Beolab: Production from Denmark->Czech. When?

Question:

When did B&O start assembling beolab 9 in Czech? i.e. what was the last year they were 'Made in Denmark'?

 

Thx,

 

Would be actually good to know which current products are being made in Denmark and which are produced in Czechia (or elsewhere).

Yes, I know this "designed in Denmark" part - but that is the same like "Designed by Apple in California" while it has been made elsewhere. :)

-

I actually don't know what's made in Denmark anymore...

Speakers made in Czech... Tv's made in Czech... lots of B&O Play products made in China... what's left..?

And they can still not  make Money..." />

Bang & Olufsen made money but not enough to pay the exorbitant salaries of managers

Steffen:

I actually don't know what's made in Denmark anymore...

Speakers made in Czech... Tv's made in Czech... lots of B&O Play products made in China... what's left..? And they can still not make Money... " />

Maybe their de-centralized production model is not as cost-effective as they thought compared to having kept profuction in the factories at Denmark? De-centralization adds complexity, complexity adds costs (infrastructure, logistics, more management).

If the Czechs cannot produce the same quality as proud Danish workers at B&O Denmark did, was the Czech plant a profit-eating mis-investment? Reading B&O's history, their Danish factory workers had a sense of pride working for the jewel of a brand in Denmark. That — passion on all levels of a company —adds to quality. And how much did the plant cost? How many more Danish workman years would the same money have bought?

While B&O has perhaps gotten "Leaner" as a part of their strategy (with their streamlined distribution, and by laying off people, and moving production out of Denmark), has it really made them "Faster" or "Stronger"? Product delays we so often hear about indicate they're not faster. Product quality issues indicate that perhaps they try to be too fast with things like assembly. And since they are bleeding money, B&O is certainly not stronger in that sense.

As for their products, their perhaps biggest latest advancement has been the new video engine, which also contains the superb audio engine. In many ways, B&O's TVs are the technological brains of their setups. And here, with these most complex products, they also have the biggest issues. Maybe they should move the production of these system centerpieces back to Denmark?

Something has fallen apart in B&O's corporate strategy. Did it begin when they started moving operations out of Denmark? Could a solution be to initiate a movement of critical manufacturing back to its origins?

KMA:

And here, with these most complex products, they also have the biggest issues. Maybe they should move the production of these system centerpieces back to Denmark?

 

Or maybe the issues are not how they are screwed together at all but mechanical and software design issues! I suspect a lot of recent "quality" problems are nothing to do with where it is assembled.

 

 

Millemissen:

Why shouldn't they be able to do tha just as good as the guys in Struer used to?

Theoretically, there should be no difference.

However let me add a bit of a first-hand experience in similar setup during my visit to Czech factory assembling high-end products of the company I work for... Agree with MM, they are also receiveing all components and just assembling them. The difference, though, is that the fluctuation of workforce is significant and they have zero feeling of pride or being part of a brand. I am sure Struer people have different mindset.

How much this affects the final product quality is difficult to judge. I can just tell you that I would personally always prefer that a premium and high-priced product is fully assembled and quality-controlled in Denmark, rather than in Czechia (or Romania, Turkey etc).

And yes, Czechia is much much better than China. :)

I'm sure the quality is just as amazing assembled in Czech. But, anyone know when beolab's were made in czech? :-)

I must honestly say that my iPhone, made in china, is of very high quality. While I, as a B&O enthousiast, also prefer 'made in Denmark', I doubt there is a significant difference in product-quality. The most important is the design, not the assembly.

I think that Beolab 9 never came from Denmark.

At the launch of the product, the country of origin on the sticker was Czech Republic.

Rolls Royce still charge Rolls Royce prices for cars still made in expensive England.

The highly paid German managers simply modernised the production along German efficiency, whilst ensuring the craftsmanship of native workforce maintained the unique DNA of the product. They can't make enough of the things!

Ironically if it was made in China, I wonder how many Chinese customers would still buy it I wore my "Made in Japan" writing on my 1980's Sony Walkmam with pride, and yes I'd have paid more money for it(well my dad would have)

Some of you guys don't seem to know, how much a 'common B&O-assembling-worker' expect as his/her salary.

Sure I would have liked the production to have stayed in Denmark.

Not just to satisfy all those, who think that 'Made in Denmark' is equal 'worldbest', but also because it should be important to have jobs in Denmark/Struer. I feel pity for those, who have lost their job at B&O - actually most of hem have found other jobs.

But the world is different today - you can't compete with companies, that have low-wage workers for these jobs. That is a 'problem' that the 'high welfare/high taxes' countries have in common.

This is the reason, why I think that a company-owned factory in the Czech is a good compromise - after all it is still in the EU.

The factory in the Czech is run by B&O - we are not talking a simple outsourced production here. It should be much easier to get the production 'straight' there, than in some far-eastern factory.

I can't imagine, what the B&O products would cost, if the ordinary assembling production had stayed in DK.

And we should not forget either, that they have recruted new workers for their aluminium production in Struer during the last couple of years. These things/parts are (mostly) all made in Struer/Denmark ---- because they can't do that elsewhere in the way that B&O needs it,

MM

Millemissen:

Some of you guys don't seem to know, how much a 'common B&O-assembling-worker' expect as his/her salary.

Sure I would have liked the production to have stayed in Denmark.

Not just to satisfy all those, who think that 'Made in Denmark' is equal 'worldbest', but also because it should be important to have jobs in Denmark/Struer. I feel pity for those, who have lost their job at B&O - actually most of hem have found other jobs.

But the world is different today - you can't compete with companies, that have low-wage workers for these jobs. That is a 'problem' that the 'high welfare/high taxes' countries have in common.

This is the reason, why I think that a company-owned factory in the Czech is a good compromise - after all it is still in the EU.

The factory in the Czech is run by B&O - we are not talking a simple outsourced production here. It should be much easier to get the production 'straight' there, than in some far-eastern factory.

I can't imagine, what the B&O products would cost, if the ordinary assembling production had stayed in DK.

And we should not forget either, that they have recruted new workers for their aluminium production in Struer during the last couple of years. These things/parts are (mostly) all made in Struer/Denmark ---- because they can't do that elsewhere in the way that B&O needs it,

MM

There is a tv - and there is a BV.

... ach MM, schweig Doch endlich mal. Deine Abhandlungen bzw. Einlassungen sind einfach grausam.

They started making B&O stuff over in the Czech factories before 2006 as my 2005 DVD1 was made there. Super unreliable DVD player that was.

Millemissen:

Round about a thousand men and women are employed in Struer - are they doing nothing there???

If you read my post again, I was not saying that nothing is made in Denmark. And I was not saying that the  employees in DK was doing nothing.

I was saying that speakers and Tv's are assembled in the Czech plant -and that lots of 'Play' units are made in China.
I was saying, that (except from alu-parts) I don't know what's made in Denmark now. But maybe you can enlighten us..?

Fact is that there have been lots of issues with the new Avant. Not only SW issues - but 'build-quality' issues, like dust behind the glass screen. mechanical issues with the speaker unit, mechanical issues with the motorized stand etc. All mentioned several times here on Beoworld.
I have never before heard about that many issues with a B&O product.

Schlaumeier:

... ach MM, schweig Doch endlich mal. Deine Abhandlungen bzw. Einlassungen sind einfach grausam.

Ja, gewiss nicht so schlau(meier) wie dein Kommentar.

Einfach überspringen - niemand zwingt dich die zu lesen.

Die sind ja auch leicht erkennbar vom Avatar.

MM

@Steffen

All I wanted to say is, that the heart of Bang & Olufsen stil is in Struer/DK.

Some people think it is ok, that the assembly is made in the Czech Rep. or in China, others don't.

I have no problems with the first.

But - as you - I see a problem, if the quality of the products is not as it should be.

What I don't know is, how big this problem really is - or if it has to do with the production not being in Struer anymore?

And I don't know whether the 'problem' is solved by now?

MM

 

 

So I understand that in fact at B&o Struer they;

- manufacture aluminium parts (also for BMW if I am correct?)

- design all off the B&o products (most important to me)

Perhaps in the future B&o may take the 'Volvo-route'; finding an smart Chinese investor/owner who realizes that such a brand must remain untouched to flourish. It saved Volvo form bankruptcy, and look how well they develop themselves at the moment. Chinese money saved the day, so to say. I do not hope B&o will take the 'SAAB/ROVER-route'...

There are photos of the HQ facilities in the latest B&O Magazine . http://www.bang-olufsen.com/en/the-company/magazine

There's a lot of aluminium forming and anodising etc  . Potential to be like Rolls Royce-like ,who are taking parts and packaging them in the UK with their crafted body . 

@jc

Instead of '...they design all products' (which is perfectly right in a way), I would rather say '....they create all products'

There is more to a product that just design/designing it!

In Struer we have the center of B&O - it is where the good ideas come together, gets tested - it is where the concepts of the product/s, the models, the prototypes (a lot of them) are made. It is where the software is developed and tested. It is where they test how the B&O products work together (ML/NL/Gateway...)

Somewhere in Denmark the wooden parts of some of the loudspeakers or the Moment is manufactured. , the electronics of the BeoRemote One is produced in Austria and joined with the parts made in Struer (as we saw in the video).

Struer is where all the things, that must be made, are done, before a product merely needs to be assemblet in the Czech factory, in China for many of the Play products, or elsewhere.

It is where the management is made, where the people who decide, where to buy the many, many parts needed, sit and calculate. It is where the distribtion of the finished products is made/thought out. It is where the support is and where the dealers are trained, when new products arrive. And much more.....

Of course there is a small department in Copenhagen as well and some satelite offices all over the world, and the designers, that B&O use, don't reside there - but the center, the heart of Bang & Olufsen definitely is in Struer/DK.

MM

^^ Yes, that is what I meant to say with 'designed'. It's a lot of work altogether. The most important work, in that this work determines what is exactly B&o. As I already wrote; my iPhone is a piece of quality, made in China, so the Chinese can deliver very good quality work. The Czechs also, I presume. It's a question of quality-control, which would, and partly still is, the same in Denmark. After all, parts of the Beogram 4000 came frome Switzerland...