|
Vid dropped this morning by Mr. Pete about Starrett being acquired.
"ATHOL, MA, March 11, 2024 – The L.S. Starrett Company (“Starrett” or the “Company”) (NYSE: SCX) today announced that it has entered into a definitive merger agreement in a go-private transaction with an affiliate of MiddleGround Capital (“MiddleGround”) in an all-cash transaction for $16.19 per share."
I don't know if it's necessarily as bad as the video makes it out to be.? Could actually be good for the company.? But it seems like tool companies don't have a history of being better after these sorts of transactions.
|
I heard about this yesterday and this makes me sad. One of th companies that I used to work for, went through a similar situation. Of the 350 employees all but 35 were “laid off“. They did not want our products or employees only the customers and name.?
RIP ? Starrett “Made in America”
|
Many Starrett products manufactured before this date will undoubtedly become more valuable.
ralphie
|
As if they weren't already going for big bucks on ebay.
Sometimes the prices on the old stuff is higher than just buying new from Starrett.
On Tuesday, March 19th, 2024 at 12:19 PM, Ralph Lehotsky <ralphlehotsky@...> wrote:
Many Starrett products manufactured before this date will undoubtedly become more valuable.
ralphie
|
Most of my mics are Starrett?
Good to know.?
Dave?
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
?Ralph Lehotsky 9:19am? ?
Many Starrett products manufactured before this date will undoubtedly become more valuable
|
Oh great…another ‘vulture capitalist’ strikes. Buy the company, load it up with debt (to you, of course) sell off anything of value, fire everybody, move on to the next one leaving an empty husk behind.
I have a handful of actual Starett tools…
More info
? On Mar 19, 2024, at 7:21 AM, Paul <soundguy.paul@...> wrote:
I heard about this yesterday and this makes me sad. One of th companies that I used to work for, went through a similar situation. Of the 350 employees all but 35 were “laid off“. They did not want our products or employees only the customers and name.?
RIP ? Starrett “Made in America”
--?
Bruce Johnson
The less a man knows about how sausages and laws are made, the easier it is to steal his vote and give him botulism.
|
It is very hard for a traditional U.S. company like Starrett, at one time existing mostly in the bubble of the U.S., to remain competitive once the manufacturing cmpetition went worldwide.
A very long time ago I got some business advice that, "If you do not obsolete yourself, somebody else will."
An example of this is Fluke which is a top-rated manufacturer of multimeters and such and are often "specified in" in large companies and government operations.? (And part of their business model is to support the same models for many years so that written procedures by companies and the gov don't have to be changed.)? They now have some of the meters manufactured in China.? They aren't real public about this.? However, they maintain VERY tight control over all steps of the manufacturing quality and the product is as sound as ever - so far as I know.
Many U.S. companies suffer from "corporate inertia" or suffer from not looking further into the future than trying to make the end of this quarter look good.? I don't know the details of why this merger occurred.
I don't know what MiddleGround Capital's plans are.? I know they acquired Castle Metals last year.? They also acquired Banner Industries and seem to be putting the two companies together, which will probably streamline things.? I suspect their plans for Starrett might be along similar lines.?
Charles E. "Chuck" Kinzer?
On Tuesday, March 19, 2024 at 10:21:18 AM PDT, davesmith1800 <davesmith1@...> wrote:
Most of my mics are Starrett?
Good to know.?
Dave?
?Ralph Lehotsky 9:19am? ?
Many Starrett products manufactured before this date will undoubtedly become more valuable
|
The thing to keep in mind with MrPete is he is very direct &
as far as I can tell I have never seen him hold back on anything
which can be a good thing. He is very strong in his opinions as
are many here my self included . I think his opinions come from
living in a area that he has seen himself in person so many
companies go over to the dark side & then dissapear . This one
is a bit closer to him I think , ya can kinda see it in his eyes .
I have friends that have sold/given away things that they were
very proud of just because the manufacturer did something like
this . Fender guitars is a great example of this they will no
longer own anything that was made after Dec 31 1964 , CBS
officially took over Fender on Jan 5 1965 & now fenders are
made in at least 4 different countries . Gibson is still made in
USA but I can't say all the parts are . The results from deals
like this usually have a up gain for the $$$ folks & a
downhill trend for the employees product .
or I could be totally pounding sand on this one .
end of rant
animal
On 3/18/24 4:57 AM, chrisser via
groups.io wrote:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
Vid dropped this morning by Mr. Pete about Starrett being
acquired.
"ATHOL,
MA, March 11, 2024 – The L.S. Starrett Company (“Starrett” or
the “Company”) (NYSE: SCX) today announced that it has entered
into a definitive merger agreement in a go-private transaction
with an affiliate of MiddleGround Capital (“MiddleGround”) in
an all-cash transaction for $16.19 per share."
I don't know if it's necessarily as bad as the
video makes it out to be.? Could actually be good for the
company.? But it seems like tool companies don't have a history of
being better after these sorts of transactions.
|
Pawn shops can be yer friend .
animal
On 3/19/24 9:30 AM, chrisser via
groups.io wrote:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
As
if they weren't already going for big bucks on ebay.
Sometimes
the prices on the old stuff is higher than just buying new from
Starrett.
On Tuesday, March 19th, 2024 at
12:19 PM, Ralph Lehotsky <ralphlehotsky@...> wrote:
Many Starrett
products manufactured before this date will undoubtedly become
more valuable.
ralphie
|
A lot of Martin guitars are now made in Mexico!!
?
ralphie
|
yep . I was with a but lookin to buy a Martin a few years back
& after 2 trips to the guitar store we had them narrowed down
to 5 . So we go back on the third day & he finally makes the
decision which one . Gets up to the register & that's when he
saw the paperwork with Made in Mexico . He didn't want one made on
Mexico & I can hang with that but we went back to the " good
guitar room " & he made his new decision almost purely on
USA/Mexico . The one he ended up with would not have been my first
choice but it is becoming a nice playable guitar , it's still
learning it's tone . I still think the one from Mexico sounded a
lot better to me ,? I finally quit telling him that after I said
in from of his wife one day & she ripped him pretty god for
that after I left . I know plenty of parents that went to Guitar
Center (? which I loathe ) to buy their kid a guitar for Christmas
or birthday & then find out later that the guitar was made in
Japan or Mexico . Their still nice playable guitars but American
see's Fender Guitars as a American company & that's what they
expect when they purchase .
animal
On 3/19/24 2:10 PM, Ralph Lehotsky
wrote:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
A
lot of Martin guitars are now made in Mexico!!
?
ralphie
|
They have been making very good acoustic guitars in Mexico for a very very long time; there’s a substantial home market for them.
My 2010 Jetta TDI Sportwagen was made in Mexico and it’s proven really well made; The most expensive repairs I've had done (other than fixing the cheater diesel issue, for which VW gave me back ?rd of the original cost) has been a front ball joint that was replaced prophylactically because of a torn boot on the joint probably let grit into it.
China CAN make very very good machine tools; not everything is ‘chinesium’; everything CHEAP is though, and guess what this list is about :-) On Mar 19, 2024, at 2:22 PM, mike allen <animal@...> wrote:
yep . I was with a but lookin to buy a Martin a few years back
& after 2 trips to the guitar store we had them narrowed down
to 5 . So we go back on the third day & he finally makes the
decision which one . Gets up to the register & that's when he
saw the paperwork with Made in Mexico . He didn't want one made on
Mexico & I can hang with that but we went back to the " good
guitar room " & he made his new decision almost purely on
USA/Mexico . The one he ended up with would not have been my first
choice but it is becoming a nice playable guitar , it's still
learning it's tone . I still think the one from Mexico sounded a
lot better to me ,? I finally quit telling him that after I said
in from of his wife one day & she ripped him pretty god for
that after I left . I know plenty of parents that went to Guitar
Center (? which I loathe ) to buy their kid a guitar for Christmas
or birthday & then find out later that the guitar was made in
Japan or Mexico . Their still nice playable guitars but American
see's Fender Guitars as a American company & that's what they
expect when they purchase .
animal
On 3/19/24 2:10 PM, Ralph Lehotsky
wrote:
A
lot of Martin guitars are now made in Mexico!!
?
ralphie
--?
Bruce Johnson
The less a man knows about how sausages and laws are made, the easier it is to steal his vote and give him botulism.
|
Sounds great till there is war. Just ask Japanese in WW2? There where buying from America.?? Dave? Note the brand of mill the guy is using? 
Bruce J
2:34pm? ?
They have been making very good acoustic guitars in Mexico for a very very long time; there’s a substantial home market for them.
My 2010 Jetta TDI Sportwagen was made in Mexico and it’s proven really well made; The most expensive repairs I've had done (other than fixing the cheater diesel issue, for which VW gave me back ?rd of the original cost) has been a front ball joint that was replaced prophylactically because of a torn boot on the joint probably let grit into it.
China CAN make very very good machine tools; not everything is ‘chinesium’; everything CHEAP is though, and guess what this list is about :-)
On Mar 19, 2024, at 2:22 PM, mike allen <animal@...> wrote:
yep . I was with a but lookin to buy a Martin a few years back & after 2 trips to the guitar store we had them narrowed down to 5 . So we go back on the third day & he finally makes the decision which one . Gets up to the register & that's when he saw the paperwork with Made in Mexico . He didn't want one made on Mexico & I can hang with that but we went back to the " good guitar room " & he made his new decision almost purely on USA/Mexico . The one he ended up with would not have been my first choice but it is becoming a nice playable guitar , it's still learning it's tone . I still think the one from Mexico sounded a lot better to me , I finally quit telling him that after I said in from of his wife one day & she ripped him pretty god for that after I left . I know plenty of parents that went to Guitar Center ( which I loathe ) to buy their kid a guitar for Christmas or birthday & then find out later that the guitar was made in Japan or Mexico . Their still nice playable guitars but American see's Fender Guitars as a American company & that's what they expect when they purchase .
animal
On 3/19/24 2:10 PM, Ralph Lehotsky wrote:
A lot of Martin guitars are now made in Mexico!!
?
ralphie
--?
Bruce Johnson
The less a man knows about how sausages and laws are made, the easier it is to steal his vote and give him botulism.
?Reply Like More
mike allen
2:22pm? ?
yep . I was with a but lookin to buy a Martin a few years back & after 2 trips to the guitar store we had them narrowed down to 5 . So we go back on the third day & he finally makes the decision which one . Gets up to the register & that's when he saw the paperwork with Made in Mexico . He didn't want one made on Mexico & I can hang with that but we went back to the " good guitar room " & he made his new decision almost purely on USA/Mexico . The one he ended up with would not have been my first choice but it is becoming a nice playable guitar , it's still learning it's tone . I still think the one from Mexico sounded a lot better to me , I finally quit telling him that after I said in from of his wife one day & she ripped him pretty god for that after I left . I know plenty of parents that went to Guitar Center ( which I loathe ) to buy their kid a guitar for Christmas or birthday & then find out later that the guitar was made in Japan or Mexico . Their still nice playable guitars but American see's Fender Guitars as a American company & that's what they expect when they purchase .
animal
On 3/19/24 2:10 PM, Ralph Lehotsky wrote:
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
?Reply Like More
?Ralph Lehotsky 2:10pm? ?
A lot of Martin guitars are now made in Mexico!!
?
ralphie
?Reply Like More
mike allen
12:35pm? ?
Pawn shops can be yer friend .
animal
On 3/19/24 9:30 AM, chrisser via groups.io wrote:
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
?Reply Like More
mike allen
12:34pm? ?
The thing to keep in mind with MrPete is he is very direct & as far as I can tell I have never seen him hold back on anything which can be a good thing. He is very strong in his opinions as are many here my self included . I think his opinions come from living in a area that he has seen himself in person so many companies go over to the dark side & then dissapear . This one is a bit closer to him I think , ya can kinda see it in his eyes . I have friends that have sold/given away things that they were very proud of just because the manufacturer did something like this . Fender guitars is a great example of this they will no longer own anything that was made after Dec 31 1964 , CBS officially took over Fender on Jan 5 1965 & now fenders are made in at least 4 different countries . Gibson is still made in USA but I can't say all the parts are . The results from deals like this usually have a up gain for the $$$ folks & a downhill trend for the employees product .
or I could be totally pounding sand on this one .
end of rant
animal
On 3/18/24 4:57 AM, chrisser via groups.io wrote:
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
?Reply Like More
Charles Kinzer
10:59am? ?
It is very hard for a traditional U.S. company like Starrett, at one time existing mostly in the bubble of the U.S., to remain competitive once the manufacturing cmpetition went worldwide.
A very long time ago I got some business advice that, "If you do not obsolete yourself, somebody else will."
An example of this is Fluke which is a top-rated manufacturer of multimeters and such and are often "specified in" in large companies and government operations. (And part of their business model is to support the same models for many years so that written procedures by companies and the gov don't have to be changed.) They now have some of the meters manufactured in China. They aren't real public about this. However, they maintain VERY tight control over all steps of the manufacturing quality and the product is as sound as ever - so far as I know.
Many U.S. companies suffer from "corporate inertia" or suffer from not looking further into the future than trying to make the end of this quarter look good. I don't know the details of why this merger occurred.
I don't know what MiddleGround Capital's plans are. I know they acquired Castle Metals last year. They also acquired Banner Industries and seem to be putting the two companies together, which will probably streamline things. I suspect their plans for Starrett might be along similar lines.?
Charles E. "Chuck" Kinzer?
On Tuesday, March 19, 2024 at 10:21:18 AM PDT, davesmith1800 <davesmith1@...> wrote:
Most of my mics are Starrett?
Good to know.?
Dave?
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
?Reply Like More
Bruce J
10:57am? ?
Oh great…another ‘vulture capitalist’ strikes. Buy the company, load it up with debt (to you, of course) sell off anything of value, fire everybody, move on to the next one leaving an empty husk behind.
I have a handful of actual Starett tools…
More info
?https://www.reddit.com/r/Tools/comments/1bcmats/starrett_is_merging_with_a_private_equity_company/
On Mar 19, 2024, at 7:21 AM, Paul <soundguy.paul@...> wrote:
I heard about this yesterday and this makes me sad. One of th companies that I used to work for, went through a similar situation. Of the 350 employees all but 35 were “laid off“. They did not want our products or employees only the customers and name.?
RIP ? Starrett “Made in America”
--?
Bruce Johnson
The less a man knows about how sausages and laws are made, the easier it is to steal his vote and give him botulism.
?Reply Like More
?davesmith1800 10:21am? ?
Most of my mics are Starrett?
Good to know.?
Dave?
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
?Reply Like More
?chrisser 9:30am? ?
As if they weren't already going for big bucks on ebay.
Sometimes the prices on the old stuff is higher than just buying new from Starrett.
On Tuesday, March 19th, 2024 at 12:19 PM, Ralph Lehotsky <ralphlehotsky@...> wrote:
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
?Reply Like More
?Ralph Lehotsky 9:19am? ?
Many Starrett products manufactured before this date will undoubtedly become more valuable.
ralphie
?Reply Like More
Paul
7:21am? ?
I heard about this yesterday and this makes me sad. One of th companies that I used to work for, went through a similar situation. Of the 350 employees all but 35 were “laid off“. They did not want our products or employees only the customers and name.?
RIP ? Starrett “Made in America”
?Reply Like More
?chrisser Mar 18? ?
Vid dropped this morning by Mr. Pete about Starrett being acquired.
"ATHOL, MA, March 11, 2024 – The L.S. Starrett Company (“Starrett” or the “Company”) (NYSE: SCX) today announced that it has entered into a definitive merger agreement in a go-private transaction with an affiliate of MiddleGround Capital (“MiddleGround”) in an all-cash transaction for $16.19 per share."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh6gUpTyhqA
I don't know if it's necessarily as bad as the video makes it out to be. Could actually be good for the company. But it seems like tool companies don't have a history of being better after these sorts of transactions.
?Reply Like More
1 - 12 of 12 previous page1next page
?
Messages
New Topic
Chat
Menu
|
??? ya ever see the movie " the mouse that roared " they show a
way around that
animal
On 3/19/24 3:04 PM, davesmith1800
wrote:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
Sounds great till there is war.
Just ask Japanese in WW2?
There where buying from America.??
Dave?
Note the brand of mill the guy is using?
Bruce J
2:34pm? ?
They have been making very good acoustic guitars in
Mexico for a very very long time; there’s a substantial home
market for them.
My 2010 Jetta TDI Sportwagen was made in Mexico and
it’s proven really well made; The most expensive repairs I've
had done (other than fixing the cheater diesel issue, for which
VW gave me back ?rd of the original cost) has been a front ball
joint that was replaced prophylactically because of a torn boot
on the joint probably let grit into it.
China CAN make very very good machine tools; not
everything is ‘chinesium’; everything CHEAP is though, and guess
what this list is about :-)
On Mar 19, 2024, at 2:22 PM, mike allen
<animal@...> wrote:
yep . I was with a but lookin to buy a Martin a few
years back & after 2 trips to the guitar store we had them
narrowed down to 5 . So we go back on the third day & he
finally makes the decision which one . Gets up to the register
& that's when he saw the paperwork with Made in Mexico . He
didn't want one made on Mexico & I can hang with that but we
went back to the " good guitar room " & he made his new
decision almost purely on USA/Mexico . The one he ended up with
would not have been my first choice but it is becoming a nice
playable guitar , it's still learning it's tone . I still think
the one from Mexico sounded a lot better to me , I finally quit
telling him that after I said in from of his wife one day &
she ripped him pretty god for that after I left . I know plenty
of parents that went to Guitar Center ( which I loathe ) to buy
their kid a guitar for Christmas or birthday & then find out
later that the guitar was made in Japan or Mexico . Their still
nice playable guitars but American see's Fender Guitars as a
American company & that's what they expect when they
purchase .
animal
On 3/19/24 2:10 PM, Ralph Lehotsky wrote:
A lot of Martin guitars are now made in Mexico!!
?
ralphie
--?
Bruce Johnson
The less a man knows about how sausages and laws are
made, the easier it is to steal his vote and give him botulism.
?Reply Like More
mike allen
2:22pm? ?
yep . I was with a but lookin to buy a Martin a few
years back & after 2 trips to the guitar store we had them
narrowed down to 5 . So we go back on the third day & he
finally makes the decision which one . Gets up to the register
& that's when he saw the paperwork with Made in Mexico . He
didn't want one made on Mexico & I can hang with that but we
went back to the " good guitar room " & he made his new
decision almost purely on USA/Mexico . The one he ended up with
would not have been my first choice but it is becoming a nice
playable guitar , it's still learning it's tone . I still think
the one from Mexico sounded a lot better to me , I finally quit
telling him that after I said in from of his wife one day &
she ripped him pretty god for that after I left . I know plenty
of parents that went to Guitar Center ( which I loathe ) to buy
their kid a guitar for Christmas or birthday & then find out
later that the guitar was made in Japan or Mexico . Their still
nice playable guitars but American see's Fender Guitars as a
American company & that's what they expect when they
purchase .
animal
On 3/19/24 2:10 PM, Ralph Lehotsky wrote:
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
?Reply Like More
?Ralph Lehotsky 2:10pm? ?
A lot of Martin guitars are now made in Mexico!!
?
ralphie
?Reply Like More
mike allen
12:35pm? ?
Pawn shops can be yer friend .
animal
On 3/19/24 9:30 AM, chrisser via groups.io wrote:
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
?Reply Like More
mike allen
12:34pm? ?
The thing to keep in mind with MrPete is he is very
direct & as far as I can tell I have never seen him hold
back on anything which can be a good thing. He is very strong in
his opinions as are many here my self included . I think his
opinions come from living in a area that he has seen himself in
person so many companies go over to the dark side & then
dissapear . This one is a bit closer to him I think , ya can
kinda see it in his eyes . I have friends that have sold/given
away things that they were very proud of just because the
manufacturer did something like this . Fender guitars is a great
example of this they will no longer own anything that was made
after Dec 31 1964 , CBS officially took over Fender on Jan 5
1965 & now fenders are made in at least 4 different
countries . Gibson is still made in USA but I can't say all the
parts are . The results from deals like this usually have a up
gain for the $$$ folks & a downhill trend for the employees
product .
or I could be totally pounding sand on this one .
end of rant
animal
On 3/18/24 4:57 AM, chrisser via groups.io wrote:
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
?Reply Like More
Charles Kinzer
10:59am? ?
It is very hard for a traditional U.S. company like
Starrett, at one time existing mostly in the bubble of the U.S.,
to remain competitive once the manufacturing cmpetition went
worldwide.
A very long time ago I got some business advice that,
"If you do not obsolete yourself, somebody else will."
An example of this is Fluke which is a top-rated
manufacturer of multimeters and such and are often "specified
in" in large companies and government operations. (And part of
their business model is to support the same models for many
years so that written procedures by companies and the gov don't
have to be changed.) They now have some of the meters
manufactured in China. They aren't real public about this.
However, they maintain VERY tight control over all steps of the
manufacturing quality and the product is as sound as ever - so
far as I know.
Many U.S. companies suffer from "corporate inertia" or
suffer from not looking further into the future than trying to
make the end of this quarter look good. I don't know the details
of why this merger occurred.
I don't know what MiddleGround Capital's plans are. I
know they acquired Castle Metals last year. They also acquired
Banner Industries and seem to be putting the two companies
together, which will probably streamline things. I suspect their
plans for Starrett might be along similar lines.?
Charles E. "Chuck" Kinzer?
On Tuesday, March 19, 2024 at 10:21:18 AM PDT,
davesmith1800 <davesmith1@...> wrote:
Most of my mics are Starrett?
Good to know.?
Dave?
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
?Reply Like More
Bruce J
10:57am? ?
Oh great…another ‘vulture capitalist’ strikes. Buy the
company, load it up with debt (to you, of course) sell off
anything of value, fire everybody, move on to the next one
leaving an empty husk behind.
I have a handful of actual Starett tools…
More info
?
On Mar 19, 2024, at 7:21 AM, Paul
<soundguy.paul@...> wrote:
I heard about this yesterday and this makes me sad.
One of th companies that I used to work for, went through a
similar situation. Of the 350 employees all but 35 were “laid
off“. They did not want our products or employees only the
customers and name.?
RIP ? Starrett “Made in America”
--?
Bruce Johnson
The less a man knows about how sausages and laws are
made, the easier it is to steal his vote and give him botulism.
?Reply Like More
?davesmith1800 10:21am? ?
Most of my mics are Starrett?
Good to know.?
Dave?
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
?Reply Like More
?chrisser 9:30am? ?
As if they weren't already going for big bucks on
ebay.
Sometimes the prices on the old stuff is higher than
just buying new from Starrett.
On Tuesday, March 19th, 2024 at 12:19 PM, Ralph
Lehotsky <ralphlehotsky@...> wrote:
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
?Reply Like More
?Ralph Lehotsky 9:19am? ?
Many Starrett products manufactured before this date
will undoubtedly become more valuable.
ralphie
?Reply Like More
Paul
7:21am? ?
I heard about this yesterday and this makes me sad.
One of th companies that I used to work for, went through a
similar situation. Of the 350 employees all but 35 were “laid
off“. They did not want our products or employees only the
customers and name.?
RIP ? Starrett “Made in America”
?Reply Like More
?chrisser Mar 18? ?
Vid dropped this morning by Mr. Pete about Starrett
being acquired.
"ATHOL, MA, March 11, 2024 – The L.S. Starrett Company
(“Starrett” or the “Company”) (NYSE: SCX) today announced that
it has entered into a definitive merger agreement in a
go-private transaction with an affiliate of MiddleGround Capital
(“MiddleGround”) in an all-cash transaction for $16.19 per
share."
I don't know if it's necessarily as bad as the video
makes it out to be. Could actually be good for the company. But
it seems like tool companies don't have a history of being
better after these sorts of transactions.
?Reply Like More
1 - 12 of 12 previous page1next page
?
Messages
New Topic
Chat
Menu
Attachments:
|
They can make good quality stuff in Chinea, if you are willing to pay for it. ? Have you ever seen the inside on an Apple Mac notebook? ? Most other companies will laminate a very thin layer of metal over injection molded plastic. ? By Apple mills the case from solid metal, ?there must be a bazillion very tiny blind thread holes and lots of other details. ?It is all done in China.
It is not because the labor is cheaper, Very little labor is neded, just people to load uiltity-pole size metal into the machine at one end and to supervize the robots who pac the milled parts onto pallets.
In China engineering is the #1 or #2 university degree (English is the other one). ?Here in the US VERY few people take hard classes in school, ?Percent of engineers are down in the single digits.
So basically they make this stuff there because that is where they know how. ? ?Even if you were to open factories in the US, who would you hire to work there? ? ?The skill set does not exist in the US.
I hate to say it, but even on the machine-tool list, how many could operate a modern machine? ? A neighbor’s kid thought he wanted to be a machinist a couple years ago after graduating high school. ? He got into the school and failed out, said it was “All math and computers”. ??
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On Mar 19, 2024, at 10:59?AM, Charles Kinzer <ckinzer@...> wrote:
It is very hard for a traditional U.S. company like Starrett, at one time existing mostly in the bubble of the U.S., to remain competitive once the manufacturing cmpetition went worldwide.
A very long time ago I got some business advice that, "If you do not obsolete yourself, somebody else will."
An example of this is Fluke which is a top-rated manufacturer of multimeters and such and are often "specified in" in large companies and government operations.? (And part of their business model is to support the same models for many years so that written procedures by companies and the gov don't have to be changed.)? They now have some of the meters manufactured in China.? They aren't real public about this.? However, they maintain VERY tight control over all steps of the manufacturing quality and the product is as sound as ever - so far as I know.
Many U.S. companies suffer from "corporate inertia" or suffer from not looking further into the future than trying to make the end of this quarter look good.? I don't know the details of why this merger occurred.
I don't know what MiddleGround Capital's plans are.? I know they acquired Castle Metals last year.? They also acquired Banner Industries and seem to be putting the two companies together, which will probably streamline things.? I suspect their plans for Starrett might be along similar lines.?
Charles E. "Chuck" Kinzer?
On Tuesday, March 19, 2024 at 10:21:18 AM PDT, davesmith1800 <davesmith1@...> wrote:
Most of my mics are Starrett? Good to know.? Dave?
?Ralph Lehotsky 9:19am? ?
Many Starrett products manufactured before this date will undoubtedly become more valuable
|
One of the best decisions I made was to buy my new 1957 D-28.? It keeps going up in value, but that makes no difference.? I'll never sell it!
ralphie
|
Even though I have a hard time playing these days my guitar
stable will be where I can see them till its time for my kids to
argue over who gets which one . I had a couple of offers to get a
couple martins on the cheap from friends that needed $$ real quick
back in the day but fortunately they got their finances in line
before we made the deals .? ??? Could ya imagine walking into a
guitar store with a D-18 & telling the guy in back? make this
a 12 string , David Crosby did . The guy always had big balls .
You have a real treasure with that D-28 enjoy it , I bet it still
gets sounding better each time ya play it .
animal
On 3/19/24 4:26 PM, Ralph Lehotsky
wrote:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
One of the best decisions I made was to buy my new 1957 D-28.? It
keeps going up in value, but that makes no difference.? I'll never
sell it!
ralphie
|
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On 3/19/2024 8:03 PM, mike allen wrote: Even though I have a hard time playing these days my guitar stable will
be where I can see them till its time for my kids to argue over who gets
which one . I had a couple of offers to get a couple martins on the
cheap from friends that needed $$ real quick back in the day but
fortunately they got their finances in line before we made the deals .
??? Could ya imagine walking into a guitar store with a D-18 & telling
the guy in back? make this a 12 string , David Crosby did . The guy
always had big balls . You have a real treasure with that D-28 enjoy it
, I bet it still gets sounding better each time ya play it .
animal
On 3/19/24 4:26 PM, Ralph Lehotsky wrote:
One of the best decisions I made was to buy my new 1957 D-28.? It
keeps going up in value, but that makes no difference.? I'll never
sell it!
ralphie
|
I can tolerate some flexibility, but at last count, over half of this afternoon’s e-mails were about guitars instead of the original topic, the Starrett acquisition.? Please either change the subject or move the guitar comments onto a more appropriate site. ? Thanks ? Jerry F. ?? ?
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
|
I buy mostly used Starrett, but I've bought new Starrett items that they made overseas. They maintain tight control and the new stuff seems fine.? The new stuff tends to have more prominent nameplates and sometimes the part is simplified. But the tool can still be very good.?
Best example I can think of were some accessories I got a few years ago for my Last Word test indicator.? The original indicator os color case-hardened -- very pretty but the process is complicated. The new stuff was made in China and works as well, but has regular, black-dyed case-hardening. The pretty rainbow colors on my Last Word are nice, but I'm not going to cry myself to sleep if future tools eliminate decorative things like that.
Mike Taglieri?
On Tue, Mar 19, 2024, 1:59 PM Charles Kinzer < ckinzer@...> wrote:
It is very hard for a traditional U.S. company like Starrett, at one time existing mostly in the bubble of the U.S., to remain competitive once the manufacturing cmpetition went worldwide.
A very long time ago I got some business advice that, "If you do not obsolete yourself, somebody else will."
An example of this is Fluke which is a top-rated manufacturer of multimeters and such and are often "specified in" in large companies and government operations.? (And part of their business model is to support the same models for many years so that written procedures by companies and the gov don't have to be changed.)? They now have some of the meters manufactured in China.? They aren't real public about this.? However, they maintain VERY tight control over all steps of the manufacturing quality and the product is as sound as ever - so far as I know.
Many U.S. companies suffer from "corporate inertia" or suffer from not looking further into the future than trying to make the end of this quarter look good.? I don't know the details of why this merger occurred.
I don't know what MiddleGround Capital's plans are.? I know they acquired Castle Metals last year.? They also acquired Banner Industries and seem to be putting the two companies together, which will probably streamline things.? I suspect their plans for Starrett might be along similar lines.?
Charles E. "Chuck" Kinzer?
On Tuesday, March 19, 2024 at 10:21:18 AM PDT, davesmith1800 < davesmith1@...> wrote:
Most of my mics are Starrett? Good to know.? Dave?
?Ralph Lehotsky 9:19am? ?
Many Starrett products manufactured before this date will undoubtedly become more valuable
|
chrisser
Ralph Lehotsky
davesmith1800