Paul Buff
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 p.5 #20 · Vagabond Mini Lithium: Made in USA? | |
Seanzky wrote:
I think I've figured out the whole misunderstanding here. (Dave, the OP, please correct me if I'm wrong.)
I might have the same understanding as others here in thinking that the Vagabond Mini Lithium as a product (as a whole), which consists of the inverter, battery, etc., are made elsewhere and is mislabeled as Made in USA by exploiting a loophole. That is, it had its finishing touches in Tennessee, therefore by law it can be considered as a product made in the US. But is it really?
FYI, I'm not undermining the process that entails "finishing touches". It could be the most extensive part of it all, but is it considered "assembly" or "making"?
Mr. Buff has said that the front face plate is labeled Made in USA because that part was made here, but not the battery or the charger and whatever else. So what you have here is a Frankenstein with parts dug from different graves then.
It's like buying a phone with a label on the back of the LCD screen saying Made in Mexico, a keypad that says Made in Taiwan on the back, a battery that says Made in China in small print, and a body that says in big bold letters MADE IN USA. Conveniently enough, it's the only "Made in..." label visible to every potential consumer. Is it to fool others into thinking the product as a whole was made here rather than merely assembled here? Or was the entire phone really created (soldered, programmed, pieced, and tested from scratch) here with just parts ordered from other countries? Is that what the VML is?
This is where I think the VML is mislabeled. If Taiwan and China did the brunt of the work in manufacturing and mass producing the actual parts that makes the VML as a whole product, then the VML is "Designed and assembled in the USA". But if the law says it went through enough hands and hours in Tennessee......Show more →
The question in my mind is why Seanzky and others here are so vigorously focused on condemning Paul C. Buff products . . . far and away the most widely used product line in the USA with the highest customer satisfaction record, without even looking at the status of other products? A couple of examples are Elinchrom and Profoto who proudly imply their products are Swiss and Swedish made with no disclaimer whatsoever, when in fact some of these products are 100% made in other countries and most contain similar percentages of offshore components as our products.
Then there is the issue of what country the money ends up in, and how much of it ends up in America, the number of American employees, American taxes paid and overall benefit to the US economy.
Regardless of labeling, GM Ford and Chrysler are considered "American" cars while Honda, Nissan, Toyota and Hyundai are considered Japanese and Korean cars respectively. Yet in many cases, or most, the "foreign" cars are made in American factories by American workers while the American cars are often made in Canada, Mexico, Europe and Asia.
A bigger issue is who owns these companies and where do the profits go?
Posters insist on comparing Paul C. Buff, Inc. to global publicly traded corporations when convenient, and referring to the company as a garage operation when that serves an agenda.
Fact is, Paul C. Buff, Inc. is a privately held Sub S corporation (effectively a proprietorship) 100% owned by myself. I share a percentage of the profits with three Vice Presidents and pay personal income taxes, SSI and Medicare on my portion at the Federal rate approximately 40%. yet am constantly referred to as not paying my share. The majority of the profits are left in the company for R&D and company financial independence.
We own and utilize approximately 38,000 square feet of facilities in Nashville and employ currently 48 well paid employees. We also contract a good portion of our robotic assembly work to a firm in Kansas where a similar amount of facility space and employees are maintained. 100% of the profits derived end up in the US economy, with the Federal and State governments receiving on the order of 50% of total profits.
Contrast this to the global investors who "own" publicly traded corporations where the lion's share of profits ends up in other countries, and that portion that goes to American "owners" is taxed at a total rate of 15%, with no SSI or Medicare obligation whatsoever.
As to our overall 2010 balance sheet, our net sales amounted to just over $20,000,000, with about $4 million going to Asian vendors, $4 million going to Kansas and $4 million going to other US vendors, our American workers, etc. Approximately 75% of the total cash flow remains in America with, again, an inordinate percentage of that going to the US government. Contrary to contemporary myth, there are absolutely no tax loopholes or breaks for Sub S companies such as mine . . . these go to the large international well lobbied global public companies . . . not small business American companies that provide the majority of American jobs.
As to specific products such as Vagabond Mini, the molds are typically made in Asia and initial molded parts runs are made in Asia. As the molds are tweaked and perfected, many of them are shipped to American and parts ultimately molded in Tennessee. The simple fact is that rust-belt American mold makers are technically inferior to Asians and mold costs are about triple. In fact, the majority of American molding operations quote a profit-added price, then have the molds made in Asia at 1/3 to 1/2 what they charge to US customer.
Case in point: Alienbees parts are molded in TN and the components are about 90% purchased from US firms and 100% of the manufacturing, testing, repairing, etc is done in the US by American workers. Essentially all of the profits derived remains in the US economy. That does not mean 90% of the components are actually made in America, because the US vendors typical manufacture the components offshore even though they are purchased as "American" components.
Quite simply, this is the state of global economics and I, as one of the few remaining American manufacturers, can do little to change it. As for labeling, I make every effort to comply with current regulations, ethics and industry standards, and to provide complete disclosure.
I could easily shift the 100 or so American jobs offshore and vastly increase my personal profits, as do most American companies, but stubbornly refuse to give up on American consumers and workers . . .I guess I'm too old to give up any more traditional American values than necessary for the sake of profits.
I find it odd that a handful of negative-agenda activists on FM choose to demean the one American manufacturer that truly works extremely hard to retain American values while dismissing the profits-at-any-cost antics of larger global public corporations.
Is FM a forum dedicated to the art of photography or a gathering point for hate mongers? What is is it? Jealousy, anti-Americanism or just joy in the art of negativism? And why is it that whenever a member dare posts a logical balanced response they are labeled Paul Buff groupies?
And where are the females who constitute about 40% of our customer base?
On a final note, I served in the USMC during the Korean war, though I actually served in southern California. In addition to combat training where I learned the survival skills needed to remain active in the FM jungle, I attended joint USMC/ USN intensive electronics schooling where I graduated #1 in my class of 500. I invented/designed and manufactured cutting edge recording studio equipment widely used world wide and partially responsible for the sale of perhaps 300,000,000 recordings and hundreds of gold records from the Beatles to the Beach boys, and received an honorary lifetime fellowship in the prestigious Audio Engineering Society from Ray Dolby.
I have designed, manufactured and sold approximately 600,000 studio flash units, primarily direct to American photographers, typically at 1/2 the selling price of other products thanks to innovative direct marketing. My formal education is one year in a community college, and Paul C. Buff, Inc was founded in 1981 with an investment of $3000 for 3000 shares of Common Stock. These shares are now worth approximately $100 million dollars, or about $30,000 per share were I to sell them.
I would be interested in hearing the credentials of the various antagonists here that profess such expertise in all things business.
Lot's of ammunition here for those who will chose to label me as an arrogant self serving idiot.
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and a touch of an attitude 
that a lot of people misunderstand and like to bandwagon against. 
