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WSI QUALITY CONTROL ISSUES: Options · View
Lotsacrane
Posted: Monday, April 14, 2014 7:33:13 PM
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I know they have under gone restructuring, but was it really a benefit keeping a brand alive through the lowest bidder in china.

WSI was pretty much the Rolex of models.

It appears now its joining the ranks of a Walmart toy section.

Either its really bad manufacturing or its the loss of sight of what the product was.


In saying that .
I can see the price's going up to sort out and make a better quality product .. the junk is to just get the masses to demand better ..then the masses will pay more for what should have been in the first place.

Im probably wrong..I hope I am ...


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gbarnewall
Posted: Monday, April 14, 2014 9:19:30 PM

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Its a weird one regarding the LTM1500,the most wanted model amongst the lifty thing fans,

To have secured this license and have some key members jump ship,or after some key members jumped ship or after some key members jump ship..............

To have gone through the trouble to get the above,and produce it while imploding,it all just seems weird to me,

Did employees jump before this project bore fruit? if so why? The 1500 executed 100% would have brought big sales,recouping the SGC flop,I dont know if Liebherr gave financial support for this model,maybe,maybe not,

If all that was giving your company a bad reputation was one thing,QC or final packing, then that is surely the easiest of fixes,even if it bumped the price up €5 or so,and extra few quid is well worth the time and glue it takes when upon opening a WSI kit

I didn't buy too many TWH models but any I did get arrived good,maybe collectors who bought TWH models near the end noticed a drop off in packing quality or QC or not,strange if WSI and TWH models were produced both by Wan Ho but only specifically WSI suffered

Why is "phonetically" spelt with a "ph"?

... It's better to be silent and thought a fool, then to speak up and remove all doubt

The complex of Newgrange was originally built between c. 3100 and 2900 BC,[2] meaning that it's aproximately 5,000 years old. According to Carbon-14 dates,[3] it is more than 500 years older than the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, and predates Stonehenge by about 1,000 years.

mol
Posted: Tuesday, April 15, 2014 10:58:00 AM
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Quality issues on models made in Asia are not new. Especially Chine has a reputation with quality control. Since there where models produced in China the quality comes from the company who is initiating the model. Companies like WSI, NZG, TWH, BRAMI/BYMO, TONKIN etc. always need to be in charge of quality control. The Chinese companies are good in copying things and make thinks from drawings, photo’s etc. But they don’t look any further than if the product looks like the picture. They simply don’t understand why something needs to be made in a different way. For models it is simple: The need to look good for the lowest price. The control of the initiator makes the quality of the model. Even company’s as experienced as CCM are having quality issues sometimes (see the D9h series).
WSI has had a big change in its staff. Many of the experienced people moved to Tonkin. There are lots of rumors Why they moved to Tonkin but none of them has been confirmed. Fact is that WSI had financial problems which led to the merge with Wan-Ho as you can heard in the interview: http://www.cranesetc.co.uk/editorialspress/editorials/2014/editorialfeb14.htm
Al though the given reason is a media story.
Wan-Ho is the company who made/makes the models for THW, WSI, Sword and Drake. As long as these initiator controls the quality everything is OK. But now WSI belongs to Wan-Ho. And there is the old problem again: the Chinese cannot do their own quality control.
Then there is another concern that I have for a long time: Quantities of the models on the market. There are to many models on the marked right now if you look at the collector scene. Of course company’s like Cat, Hitachi, Liebherr orders the models for their own customers and marketing so they pay the production and decide what models (and their quality) are made. The collector market is a nice extra bit of profit but is not the main money maker. But for the collector market I dare to say there are too much models. Simply look at the number of Liebherr 11200’s, 1350’s and 1500 that are produced and the space they need to place the model in. Here in the Netherlands many collectors do have problems displaying models. Even if you have a room specially for models there is a moment that the room is filled. The results in the Netherlands can be seen on the model fairs. For three to four years now the dealers are complaining about selling less and less models. The simple reasons are space, quantity and money. There are a lot, and I really mean a lot of WSI models on the market which need to bee old over the next year or so. Some dealer stands look grey from the WSI model boxes. In my opinion this is also becoming a problem for many companies as the orders from the dealers are getting smaller and smaller.
GC1
Posted: Tuesday, April 15, 2014 8:08:18 PM

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You hit the nail on the head there Mol.

When a run of a model is over…it should be over and they then over time become collectible. Now the model companies see that the collectible models are valuable and then produce more of them and make them uncollectible.

They should get back to limited numbers(on the non mass produced items which WSI started off as…remember when the numbers were low) and get the quality back. If they had the quality originally then why can they not have it now ..?
Ironstef70
Posted: Tuesday, April 15, 2014 8:36:22 PM

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GC1 wrote:
You hit the nail on the head there Mol.

When a run of a model is over…it should be over and they then over time become collectible. Now the model companies see that the collectible models are valuable and then produce more of them and make them uncollectible.

They should get back to limited numbers(on the non mass produced items which WSI started off as…remember when the numbers were low) and get the quality back. If they had the quality originally then why can they not have it now ..?


And that's what Mammoet does with the Mammoet Store. Some models, due to their limited editions are picking up in value with time. Just try selling a Zaxis 870 Mamomet Salvage; you won't get less than 150% of the original price, and will even be more with time....

But, with all these issues with WSI, a serious company like Mammoet may eventually get pissed with that and move forward with better suppliers. I have Tekno items and they are not bad either in comparison to WSI. Lots of details too. Maybe less assembly / packaging issues ? Cool

Stephane

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Playing with toys since 1970, now building them.
Paul R
Posted: Wednesday, April 16, 2014 4:50:10 AM

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GC1 wrote:
You hit the nail on the head there Mol.



Absolutely agree. I have collected WSI models since day one and have virtually every HH and crane model they have made, except Liebherr factory colours, Ocean Traders and Nooteboom redline models. They started off very strong and models were highly detailed, some in very low numbers (remember the first releases from LTM??) and usually of good quality with very few complaints on QC.

I almost think they were/are a victim of their own success. They raised the bar in terms of detail and quality and became very popular very quickly, but then they started over producing models. This is in fact one of the main reasons they are where they are: too many models and not enough homes for them. Hence Wan Ho know own them and I really cannot see how they will pick themselves up. I do sometimes wonder if what happened to TWH is in some way related to what has happened to WSI. Did Wan Ho take action on WSI before they ended like TWH?? Pure speculation on my part but................

As was already said, I cannot imagine Wan Ho give a damn about the fine details and things like that. A great example is the Michielsens LTM 1500 - whilst a great model there is one decal that was miss placed and should not be visible when the boom is in transport and it also should not have come with the 84m boom option because the 1:1 does not have it.

It will be interesting to see how the Broshius project works out. I still have quite a few models on pre-order but I will be keeping a careful eye on them!

I am also really looking forward to what Tonkin bring to the table in terms of HH. The first crane looks pretty good so I am hopeful and hope that they learn from the lessons of WSI.

One way or another, it will be an interesting time ahead.

Paul R
evdew
Posted: Friday, April 18, 2014 1:23:38 AM

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Although i have had pretty good luck with my wsi crane models and have not recieved any damaged peices or anything. i was looking at the luffing jib for the ltm1500 and i am blown away by the price. 425 usd is a good chunk of change, almost ycc prices there and its plastic, partially anyways? i hope this is a joke. you can buy the ltm11200 luffing jib and extension for less and i highly doubt wsi will produce as nice of a product. i was really looking forward to buying this but now im not so sure.
Paul R
Posted: Tuesday, June 24, 2014 11:08:19 AM

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On the Tadano Faun fan shop page:

"!!! As a result of several complaints we have decided to subject the models to extensive quality testing. We therefore hope that you will understand why the models will not be available temporarily for delivery. Depending on the outcome of the quality testing, the currently estimated delivery time of 8 weeks may increase again. !!!"

Paul R
EastCoastFabricator
Posted: Tuesday, June 24, 2014 11:34:03 AM

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Paul R wrote:
On the Tadano Faun fan shop page:

"!!! As a result of several complaints we have decided to subject the models to extensive quality testing. We therefore hope that you will understand why the models will not be available temporarily for delivery. Depending on the outcome of the quality testing, the currently estimated delivery time of 8 weeks may increase again. !!!"

Paul R






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Brett G
Posted: Wednesday, June 25, 2014 3:37:32 AM

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good rather wait that bit for quality Smile


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Buckethead
Posted: Wednesday, June 25, 2014 2:48:40 PM

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mol wrote:
Wan-Ho is the company who made/makes the models for THW, WSI, Sword and Drake. As long as these initiator controls the quality everything is OK. But now WSI belongs to Wan-Ho. And there is the old problem again: the Chinese cannot do their own quality control.


You are right on this. Working with Chinese manufacturers is maddening. I’m never sure what their approach to producing models is. Do they look at them as toys, and therefore not deserving of a high standard of manufacturing—because why would an adult ever want such a thing? Are they not capable of such quality, even though I’ve seen examples of great ingenuity on their part?

I just don’t get it. Every model project with these manufacturers seems like we are starting again at zero. They will fight to simplify parts or functions, even if they just produced that feature in the previous model!

Though I hate to make such assumptions, it might just be a cultural thing. Notice that the best quality products will always come from a country that has aptitude for luxury goods—German autos, Swiss watches, French wine, British… ah, what do the Brits make… oh, Aston Martins! Yet I’m having trouble thinking of a Chinese-produced luxury item.
MAMMOETZEALOT
Posted: Thursday, June 26, 2014 8:19:37 AM

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everything in this 1.3 billion population country is tough, uneasy and difficult to understand. these workers may not be able to reside in urban cities in their whole life. most of them leave their children, if any, in countryside, go to cities making money for life earning three or four hundred dollars a month. uauslly work 12hours per day 6days per week.
MAMMOETZEALOT
Posted: Thursday, June 26, 2014 8:22:29 AM

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Location: HANGZHOU
wsi should not request their workers to reeve pulleys of cranes, such as ltm1350. it's not their job, is it?Think
evdew
Posted: Thursday, June 26, 2014 8:41:20 PM

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Location: canada
I dont think they should reeve anything in factory, i find that to be half the fun of assembling these models. Also i think if you cant do it right for the prices you set then you should not continually underbid everyone else on price..... i would rather pay more for quality personally.
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