And if the manufacturer is smart and hiring seasoned skilled workers, they
are getting a decent wage, not a minimum wage. The labor is a key factor in
cost. You can amortize the equipment but not the labor. These tower
manufacturers are far beyond mom and pop shops.
Don T
-----Original Message-----
From: EZ Rhino
Sent: Monday, January 02, 2017 2:56 PM
To: jimlux
Cc: Towertalk Reflector
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] US Tower price increase
Good points Jim.
I may also add that a lot of us (including myself, at times) are spoiled.
We clickety click click on line, and two days later a product is in our
mailbox. We no longer realize how things are manufactured or the time,
energy and cost associated with producing a product.
Metal fabrication isn't an inexpensive or easy business to be in. The
machinery needed to fabricate a tower is expensive, er, I mean, EXPENSIVE!
and HUGE! CNC plasma tables, press brakes, welding equipment, CNC benders,
jigs, fixturing tables, tooling, tooling, and more tooling, and qualified
experienced operators of this machinery, and don't forget a huge building
that can store all this stuff. Metal fab is a slow process, lots of labor,
and lots of trial and error to figure out how to make something that
functions correctly. Then you need to figure out the most economical way to
mass produce the product with the least labor as possible. It's not easy.
I am not excusing the price increases at UST, as they do sound out of line.
But I do think getting a new 50-foot crank up for $3k is a bargain!
Also watch the used market, where you can get a real deal on some used
stuff. I watched the classifieds like a hawk for almost a year, finally
found a TriEx LM470 that was still horizontal, still partially crated, never
installed, and got it for a song.
Chris
KF7P
On Jan 2, 2017, at 15:43 , jimlux wrote:
On 1/2/17 11:38 AM, Jim Brown wrote:
Great response, Jim. BUT -- the increase noted by the original poster
was that the increase was overnight!
Several possible reasons for this. One is that business operations for
the ham market are often supported by higher volume and higher margin
operations for other markets. When those other markets fall apart, they
no longer support the ham market, or contribute to economies of scale
that allow lower prices.
Another is corporate mergers, which can change business priorities,
change where products are manufactured.
But assuming corporate greed as the reason for all such price increases
is unreasonable. It certainly can be, but there are many other reasons.
yes, I agree.. usually it's a "it's not economic to sell at that price any
more, compared to other products". I was more commenting on the "back in
85" comment.
I know someone who is buying 50 tower trailers with 100+ ft towers on them.
That's a much better sale proposition than onsie, twosie sales to
individuals. Whether through distribution or not, the support costs tend to
be "per customer" not "per tower".
As for the overnight x3... That's a "we don't really want to be in this
business" or "our cost structure radically changed" kind of increase.
I've also seen that when you have a business founder of a family operated
business retires/sells out: the founder didn't have any debt service costs,
was willing to live out whatever margin there was. The new owner had to get
a loan to buy the business and actually has to pay employees a wage and
benefits - all of a sudden instead of "my wife does the assembly and we're
on the same insurance" it's "I've got to pay a reasonable wage and provide
vacation, insurance, etc.", I've got to pay rent and storage costs, I've got
to pay for the "cost of money".
A similar phenomenon occurs when a partner retires/dies/leaves and the
remaining partners have to buy them out.
Or, it's just - we don't want to leave existing customers totally in the
lurch, but we can't subsidize them either - we'll be responsible and at
least make parts available, but at cost that is basically "fabricate from
scratch individually"
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
|