Quality products start with hiring quality people.
You can’t fix anything if your staff don’t care. And often, the answer to “I
can’t find anyone better,” is “What you really mean is, 'You can’t find anyone
better for what you’re willing to pay.'”
I can’t imagine this is all because Martin is a stupid man. I don’t think he
is. I think he’s simply decided not to spend any money on hiring a good process
manager and takes his chances that a majority of customers will buy a product
and either be satisfied or be apathetic enough to just fix it themselves and
move on.
It’s not good business practice and I’m not going to herald his ethics, but I’m
sure at the heart of it is a cost analysis suggesting he’s better off running a
slipshod operation and riding the train as long as it goes (which is what, now,
more than 50 years?), rather than investing in quality processes regardless of
a future payoff. There does seem to be a certain subset of the business
population that is convinced you can’t get ahead ethically. (Or simply relishes
in operating unethically.)
I get a kick out of his hyperbolic and often misleading advertising, such as
this line for his 811 line of amplifiers: “…better than POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS
horizontal mounting…” of tubes. (MFJ’s emphasis, not mine…) Because, of course,
thousands of FL-2100b and Clipperton L amplifiers are maiming their owners
daily…
I’ve bought a few MFJ products over the years and they all worked well, and if
one of them did have a cold-solder joint, there’s a good chance I’d have simply
reflowed it and moved on. Admittedly, that would only contribute to the
problem. Don’t think I’d buy a big-ticket item, though...
73, kelly, ve4xt
> On Apr 2, 2018, at 12:47 PM, Drew Vonada-Smith <drew@whisperingwoods.org>
> wrote:
>
> Friends,
>
>
> I am an electronics engineer, involved for many years in electronics,
> including manufacturing at several small companies. I understand that we are
> not all wealthy, and there is a place for product's like MFJ's. But that is
> not the issue.
>
>
> Design tradeoffs like cheaper materials, poorer fit and finish, simple
> enclosures, and less functional capability are all part of saving money. That
> is acceptable. But quality is not a cost issue.
>
>
> Let me repeat that. *Quality is not a cost issue.* Poor quality comes from
> poor processes, and ultimately, from not giving a damn about improving them.
> Better procedures and improved quality SAVES money. You don't think it is
> expensive to reship bad parts?
>
>
> In all the years I bought MFJ, nothing ever "just worked". Not a single
> product. That is shameful. But then, I had experiences with a supervisor at
> MFJ actually laughing at me when I pointed out how easy it was to do things a
> better way. He didn't care, and found it humorous that anyone else did. In
> this case, it was warping a bracket with pliers to force it to fit, rather
> than drilling one additional hole so the same part could be used on left and
> right sides. I gave up and just swore to never deal with that issue again.
>
>
> I can tell you, absolutely, that the quality problem at MFJ is because key
> people don't care. It might be Martin, it might not., I can't say. But the
> steps needed to fix it are easy, well understood, and save money. MFJ just
> chooses not to implement change. After my last interaction, I refuse to have
> anything further to do with them.
>
>
> 73,
> Drew K3PA
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Sun, 1 Apr 2018 07:38:30 -0400
> From: "Kenneth D. Moak" <km8am@ctcn.net>
> To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
> Subject: [TowerTalk] HyGain Antenna Quality control issues: Let's Put
> MFJ inPerspective
> Message-ID:
> <!&!AAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAANSRLibzDGJNkApmZFQ66vLCgAAAEAAAADSWo0OjUfFAnu7iDnsZf8ABAAAAAA==@ctcn.net>
>
> Content-Type: text/plain;charset="us-ascii"
>
> Let's Put MFJ in Perspective
>
>
>
> It seems like ragging on MFJ has been, and may always be, a popular sport,
> but let's put the whole topic in perspective.
>
>
>
> Can you buy higher quality and more expensive products? Sure.
>
>
>
> Do most well-heeled hams buy these other products? Sure.
>
>
>
> But that is NOT MFJ's target market. Martin Jue is building equipment for
> the average ham looking for functional gear at a reasonable price. Face it,
> most Hams are cheap. We want it as close to free as possible when we're
> young and just starting out. We also buy MFJ when we just don't need
> Agilent or Tektronix specification
>
>
>
> Full Disclosure: As a 40+ years Hams, My XYL and I have bought lots of MFJ,
> Hy-Gain, and Cushcraft gear from when we had 42 cents in the bank to as
> recently as last month. We also have Flex radios, JK antennas, and two LUSO
> towers. We're not MFJ "fanboys." We're just trying to look at the whole
> picture.
>
>
>
> While we're at it, let say it up front: Lots of folks complain about the
> need to "Buy American." Well face it - without Martin Jue of MFJ, many of
> the "Big Names" in Ham Radio would have been extinct right now if MFJ didn't
> save these companies to keep them in the US. Obviously the way they
> operated in the past couldn't compete in today's market.
>
>
>
> MFJ found a way to compete, and enough people think that the occasional
> missing screw or wayward hole is not a big deal. MFJ's No Matter What
> Warranty is also better than you get from most other manufacturers - US or
> overseas.
>
>
>
> When we started out, we wanted gear that we could afford, that worked well
> enough to get us on the air, and if we had to "adjust it" that was ok. We
> had plenty of time and not much money. MFJ supplied that gear. We used MFJ
> gear, and we had fun!
>
>
>
> Frankly we don't care what the assembly room looks like as long as in the
> long run the product works. Actually, we think if anyone looked at the
> actual defect rates and not just anecdotal internet "facts," we think the
> numbers are way better than suspected.
>
>
>
> MFJ is not manufacturing computer CPUs. In fact, we think if you visited
> several of the "high-end" custom antenna houses that you would find very
> similar conditions. Try it.
>
>
>
> In the end, Martin Jue provides a service for the overall Amateur radio
> community. He fills a critical need and his sales show it. He survives
> when the companies he saved had failed.
>
>
>
> The bottom line is that if you don't like MFJ, go someplace else. Many
> others will take your place in line.
>
>
>
> Ken & Karen Moak
>
> KM8AM & KM8Q
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
>
>
>
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