What is the newest news on Atlas flex track? Several estimated delivery dates have come and gone so what is the latest?
Haven't heard anything. Several years ago I heard something was going on so I bought 25 pieces of Code 80 and 25 pieces of Code 55 just in case as I didn't need it at the time. Glad I did. Atlas! Bring your production back to the U.S.
It would be great to instead read "It's Here!" Then we'd all know, uncertainty for what is and what might, would be gone. "Delivery dates are subject to change" just leaves folks as lost as we've been.
No doubt the handwringing is a daily event at Atlas, too. That's what happens, either as a hobbyist or in business, when you tie yourself to a sole source - and one not totally within your control. Any lapse by that supplier can turn into a show stopper. You can try to insulate yourself from such an eventuality by having bought enough to cover any conceivable future needs, develop a work around (compromise by choosing a different brand of track or handlaying it) or just sit and fret about the situation until it's resolved. Micro-Engineering, Peco and Kato prove that there are viable manufacturing locations in the world other than China. Keeping manufacturing there, after you've been bitten once, seems like a case of programming for failure, sooner or later.
LOL ! Try getting Micro Engineering or Shinohara HOn3 code 70 flex. Its ALMOST as hard to find as Atlas N flex. I may have to go with code 55 which would be OK , although my turnouts are code 70. Oh well its just a side project, but I really want to run the K27 that should be arriving in the next few days ......:sweat:
Walthers shows the Shinohara track in stock, as do some online dealers. Don't forget, there's also Peco: http://www.peco-uk.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=0&P_ID=18130
I don't see any shortage of ME code 70 or ME code 55, or ME code 40 N-scale track with wooden ties. The concrete tie flex is mostly on back order. Bridge track is also readily available in both code 55 and code 70. I just ordered a batch of code 70 ME bridge track with no problemo to use on my buddy Nate's Atlas code 80 N-scale layout for a dozen or so bridges that we'll install this month. It arrived last week on time. In N-scale (this IS the N-scale forum after all), the only manufacturer that's having availability problems with flex is Atlas. Time to switch to either Peco or ME flex IMHO, and if your LHS doesn't carry it, ORDER IT FROM SOMEBODY ELSE. Pretty simple. Cheerio! Bob Gilmore
However this is because Atlas is the only one to manufacture flex in China. ME is in the US, Peco in England, and Shinohara in Japan. None of those three have the issues of the Chinese factories Atlas has, I'm sure if Atlas could, they would bring some production back to the US, if it wasn't cost prohibitive and such.
I in fact wonder why Atlas seems to be the only one not to find it cost effective to manufacture their track themselves. It may be a decision that costs them in the long run, limited runs of locomotives and cars are one thing but modellers always need track and if your brand's not on the shelves they will buy what is.
I'm sure if any one of those companies lost there manufacture and tooling that made there products, it would take them just as long to recover.
China is starting to see some serious competition in the manufacturing end of things and basically I think they are shooting them selves in the foot when it comes to relations with companies that have invested in using their manufacturing. India is slowly immerging as a source and surprisingly Mexico. Some US based companies are staring to shift some of their component manufacturing away from China slowly with Mexico emerging as the more desirable location for some. However given the mindset of the American worker, and the unions, plus some regulations, I don't think that we will ever see much of the type of work like making flex track or other repetitive type work returning to these shores. I would think folks would have learned not to put all their eggs in one basket but rather divide them up into several. I would rather divide my outsourced production between several different facilities in different countries given how that the output can be affected by anything from weather to political turmoil. And in that it would be fairly easy to simply increase production at the non affected source than to sit back with no output at all. But that would be common sense, something that seems to be greatly lacking in this day and age.
I could not disagree with you more. Everyone wants to blame the unions. I worked all my life without the benefit of a union so I can say this without bias. The problem is not the unions but the stupidity of management in making decisions. Was the China fiasco a surprise? Maybe to management but how many times has the same scenario played out in the past? Answer: a lot. Did management learn? Why is management still looking for the profit in the short run and not looking past their own noses. Maybe if they did, they would see the punch that was coming. What ablout economy of scale? Having several facilities making just a little bit of product with the capacity to make much more is a waste of money. Look at the cost of infrastructure in all those plants. Best plan is to keep it local in one area to better manage the business realizing economy of scale. I think the age of subcontracting things out to others in different areas is about over. How can you manage production when you are sleeping when the factory is producing and vice versa. Any problem requiring your input takes 24 hours to start to implement. What happens in those 24 hours? Nothing. Management ran to China and did not figure in all of the costs. Management does this all the time. Case in point, GM. GM makes nice looking junk. GM's mind set is that they want to save money on parts thinking that even a small savings will amount to a large amount given the number of units they sell. In the instance I know of, they went with a cheaper gasket material. Not sure how much they saved but every GM car in my company"s fleet had to have new gaskets installed at 80- 90,000 miles. That was well beyond their 36,000 month warranty period. So they were good. But that resulted in repair bills that were in the neighborhood of $800-1,000 per car. They lost a lot of customers as a result. So what did they save? Short sighted management, the inability to see past one's own nose, that is what is wrong with business. That myopic vision prevails in all businesses regardless if they are unionized or not. So it is not the unions, it's management.
The first failure was not doing 'due diligence'. If that had been accomplished, it would have been crystal clear that (the "PRC") China never has, and likely never will, do business as is done here in North America. Expectation of it being otherwise is a ($$$) blunder. Next was not understanding that once you move outside of US borders, despite bombast, bluster and useless paper scraps on file in DC, you are at the mercy of another government. Third was failing to see the handwriting on the wall, as workers westward across the Pacific Ocean began demanding better conditions and compensation. The moment this began, it was obvious costs would escalate, and who knows what other difficulties would follow. This was well prior to the world economy faltering. Thereafter, every new "trade" agreement has an effect, often $$$$. Every new attempt to regulate usually adds some $$$. It's the old iceberg scenario. Everyone can see what is above the ocean's surface, (if they even actually look closely), very few are even slightly curious as to what lies below- Which is the unseen and dangerous bulk of any iceberg.
Couldn't agree with you more Boxcab. The never ending mentality to squeeze every red cent out of anything has virtually killed all manufacturing jobs in north America. Simply put we do not want to work for peanuts so lets have 2nd and 3rd world countries do the labour for us on slave type wages.
Agree it's not the unions. German manufacturing is very highly unionized. Union members sit on the boards of BMW, Mercedes, VW (which owns Porsche and Audi, along with Bugatti and Lamborghini) and yet they are some of the most profitable car companies in the world, churning out world-class products that people pay a premium for. What these folks have figured out is that keeping production under company control, even in foreign countries, and providing a working environment that attracts quality workers permits them to make plenty of money on high-quality products. Maybe I'm unusual, but I would happily pay a premium for quality and company-controlled production. If Atlas moved production here, or even set up their own plant in Mexico, and the result was that I had to pay $17 per turnout instead of $15 (street prices, not list), I would do so IF the darn things came without gauge problems, etc. If someone would manufacture a turnout with all-rail points (instead of stamped metal points) like what you'd do for a hand-made turnout, I'd pay for those, too. $25, $30, fine - after all, this is an investment I'm going to amortize over a lifetime (even if I tear up a layout and start over, if I've been careful with my track laying, I'll be able to reuse the turnouts). I'll pay $300 for a steam locomotive that runs smoothly, pulls well, and comes with DCC and sound (or at least an easy DCC/sound conversion option). I'd rather pay $90 for a top-quality ESU LokSound decoder than $50 or $60 for an MRC piece of crap. I'm not interested in buying the cheapest stuff out there that will fall apart. But if we all insist on paying as little as possible for everything, we deserve what we get - or perhaps we will get what we deserve. John C. Stereo System: Speakers designed and manufactured by Magnepan in Minnesota (Magneplanar 1.6's); pre-amp/digital decoder by Meridian Audio (UK); power amplifier by Musical Fidelity (UK, before production was shifted to Taiwan). Don't own a CD player; my audio source component is an Apple Mac Mini (which I know is manufactured in Taiwan, but again, a company that charges a premium for quality - or at least I believe so). Yeah, my TV set is a Sony. Can't win 'em all.
