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With the advent of touch screen controls now edging their way into the Whitegoods market I wonder if we will see the steady decline of repair work as did the TV service sector with the introduction of surface mounted components and the huge price drop in the cost of finished items virtually killed off the independent service engineer so are we going in that direction too? The cost of TV’s, DVD’s, and Video recorders etc are now in the main so cheap that they can be classed as throw away items these days with few exception, are we now seeing this beginning to happen in the Whitegoods market? Are the major manufacturers aiming more towards the disposable rather than the repairable?
As we all know the trend towards more electronic control is inevitable and the continuing trend towards single multitasking chips and micro surface mounted components make the task of repairing these PCB’s beyond the capabilities of most service engineers and although there are companies that do repair this type of control cards I wonder if the job will become unviable in the future. Of course the cost of these types of controllers to the manufactures is so low that they are falling over themselves to incorporate them in their machines yet charging us the earth for them as replacements.
I know that we have had this type of system for years but the trend seems to be to do away with anything that is repairable from our point of view, with no need for mechanical selectors, knobs or switches, and the move towards withdrawing parts and selling complete units, where is it all leading? With some of the cheaper machines the cost of replacing the motor or the control card becomes more that half the cost of the machine when it was new! Where is the sense in that? What really are the manufacturer’s intentions? Will we see the market leaders in quality follow down the same road due to falling sales? I mean it will soon be a reality that when the customer changes the colour scheme in the kitchen he can afford to change the machines as well.
Quite a lot of things have been said about the so called cheap washer, but of course there is no such thing, due to the high failure rate and the reluctance of the owners or insurance companies to have the repairs done on such cheap items with the cost of parts they are in fact more costly than the decent model in the long run, but the customer does not see it in this light the majority only see the price tag, and how good the machine looks on display and after a bad experience with one make of “cheap” machine they inevitably move on to the next “cheap” available machine.
Anyway enough rambling for now I leave it all in your capable hands. 😀
Richard Scanlon Snr
Re: JUST RAMBLING ON
Richard,
All modern whitegoods rely on an alternating currect (AC) to make them work, negative and positive, forever changing at 50 times a second. That will never change, nor will the needs of the public change, in that they will always demand a machine to do their dirty work.
Commercialism in the 21st century can fill that demand, technology will always provide them with something better and in many cases cheaper than ever before. Cheap, cost effective goods that fulfill their needs and when these products eventually fail, will simply be thrown away and replaced.
Now if I may draw the parallel here, these are the negative facts that make the industry and maintain its growth but do little to support us, the repairers…(which is where you are coming from after all).
The positive is simply that, unlike a duff TV and video, cannot be easily disconnected and replaced. They are and always will be, too big to simply throw away, too hard for the average man to unplug and chuck in the bin. Councils impose restrictions on their disposal for a start, a situation that will get even more restrictive thanks to European Legislation taking place as I type. Therefore repairing and maintaining the viable option, especially as the public will be demanding more reliabilty built in anyway as the future progresses year after year.
There will always be a demand and always a need for someone to fix it when it fails.
RS wrote:Anyway enough rambling for now I leave it all in your capable hands
We need experienced people like you to help this business forward based on your past experience, and I feel sure you can do another positive thing for us by lending us your hands for our future 🙂
Martin
Re: JUST RAMBLING ON
Although the comparison drawn is to some extent valid Richard there is a glaring hole in that theory other that those that MArtin has pointed out. That is that the appliances with which we deal are primarily mechanical in operation and whilst you can change the control method, you cannot change the physics of how they work. Therefore they will be mechanical for some time to come I should think and will require fixing on occasion due to the cost to exchange.
K.
Re: JUST RAMBLING ON
kwatt wrote:Although the comparison drawn is to some extent valid Richard there is a glaring hole in that theory other that those that MArtin has pointed out. That is that the appliances with which we deal are primarily mechanical in operation and whilst you can change the control method, you cannot change the physics of how they work. Therefore they will be mechanical for some time to come I should think and will require fixing on occasion due to the cost to exchange.
K.
But as the control method becomes cheaper that will increase the proportion of cost of the mechanical parts in the machine which would lead to more cases of “beyond economical repair” when those parts go wrong or are the electronic parts so grossly overpriced that it won’t make any difference?
The only good news with electronic controls is that until someone invents new technology or comes up with a new production method for PCBAs they can’t get any cheaper. The big boys have already figured this out and development resource has been diverted to other areas.
The electronics are so ridiculous in pricing that it beggers belief quite honestly and that is generally the components that will give the most trouble. Heat, steam and vibration are not good companions for electronic components and they are generally unshielded against those elements.
Mass produced in the right plant I shouldn’t think that many of the PCB’s used cost much more than a fiver, maybe a tenner. But they cost us easily £50+ a throw.
There’s no new PCBA production methods on the horizon as far as I am aware, just changes in the use, method and tecnologies incorporated into what we have now pretty much. Cutting edge bio stuff is highly unlikely to see the inside of Granny’s washer anytime soon.
K.
Re: JUST RAMBLING ON
Just go out and buy yourself a DVD player these days. Look at the gubbins in that and compare to a board in a Servis W/Machine.
The DVD player has moving bits, a board or two, a cabinet of sorts, remote control and maybe a licence fee to Dolby, all included for less than £20.
Maybe the money comes in via add ons, insurance and support from the disc industry in this case, I don’t know.
Alex
Re: JUST RAMBLING ON
Mass produced in the right plant you’re looking at under a quid.
The most recent development is a new breed of programmable chips/boards.
In this case you rattle off a load of blanks for pence (or small tenths of pence) and programme the required functions in the factory. Hey presto, one board – all models, ridding yourself of obselence and reducing your stock holding by half overnight.The thing holding back some companies (even one or two of the big boys) is that the investment in the programming kit is fairly steep.
Re: JUST RAMBLING ON
I was being kind given that I’m often accussed of just slagging off the manufacturers, no idea why. 😕
Yeah, I used a load of those EEPROMS for other purposes and they cost pennies to buy and knowing people in the PCB manufacturing industry in East Kilbride I can tell you that populated boards produced en masse cost next to nothing once the tooling is in place.
Hence I view almost every PCB timer we get through the door as an absolutely shocking rip off on the part of the manufacturers.
But here’s a thought for you to have over the weekend, if the profit levels on these are so high just stop and wonder how much of YOUR money many a manufacturer has for stock sitting on the shelf. Even agents are getting lumped up.
K.
Just another thought it may not be all bad news, as more electronics creep in maybe Dave can source some express on cover for the washers and dishwashers and Martin could sell downloadable spin tones
Richard Scanlon Snr
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