I have thought about this too. I believe that when you reach a certain level of production more and more can be automated with specially built machines.To get to that level though a huge customer base is needed and Vic has spent 100 years getting that base and fine tuning production. It also does not hurt to have a product that appeals to large numbers of people and to foster that appeal with new products carefully thought out. German mechanical clocks now are dominant. The Japanese tried. The South Koreans tried and they both failed, primarily with quality control.American mid price watches were once the best by far in the world. Nobody could compete. The American watch industry invented revolutionary machines. The lathe collet and the precision grinder were two ideas that led to whole new machines. I think it was Gruen that first imported American watch tools to Switzerland and together with a skilled work force gradually caught up. It took about 50 years though. The English who were responsible for most of the major design improvements and once led the world could not keep up despite having genius's like Maudslay, Roberts and Whitworth who along with others launched the industrial revolution. Everybody knows the story of Ford who once produced half the worlds cars. Alloy steel and the production line.No matter how cheap your labor is or how skilled,a man with a file can't keep up with a milling machine.Richard
Usually products that have the quality of a Vic should cost 2 or 3 times as much for the equivalent.
Near perfect QC , really usable , at an affordable price ! Has everyone else lost the plot ...Chris
No other company has magical dwarves that live under the Alps making knives for them like Victorinox does- that's how they can manage to crank them out that good!Def
Wegner doesn't impress me much , aside from the S.I. , but Vicki. RAWKS !Chris
Quote from: Styerman on May 31, 2008, 03:09:51 AMWegner doesn't impress me much , aside from the S.I. , but Vicki. RAWKS !ChrisVic owns Wenger now. You might want to give them another look.Particularly the New Rangers and the Alinghi.
I think Tim Leatherman would have started drug testing his employees if somebody in his company recommended the butterknife shaped blade
1-making a huge volume2-having a worldwide reputation3-having good management4-not inovating
Personally, though, I think Vic does what they do by...1-making a huge volume2-having a worldwide reputation3-having good management4-not inovatingThat last one might seem a bit rough, but I do think it's a big part of how they keep their cost down and their consistancy up. Most of their knives are essentially the same pieces in different combinations. And their Swisstools were essentially a Swiss copy of someone elses design. The OH knives and the Spirit seem like the most inovation they've done recently, and even those take proven ideas and just tweak them a bit. If it hadn't been for the Spydercos and Leathermans, I highly doubt Vic would have inovated beyond the basic SAK design yet. This is not an insult by any means, I just think that it is definetely part of the answer as to how they can keep their prices as they do.
Vic have tried a few new things over the last 20 years, but most of their more radical ideas just didn't sell nearly as well as the classic SAK designs.