Exoticspeed UEL header, Gruppe-S clone?

[SuperTom]

Originally Posted by celek

Not necessarily like you said there are good and bad factories in China. Some are run like a legitimate facility with ISO certifications. To keep those they have to legally operate within guidelines. They do take the work seriously and you can find a very reputable factory to reduce manufacturing costs. It is the "child sweat shops" you have to be worried about they make the knockoffs and copies which also exempts them from government certifications.

The certified companies have strict QA on materials and drawings, not so much on the copies, the cheaper the better.

The challenge always is figuring out who is who when it comes from overseas. Thankfully with some research on forums you can usually get an honest review of what companies are producing quality. I just hate when the name changes so many times for the same product which is the case with these headers. I can only imagine a shop with 3 sweatshop workers churning out these headers 24-7. With one guy at the end of the assembly line randomly stamping them with gruppe-s or exoticspeed or godspeed or whatever the hell name they come up with.

[celek]

Originally Posted by SuperTom

The challenge always is figuring out who is who when it comes from overseas. Thankfully with some research on forums you can usually get an honest review of what companies are producing quality. I just hate when the name changes so many times for the same product which is the case with these headers. I can only imagine a shop with 3 sweatshop workers churning out these headers 24-7. With one guy at the end of the assembly line randomly stamping them with gruppe-s or exoticspeed or godspeed or whatever the hell name they come up with.

Lots of companies like you named.
DME BLOX Godspeed Blackworks topspeedpro1 zspeed PLM Megan (I can go on for days)just about every company with a cheap version are all buying the parts from the same factories for $50-100 each a widget in mass quantities then they paint them , anodize the part or add a sticker / weld on a logo with their company name on it. Mark it up 200% still undercutting the original designer.

[SuperTom]

Originally Posted by celek

Lots of companies like you named.
DME BLOX Godspeed Blackworks topspeedpro1 zspeed PLM Megan (I can go on for days)just about every company with a cheap version are all buying the parts from the same factories for $50-100 each a widget in mass quantities then they paint them , anodize the part or add a sticker / weld on a logo with their company name on it. Mark it up 200% still undercutting the original designer.

Thought BLOX was legit, they are at least making some expensive titanium parts for us. Im sure it would be very short list of legit companies still going compared to the long list of knockoff companies.

[mav1178]

Originally Posted by celek

Mark it up 200% still made by the same factory.

I fixed it for you to be more accurate of how this industry works.

[mav1178]

Originally Posted by SuperTom

The challenge always is figuring out who is who when it comes from overseas. Thankfully with some research on forums you can usually get an honest review of what companies are producing quality. I just hate when the name changes so many times for the same product which is the case with these headers. I can only imagine a shop with 3 sweatshop workers churning out these headers 24-7. With one guy at the end of the assembly line randomly stamping them with gruppe-s or exoticspeed or godspeed or whatever the hell name they come up with.

Except this is assuming the headers are all made in house... all parts of it.

Do some research into the road bike (bicycle) industry in Taiwan. There's like hundreds of parts suppliers all clustered in the same area, and maybe like 3-5 actual factories that piece together parts. The parts suppliers are experts in their own fields.

If there's one thing specialized economies are good at, it's that they are all good at making one thing (or one part of one thing). In the case of many of these factories, perhaps one should consider that maybe they just weld really well and source everything else outside?

[celek]

Originally Posted by SuperTom

Thought BLOX was legit, they are at least making some expensive titanium parts for us. Im sure it would be very short list of legit companies still going compared to the long list of knockoff companies.

Blox appears to be doing some actual R&D but is it a new design or just someone else's made in Titanium. Also Ti is stupid brittle good for show but street and comp use if you want to by a new one every 3-6 months for $2500 be my guest.

Look at the rest of their line up and show me something they have that 20 other different companies do not.

[celek]

Originally Posted by mav1178

I fixed it for you to be more accurate of how this industry works.

Not always true as mentioned in a previous comment some factory's follow strict regulations to remain ISO certified.
Pushing stuff out the back door is one way to lose those certifications and large business transactions. Would you risk a million$ contracts and future dealings by undercutting your employer to make a quick $.

Building a reputation and loyalty reaps rewards in the end and even in Asia they know this.

But if someone else subcontracts another factory to make a copy thats where a bad rap evolves.

[Doozer]

[mav1178]

Originally Posted by celek

Not always true as mentioned in a previous comment some factory's follow strict regulations to remain ISO certified.
Pushing stuff out the back door is one way to lose those certifications and large business transactions. Would you risk a million$ contracts and future dealings by undercutting your employer to make a quick $.

Building a reputation and loyalty reaps rewards in the end and even in Asia they know this.

But if someone else subcontracts another factory to make a copy thats where a bad rap evolves.

I think you misread what I wrote...

The vast majority of the automotive aftermarket industry that does not make their own products in-house source it from factories that can produce their product for cheap and/or help slap a label on the product/boxes. Most of the time, the factories will just produce what you ask of them, but they will require certain conditions such as MOQ, total order amount, etc.

What you are posting is under the assumption that the original product is the intellectual property of the original designer. What if, hypothetically speaking, the original product was NOT the IP of the original brand and a product offering of the factory itself?

That's what I mean by "200% markup from the same factory". I get about 5-10 emails a week from all sorts of vendors large and small, some are blatant copies of products and others are "we designed this and can brand it however you want"

-alex

[SuperTom]

well here is the beginning of my Review of the Gent5 UEL headers they are very nice!


http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showt...=1#post2938627