Jeremy Warren

by Jeremy Warren
(Taipei Taiwan)

Hey Jody. As always thanks for the site.

Had to answer this as I'm probably in a pretty good position to know some facts! As mentioned before I live in Taiwan and have a lot of contact with industry here.

Nearly all Chinese goods used to come from Taiwan but in the last 15 years they have mostly come from Mainland China.

Taiwanese stuff is getting pretty good these days. the motherboard in your computer almost certainly came from Taiwan and many of the Chinese companies are Taiwanese concerns that moved there for cheap labour.

Product quality is improving all the time.

Well I have had a 160amp stick TIG that is my all-purpose beater TIG and I DO NOT look after it.

It is locally made and it has never let me down.On top of this I bought it from a scrap yard for $30US. I bought cables and a gun for $50us but No repairs needed!!

All my Chinese buddies seem to like TIGA that is a Scandinavian Brand and lots of companies use Japanese brands.

The conclusion is that for general welding that needs to work but is not critical I'd say that Taiwanese welders (maybe even some established Chinese welders)are really a great bang for the buck. If you are doing anything for a living then buy the best you can afford as the piece of mind will be worth the money you might have saved.

I have seen lots of forums get all upset about jobs going to China but this is really no one's fault.
First Japan, then Hong Kong then Taiwan and now China.
But China can't keep the jobs forever as there will be cheaper ways to get stuff in the future (undoubtedly fueled by US technology)that makes even the cheapest labour in China too expensive and the Chinese advantage will vanish!

I'd say don't get mad at the Chinese, use your creativity to find a solution to the problems you face.

This is a talent that many Asian countries find very hard to compete with.

Hope this helps.

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Jeremy,

A very good post. you have what they call common sense....and like someone said, there is nothing common about common sense.

thanks a bunch,

jody