Made in Taiwan vs Made in China

[Intensemonerider]

I spoke with Precision Mathew’s the other day and the gentleman said there is a substantial quantity difference between Made in China milling machines and Made in Taiwan. Taiwan being better across the board. I would like to hear from both crowds. This forum is awesome and I really like hearing your experiences and thoughts.

 

[Chipper5783]

The Chinese manufacturers have a reputation of making what the customer is prepared to pay for. If you want the absolutely lowest price, they can do that, but it will also be the lowest quality. If you are willing to pay for a good product, then it is going to cost about the same as anyone else that is providing a decent product. China has a huge manufacturing base, they need quality kit because good equipment is going to have a lower lifecycle cost - and they will go anywhere in the world to get it (buying and relocating entire factories). They also get lots of manufacturing practice (practice makes perfect).

Just because a machine is from a certain country does not automatically make it good or bad. Either check it out and decide for yourself, or pay for someone else (like a reputable dealer) to make that assessment for you. PM has a good reputation and has developed relationships with Asian suppliers for certain classes of machinery. Some customers insist on the lowest cost, so he can deliver on that. Some customers want a bit of a step up in quality, but still not crazy high, so he can deliver on that too.

 

[slow-poke]

IMHO and from what I observed I think the PM statement is accurate. Of course there is some good to great kit coming from China but it seems like it's the exception rather than the rule. Too often there seems to be no floor to how low the quality can go, as long as it looks like the thing your purchasing (who cares if it actually functions as it should) then that's good enough.

 

[little ol' e]

Tiawan would be my first choice. Loads of good equipment has come from Tiawan for years and years. Don't discount Mexico thou, they will be coming on strong after GI Joe moves from the White Building.

China will sizzle out in the coming years.
Global carbon footprint will snuff them out of manufacturing on the cheap...

 

[boilerhouse]

I also think PM is spot on, and he is the guy covering the warranty work and fielding customer complaints so he is in the best position to know. It is also my experience. My Taiwan tools have been great, and the few from China have generally been crap to fair.

 

[Former Member]

I've had China made products that are spot on amazing, better quality than I've seem here.

PM, Grizzly, BB, King and others source from the same suppliers. As mentioned by others it depends how brand specs it.

Want to test this down load Grizzly's, PM, BB and Kings near identical products look at the parts layout, same. Difference comes into play for the option spec'd by each as to what they charge.

Car manufacturers do the same. So do appliance manufacturers, irony is some parts for one are cheaper than the other but the identical part.

 

[Shoprat]

I’ve had enough experience with both countries as well as Germany and Italy in machine purchases. I’ve had issues with EVERY country and price level. What’s most important is getting the machine that suits u best followed up by the best dealer. Country is irrelevant if you don’t have good local support. Thus the term buy local, not that the machine is local but that the guy who is gonna look you in the eye is.

 

[Downwindtracker2]

China is pretty big, I don't think there is just only one supplier. The internet allows you to track down the factories. I know my recent purchased welder there were at least two factories producing them. HuGong electric and Shanghai electric, both in the same city,but different addresses. One gets labeled Magnum, the other ESAB.