Re: [Rollei] German labor in the 60's

[Marc James Small <msmall >]

At 07:55 AM 2/15/02 -0800, Kotsinadelis, Peter (Peter) wrote:
Last, in 1973 when Leica executives met with Sam and others at Minolta, the
Leica executives stated in a bit more detail what Marc and others have said
in previous emails, and that is that the German market for highly skilled
labor was lacking and the quality of the proiducts made there (at that
time) was suffering. Also the fact that the labor costs had gone up
substantially in Germany making products too expensive when manufactured
there for other markets. Perhaps this is the reason that Rollei and other
companies products during that time period are viewed as less precise than
the same products only a decade earlier.
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Pete

This is NOT at all what I said.  What I DID mean to say was:

a)	After the War, German industrial machinery was worn out and old.  But
Germany had a lot of very hungry workers desperate to get and keep jobs.
Thus, the sub-components and parts were not all that well made but the high
quality of craftsmanship made up for this, as these items were assembled
most carefully by skilled workers who NEEDED to keep their jobs.

b)	By 1970, the industrial machinery had been replaced and parts and
sub-components were of a significantly higher quality. Hence, there was no
longer the need for that totally dedicated and wonderfully skilled final
assembler.  Fortunately, this change occurred as the older workers retired,
so that, in the end, there was no definable loss in quality of the final
product.

Marc

msmall    FAX:  +276/343-7315
Cha robh bàs fir gun ghràs fir!

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