[Elecraft] K3 - Another one on order

[Eric Swartz - WA6HHQ, Elecraft]

We absolutely make K3s in the U.S. (In Aptos and Monterey, CA.) 

We do not plan on taking K3 manufacturing off shore. Period. 

We are well below the capacity of our current line and it is increasing output each month. :-)
 
Off-shoring the K3 would -not- significantly reduce our costs in the relatively low monthly volumes needed for the HF amateur market. (We're nowhere near plasma TV or other consumer volumes.)  Our raw parts already come from all over the world and are bought in volume. It would introduce a huge risk for quality control and would way overload our resources bringing up a new off shore line, which can take 6 to 18 months to get fully rolling.. (I've been there in one of my previous Silicon Valley lives. :-)

Keeping manufacturing close allows us to be tightly focused,  react quickly and keep our quality high.  Much like the immediate (and sometimes overwhelming ;-) feedback we get from the Elecraft list.

73,

Eric   WA6HHQ
_..._
-----Original Message-----
From: "Jerry Keller (K3BZ)" <k3bz at arrl.net>
Date: Saturday, Mar 1, 2008 4:48 am
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 - Another one on order
To: "Bill W4ZV" <btippett at alum.mit.edu>, <elecraft at mailman.qth.net>

Bill... not that it makes any real difference to the point you were
making.... but it's David and Goliath. Anyway, I have a K3 on order for all the reasons you gave and at least one more.... I've been under the
impression that Elecraft's products are "made in the USA".  But some
comments here on the reflector have made me wonder how true that is... do you happen to know?
73, Jerry K3BZ


----- Original Message ----- From: "Bill W4ZV" <btippett at alum.mit.edu>
To: <elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Saturday, March 01, 2008 7:16 AM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 - Another one on order





Walter Gilles wrote:

>
 ItÂ’s about the Elecraft team, and how they run their
 business.  It has to do with the passion they exhibit
 for what they do, the integrity with which they
 execute their enterprise, and the collaborative
 quality of their customersÂ’ experience.

> I own transceivers from the big three offshore
 manufacturers – Kenwood, Icom and Yaesu.  I like what
 I have, but I might as well have purchased them from a
 vending machine.

>

You hit the nail on the head Walter!  You're buying more than a
product...you're buying part of a company named Elecraft.  I had to chuckle when I saw the following on the IC-7800 list:

VA7OJ:

"One cannot really compare the Elecraft and Icom R&D operations in any meaningful way. In the test-equipment world, Wavetek vs. HP/Agilent or R&S might be a reasonable comparison."

Forgetting the supercilious tone, I have news for Adam.  Indeed you cannot compare the operations in any meaningful way.  The customer responsiveness of the Elecraft team is about 100 dB better than Icom will ever be.  I have the privilege of being on the K3 Field Test team and their engineering talent and responsiveness is even more awesome than you can imagine.  I've seen fixes to fairly complex issues implemented in a matter of hours (the hardware AGC issue comes to mind).  There truly is no comparison to the customer focus and responsiveness of the two companies.  The most recent question from Wayne on this list regarding the K3's I/II function being a very good example.  I don't recall ever seeing any request for direct customer input from l'Icom.  I wonder if Adam has ever head the story of his namesake and Goliath?

I've also had the privilege of working for Hewlett-Packard (Test &
Measurement side) for ~30 years.  Elecraft very much reminds me of the passionate company under Bill and