or somesuch. Silly. Kit -----Original Message----- From: lug-bounces+leicagalpal=earthlink.net@leica-users.org [mailto:lug-bounces+leicagalpal=earthlink.net@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of Nathan Wajsman Sent: Thursday, September 23, 2004 10:07 PM To: Leica Users Group Subject: Re: [Leica] Re: Ford & F1 Jaguar Kit is right. There is nothing magic about German manufacturing these days. I have a friend who works for GM and has been involved in various GM subsidiaries around Europe, and he tells me that their German plants are *at best* average in terms of productivity and defect rates compared to those in other countries. I think that part of Leica long-term survival strategy will be to terminate manufacturing in Solms and simply keep the HQ, R&D and design there. Nathan Kit McChesney wrote: > Are we saying that people in Portugal aren't capable of creating quality > products? Pul-eez. I'd find that more than a bit distasteful if I were a > Portuguese LUGger. I find it so and I'm not from Portugal at all! > > There is no difference in quality between what is manufactured in Leica's > Portugal facility, and what is manufactured in its German facilities. > Portugal has been manufacturing some of the finest products in the Leica > lineup for nearly, if not more than, thirty years. In fact, of the > complaints I hear about Leica prodcuts, most of those are about products > made in Germany, not in Portugal. Maybe that has more to do with the > complainers than the actual products themselves. > > This kind of argument might have had some currency at one time, but now, no. > And go ahead and accuse me of being PC; I don't really care. Besides, there > are quite a few women working in the Portugal facility. So watch out! ;-) > > Kit > -- Nathan Wajsman Almere, The Netherlands General photography: http://www.nathanfoto.com Seville photography: http://www.fotosevilla.com _______________________________________________ Leica Users Group. See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information