Some pictures from Factory

[jakeru]

Thanks for sharing the pictures, Duncan; it's fascinating to see the production environment. And it kind of reminds me of when I worked in electronics industry about 20 or so years ago for a boutique guitar amplifier manufacturer... (although, this looks like a much larger operation.)

From the first set of pictures, is the "box" like shaped machine (with the viewing window, and the tapes of what look like surface mount components feeding in underneath) a robot that installs surface mount components onto circuit boards?

[Titan winch]

The Second set of pictures shows the Auto Feed for surface mounting. With ROHS Compliancy the sytems need to be Lead Free and each year new Automated machinery is added.

The Factory is located in a busy Ship Building Town and as such a number of local Customers are heavy Industrial users ( Submerged Arc 650 amp tigs etc. ) i actually like seeing the submerged arc welders in operation welding 1'" -1.5" plate in the test area.
There is also a fairly large customer base from Small Contractors , The one Outlet store from the Factory is located close to a new Restauarant Clove Garden Restaurant ( Miss Nee the factory owners Wife owns it and i am taken there a lot for Lunch) and it seems to be a popular place as most days i stop in to say hello to the young Ladies who work there ( no idea who they are but it seems they like to have me stop in and just say hello )

Workers at the Factory seem to enjoy there jobs and i think for the most part they have good salary.s and benifets ( benifets for workers is Mandatory by law but does not mean all factories give it )
Work days are normally 6 day week with work starting at 8 am and in the spring fall winter luch is from 11.30 am till 12.30pm In Summer the lunch is extended from 11.30 till 1.00pm 5pm is the end of the work day ( although there is normally some overtime going on by some one )
Last year there was a Help wanted Sign posted for most of the year and it was basically asking for personell between the ages of 18 to 45 ( you could never do that here ) Salarys range from anywhere from 1600rmb a month up . As a example my In town Driver from the Factory Miss Chun earns about 4000rmb ( about 640usd ) a month
She has a Apartment Downtown but also has a living area provided by the Factory in a Apartment complex very close by the factory. The Factory rents out 3 -4 floors of this building and charges the workers 50 rmb a month rent hot lunches are also provided each day of the week for all workers.


As for Jane she is not dumb just a bit strong willed and exasperating at times.
Like the time we went to a Buddist Monastery and she refused to go through the Gates because it was not her religion. I got a little frustrated and just ended up telling her to go in and not to argue.
but Vanilla can be the same way some times. One night i wanted to eat at a Western Restaurant . she replied OK but i am not ordering any food ( she does not like Western food ) i will just watch you eat. I have never had a western meal with her but we have compromised and when i get the chance to visit her we end up usually at a Thai Restaurant .

[zoama]

Thanks for the pictures and stories. This is great for business because it breaks down the Chinese stereotype and puts human faces with the product. I'd like to see all you're willing to share.

[Joe from NY]

Hey Titan, how do you handle the communication there on your visits? Do the factory managers speak English? Can you ask them direct questions, or do they all have to go through your guide? How did she come about accompanying you?

I am assuming you are a native English speaker, but your random capitalization in your post did make me wonder a bit.

[jerky]

From the first set of pictures, is the "box" like shaped machine (with the viewing window, and the tapes of what look like surface mount components feeding in underneath) a robot that installs surface mount components onto circuit boards?

thats the first thing i picked out of those pics, and i know your exactly right. from my experience those machines are very fast at puting all those little componets onto a board.

[Titan winch]

Hey Titan, how do you handle the communication there on your visits? Do the factory managers speak English? Can you ask them direct questions, or do they all have to go through your guide? How did she come about accompanying you?


My overwhelming natural charm with ladies young and old i suppose.
To be honest i am not really sure how it all started or why it seems a lot of Chinese ladies seem to want to mother me. It could be my old and feeble manner makes them take pity on me .
I even had a waitress in a noodle shop feed me one time because she did not like the way i was using the chopsticks.
As for my own friends how does any one start a friendship it just seems to develop.
My trip normally starts in Shanghai
I let the Factory know ( Factory Owner ) when my flight arrives and a driver is sent to pick me up , this is normally one of 2 people and neither speak English. Sometimes Xu a engineer will come to meet me with the driver . The Factory is located a couple of hours outside of Shanghai
Xu is a Engineer who is assigned to me for each stay at the Factory and his job is to translate and work with any changes / testing that needs to be done
the Factory owner speaks english and a normal visit generally starts with a couple of days of meetings with the Head engineer Shou The Owner and Xu ( those make for long days with jet lag and 14.5 hour flight plus 2 hours drive to town) Where i am taken to my hotel. I have on occasion stayed in a Apartment owned by the Factory Owner and while it is very gracious of him to offer it i do not really like staying there and prefer the Hotel
Most guys in the Testing Dept know 2 words of English
OH BUGGER

I have a bit of a bad habit of saying this if i screw up ( i screw up a lot so they all know this means bad) and everyone can pronounce my name fairly well because of a Basketball Player named Duncan

This is a bit about my days at the Welding Factory
Now the Winch Factory and Joe the Owner is a whole different story and that is a walk on the wild side when we get together with his buddies. Night clubs with, Well this is public so better not go into too many details

Back to pictures
First picture really boring day testing continous use of foot pedal operation i ran each welder for 1 hour straight varying amps so as not to exceed Duty Cycle ,still managed to burn out some torches because could not be bothered using water cooled
Second picture was first look for new panel on the 205 units .
And believe it or not English is my first language

[Jason]

Its nice to see they make at least a decent income and have options avalable to them to make life a little eaiser. The stories of eating are great.With the additions of automatic machines, is that to assist with boosting the production numbers and also that place is kept pretty clean from what it looks like.

[Titan winch]

The primary reason for Automating is for Quality Control and this is something that needs to be ongoing at all times. We have been fortunate or perhaps stubborn enough by being on site so often that we are instilling Western standards and ideas into the Production enviroment . Initially it was something of a struggle as the Mind set for the average chinese in regards to policy and prcedures is not how we would assume.
A classic story i was told a few years ago is very true. A American consultant was visiting a factory for perfume production and after sterilizing the bottles a worker was placing his fingers down the kneck of each bottle and carrying them over to another area. When the Consultant complained about the workers contaminating the sterilised bottles . he was told Sorry in future when you are here we will instruct the workers not to do this. The Key words of course are When you are here and not from now on we will not do this.
I have always remembered this story and it is always with me in my dealings at all levels of the factory.

Income gaps is a big problem or at least it will be a big problem in the future unless some things are done to stabalise the have's and have not's.
During everyday conversations that are just chit chat or idle talk i forget about the average persons life. But then something will come up as a example during a talk about school and being told that Vanilla left home to live at school when she was 9 because it was to far to travel each day and she could come home for one weekend a month.
having to learn how to cook and of course do chores and hand wash her clothes.
Or Yan who had both parents leave her alone to live alone at home ( her Grandmother lived next door) when she was 7-8 years old and her Mother traveled to the South and her Father went North and for the next 7 years she saw them once a year for Spring Festival ( this upcoming 2 weeks) in fact her Father still works in the North and only returns once a year.
there was a comment made here on this Site about how The Chinese could have this Spring Festival Holiday with the Global meltdown and how it irritated this person that they presumed to do this and take this holiday.
For a lot of people it is more than just a holiday.
there are many faces to China and it is a complex society once you start peeling back the layers .
This Documentary will give a bit of a idea why i stay away from China this time of the year
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2Nmk8ZmLqY



And i have My next Order is starting on the 10th so i will be there taking care of what needs to be done, or rather trying to take care of it.

[KSmith]

TitanWinch
Your factory stories and photos are invaluable to putting a kind of validity to what is behind the scenes. And a human face. Thank you.

I remember when I was a child, and anything Made in Japan, was considered cheap, a trinket, kind of silly. But they now make the highest quality products. I sense that China is on this path, way beyond the trinket stage, and quickly refining their methods (and culture) towards higher quality and reliability. It is moving quickly.

My 3-in-1 unit is Chiri-made as best I can tell, but curiously Everlast-green in color! And it works great in all three functions...internally well-constructed. The quality is there. I am here because I sense a need for an AC/DC unit in the future, and like what I see in Everlast. Keep up the good work.

[Titan winch]

This is down by the River that runs through town late at night.
I like the late nights and very early mornings when the Street Vendors are cooking there dumplings and feeding the Early morning passerbys .

[Jake98]

Very nice.

[Titan winch]

The First Picture is driving back to the Hotel at the end of the Day
When i get the chance i like to wander around the older sections , Although i do have to be carefull when i start wandering down the small alleyways and lanes because it is easy to get lost .
The pictures show a small shop Early Sunday morning traffic , around 7.30 in the morning.

[Mike J]

Maybe you can learn some Chigung's/Taichi and martial arts while visiting the local parts - I have practiced some of this stuff for 40 years, and its a great way to meet locals - just head out to the local parks early in the mornings and lots of activities happening! Met some of my best friends in China that way...

These guys like to see the occasional white guy wandering around, and sometimes its the first ones they have practice with. In my case, if I see someone interesting that I would like to meet, I setup "shop" near them so they can see me, and practice for a bit, maybe some taichi or bagua zhuang - that sets up a common language, and then usually there is a natural time when I can wander over and start a conversation. Usually someone in a practice can speak some english, if not a common martial arts dialog works.

Some of the best times in China, especially if it's hot out, is very early in the morning, around 5:30AM on. Lots of activity and interesting people out. Unfortunately, the idea of this morning excercise outside in the early morning is dying out, the next Chinese generations have been westernized a lot - some of my close buddies in China find it pretty funny that i know way more about some of their martial art traditions than they do!

Cheers,

Mike

[Titan winch]

Never tried doing any Exercises , however people are extremely friendly and helpfull for the majority of the times anyway. If the truth be known i have little time for myself .
My last 2 trips i have wanted to visit friends for both a little business and socially and i have been to tied up at the Factory to take the time off to do this.
I have a lot of work lined up for my Feb visit and i still have to take care of things here in Canada .
On top of this i know i am going to have to visit the new supplier and keep a eye on the newer models beng produced ( as long as it fits my schedule of course otherwise it waits untill my next trip ) My priority is of course taking care of our main line of products and i personally oversee my stuff being produced and of course testing. With this trip The Factory will be extremely busy for the Month of February as we have The USA Canada Australia Finland all having orders produced ( this is a lot of Welders)
So you can imagine my free time is extremely limited .

Cheers

[Mike J]

Yea, when I was on business trips there I worked a lot of hours too - but I found that all work, and no exercise or play takes your edge off, and after a few years, I made sure I put time in my schedule for myself.

Everyone is different of course, but enjoy the experience, life is short!

Cheers,

Mike

[zoama]

Never tried doing any Exercises , however people are extremely friendly and helpfull for the majority of the times anyway. If the truth be known i have little time for myself .
My last 2 trips i have wanted to visit friends for both a little business and socially and i have been to tied up at the Factory to take the time off to do this.
I have a lot of work lined up for my Feb visit and i still have to take care of things here in Canada .
On top of this i know i am going to have to visit the new supplier and keep a eye on the newer models beng produced ( as long as it fits my schedule of course otherwise it waits untill my next trip ) My priority is of course taking care of our main line of products and i personally oversee my stuff being produced and of course testing. With this trip The Factory will be extremely busy for the Month of February as we have The USA Canada Australia Finland all having orders produced ( this is a lot of Welders)
So you can imagine my free time is extremely limited .

Cheers

You could take me along to help.

[redbeard]

Thanks for the pictures Duncan, very interesting to see how everything works over there.

On top of this i know i am going to have to visit the new supplier and keep a eye on the newer models beng produced ( as long as it fits my schedule of course otherwise it waits untill my next trip )

All things considered, the new factory is in serious need of some ### kicking. Get to it!

[Titan winch]

I will likely be at the new factory on tuesday or Wednesday of next week and we shall see what happens at that time. As i mentioned before i have not really had a lot to do with them in the past as i mostly work with our main Factory ,
Speaking of which my Driver for the afternoons and actually the lady who acompany,s me for lunch most days ( because she drives i guess ) is Miss Chen , the restauraunt she is outside is actually ownedby Miss Nee who is the Factory owners wife,
Very charming Lady who keeps wanting to have me over for dinner but she can not speak English and i of course amd useless with speaking Chinese

[Titan winch]

This is Xu Zhiang , he primarily looks after testing the AC/DC Tig Welders.
He has been in the testing department for a few years now. around 12 i believe and is the lead hand there.
He is a sort of no nonsense type personality that likes to see the job get done. He is the type that i never see just standing around but is always busy either with his own stuff or with checking on other work stations in the department.

[zoama]

More pictures please... a couple thousand would be nice.