Anthony:
The BBC program was using Germany of 1900-1910 as an example of the design process and how it could improve consumer perceived quality in Britain. As you know, German reputation took a rather severe plunge in the British countries after 1914, so this is illustrative of a process and not a current benchmark. On a personal basis only, I just sold my 1987 420SEL, and despite it being “engineered like no other car,” I’m very happy to be rid of that electro-hydraulic-pneumatic Bavarian cuckoo clock on wheels. Still, it had 315k miles and 25 years on it, so it gave me very good return on my purchase. My perception of its quality was very high (whenever I wasn’t thinking of the perennial list of fix-it items). However, my current Ford vehicle has a factory warranty much better than MB was willing to provide in 1987, so perhaps that alone is an indication of the inherent quality of the product. Other countries have followed similar paths; in 1970 most Americans would have laughed at a Datsun. In 1990, Japanese cars dominated the market, but we were then laughing at the idea of a Korean car. Now, Kias and Hyundais are very good cars, and we laugh at the Chinese car. By the time we are all driving something from China, I wonder if Indian cars will be next. And as you point out, globalization makes it very difficult to classify autos; design, test and manufacture of components and subassemblies could have been done anywhere in the World. But, the BBC program was interested in the perception, and not necessarily the true, level of quality. Ed Price El Cajon, CA USA From: Anthony Thomson [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2012 3:26 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [PSES] German Technical Reputation I didn’t see the programme, but will make the effort to do so. However, German quality and reliability is a false perception. ‘German’ consumer goods are generally made in the same Chinese factories using the same components as the rest of the world’s brands and are generally neither more nor less reliable. As for German ‘premium’ quality cars, they regularly dominate the worst positions in the most unreliable car statistics, one brand is particularly poor – looks good though. Who says German products and engineering is premium? That’ll be the Germans and their cleaver marketing machine. No offence to anyone intended, just observations. T ----- Original Message ----- From: Ed Price Sent: 06/07/12 10:12 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [PSES] German Technical Reputation I was watching an interesting BBC documentary TV show the other night; it’s focus was product quality and the publicly perceived image of quality goods. I had been aware that German consumer goods had at one time been held in poor repute in the British marketplace; recall the Irish song about a man who caught his wife cheating on him, so he attacked her with a razor and then hung himself: But she’s still alive and sinnin’ For the razor blade was German made But the rope was Belfast linen! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wmwwvWE3lE The BBC explained that German industry (starting with AEG) began a corporate and industrial makeover around 1900, emphasizing a designed-in quality that stretched from the product itself to even the graphics and fonts used in their advertising. They further explained that this gave rise to German product verification societies which set standards and enforced compliance (see, I did manage to keep on topic). The BBC claimed that within 10 years, the effort had turned around the British public’s perception of German consumer goods quality. Ed Price El Cajon, CA USA - ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. 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