A trip to China … and why
I recently got back from a trip to China. Wow. What an experience.
I’m a southern boy. I grew up in Charlotte , N.C. and have lived most of my adult life in Nashville, Tennessee , and Demopolis, Alabama. In my life, I’ve also been involved in businesses, all based in the South and all doing business in the United States. I’ve never had a reason to go to the Far East.
As many of you know, I recently started a new company that is producing a microguide technology rod. We call the rods MICROMagic. I took the trip to visit our Duckett Fishing manufacturing facility. Three of us made the trip: Ken Whiting, our rod design specialist; Sean Schuyler, our operations manager; and me.
The trip was not what I expected, and I came home with several interesting impressions.
The first impression was that it is amazing to think that an airplane can stay in the air for 16 hours, which is the length of time it took for us to fly the first leg of the trip from Atlanta to Seoul, Korea. Counting a layover in Korea , the trip took a total of 26 and a half hours. The trip home took 32 hours.
The second impression was that I have serious doubts about global warming. About the time our plane flew over Chattanooga, Tennessee , the ground turned white. Nothing but snow-covered turf. And the ground was white the rest of the way. Every state we flew over was white. So was Canada , so was Japan , so was Korea , so was Russia . And so was China .
A third impression was that my body is not prepared for a full diet of Chinese food. As much as I enjoy Chinese food occasionally, I couldn’t take an every-day diet of it. An order of Peking Duck the second night we were there sent me over the edge. They had McDonalds, KFC and Pizza Hut, but even those restaurants served food with a native Chinese style.
My fourth impression was probably the most surprising. Our plant is located in a city of 8 million people, and that’s more people than we have in 38 of our states. It’s practically New York City size. And the city looks new. There’s an industrial revolution going on. The buildings and the streets are clean. There were street cleaners everywhere – people with brooms and dustpans keeping trash off the ground. (Kind of like Disney World.) And the people we ran into were friendly. They were courteous not only at our manufacturing plant but also around the city. Didn’t expect that.
I’ve been asked why most fishing rods are made in China. Here’s a little background on that.
I went into the Duckett Fishing venture knowing what most consumers aren’t aware of, and that is that most of the fishing rod production industry has moved outside our U.S. borders. There are some rods still made in the United States , but those are generally high-end rods with a high price tag. That’s not what we’re trying to do.
It’s not that we can’t do it here. The fact is that the market has shifted, and if I were estimating, I’d say that more than 98 percent of the rods sold in the U.S. are made in other countries. Everybody involved in the production of fishing rods understands this. Ken Whiting, who’s an award-winning designer, gets it. So do the folks at American Tackle, who worked with us to create our proprietary microguides. (In fact, our first production run of MICROMagic rods was almost pushed back to June. Our manufacturing company is so busy building rods for other U.S. manufacturers that we had jump through hoops to fit in our production.)
To put it in its most simple terms, we had to make a choice. We could stay in the U.S. and make high-end fishing rods that would cost American anglers considerably more money - or we could go where the manufacturing base is and make a high-quality rod that we can sell at a far more reasonable price. I was convinced this is a better choice for the average fisherman.
Don’t get me wrong. We want to make money, because we want Duckett Fishing to survive. But the sales percentage we get on the rods – the money we use to reinvest in the company – would be the same if they were made in the U.S. or China . Our choice was whether we would employ a relatively small number of people in this country to make rods that would only benefit wealthier anglers – or to make a much larger volume of rods that can be sold at a price more anglers can afford.
The way we chose allows us to grow and employ more Americans in our Demopolis office and distribution center.
I believe we made the right choice for anglers in the United States .
A truly high end rod at at good price. Good Choice!
Boyd,
Even though I usually prefer the “Made in USA” type rods, I think it shows a lot of integrity for you to walk away from a “next big thing” brand because you didn’t like what was happening with the manufacturing. I trust your judgement and plan to check out the new rods. They look like nice rods. I can’t wait to get a look at them in person.
I for one am pretty ambiviliant as it comes to buy American economic theory. The way I see it is the Chinese gotta eat to and I don’t begrudge them that, especially because there are a lot more of them than there are of us. I believe it is very much in the interest of the Chinese that we their biggest customer are and continue to be prosperous. I think it is in our interest that people all over the world that are in poverty get lifted out of it. I think international economic relationships that are beneficial to all parties generally, but obviously not always, make for a better and more peaceful world.
Boyd,
I have two feelings on the rods made in China. I respect and understand the financial decision made by you and your company. The goal of any company is to make money for the owner. However as a plant manager of a larger plastics packaging company I have seen lay-off after lay-off of good hard working people. The plastic packaging field has been hit extreemly hard due to overseas production. I was going to go into a explanation but I am sure as the owner of a company you are quite aware of economics. I just perfer to buy American made but I know there are times I wont be able to, and will spend a few extra dollars to do so. I have seen the rods, look good and will check them out once I see them in the stores. Good luck at the classic, I will be rooting for you.
thanks
billy
I will not be purchasing anything from your corporation nor will I support any of your sponsors now. It is very dishearting to see more jobs sent overseas because a company wants to have better profit margains. No matter how you try to spin it by saying the less it costs to manufacture the more people you will be able to employ at your corporate office. Let’s face it, all you are concerned about is making a hefty profit. Don’t get me wrong I completely understand that business’ are there to make a profit but come on how much of this crap has to be shovled before people start realizing that sending jobs off shore is bad for the country. Sorry Boyd but you just lost a fan and your sponsors just lost my support as well. And I will be letting all of my peers that fish for fun or at the tournament level know about your decision to send the work overseas.
I’m glad to see someone put the choices facing American business owners into terms our average fisherman can understand. People are facing these complex decisions everyday. And the choice is tough. Ultimately, you have to do what is best for your company.
I purchased one of the new rods and am delighted with the look and feel. As for overseas production, you might as well stick to minnows and cane poles if you plan to rid yourself of any non-USA produced items. I wish you luck and success with your company.
Mr. Duckett, I think you made a very good argument for manufacturing your product overseas. Most people don’t realize that economically, China and The U.S.A. are the two countries on the globe that depend on each other the most. If China implodes, we implode. And vice-versa. I am retired military and I believe in buying U.S.A. But we can’t ALWAYS buy U.S.A.! And anybody that says otherwise should look at the label on their shirt. Good Luck with your company. BTW, I fish St. Croix Rods exclusively.