Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

Lordy, lord ol' Jimmy D's cryin' again. He has instigated the banning of Miele S7 adverts . . .

http://www.which.co.uk/news/2009/10/miele-ads-banned-for-vacuum-cleaner-claims-186889.jsp

Venson

Severus wrote:
In the case of Dyson's move to Malaysia, here is their rationale, as described in key management interviews over the years:-

1. The vast majority of our key suppliers are now based abroad.
2. The strength of the UK pound means that we lose money on a percentage of our export sales.
3. Our planning applications for expanding production on the Malmesbury site have been turned down.
4. We need to expand production to enter the US market, before our key patents expire.
5. The reduced costs of overseas production will mean that we can invest further in R&D spend.
6. Recent advances in communication / CAD technology mean that there are less efficiencies to be gleamed from having design and production operating under the same roof.

As in the US, many regions of the UK have in the past 50 years gone from being thriving manufacturing powerhouses, to relative poverty and desolation as unskilled production jobs have been lost to overseas players with far less regulation / operating costs. So certainly, in the 'working classes' there can be a degree of suspicion in the motives when a prominent business makes a decision to move jobs overseas.

600 unskilled positions went from Dyson's UK site in 2001 when production was moved to Malaysia. By way of a comparison 63,330 UK jobs were lost during the first 3 months of this year, across all pay grades.

In the case of Dyson job losses - is any negativity justified? Was there anything in the way of genuine 'victims'? Some thoughts:-

1. It is said that in the final days there were few (if any?) UK-based component suppliers available / dependant on Dyson.
2. Dyson was often said to be a frustration to other businesses looking to recruit in the local area - Dyson offered good pay and conditions which had a sizeable number of the local working population 'beating a path to their door'.
3. Dyson now employs a higher number of people in total at the Malmesbury site than it did before moving production - the majority in skilled roles, but also many semi-skilled / administration roles, such as call centre representatives:-
   
   http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/work/small-business/article.html?in_article_id=491794&in_page_id=10
   Dyson employs about 110 staff at the call centre, of whom 85 work as advisers.
   
   http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/news/headlines/4685184.Award_for_Malmesbury_call_centre_successes/
   Dyson's Malmesbury call centre has named the best retail and distribution call centre in the UK.
   
   
4. It's unlikely that Dyson would have had anywhere near the success they have had over the last 6 years, if they'd constrained their marketing activity to a limited UK-based production site. Greater success means greater UK tax revenues and on-going investment in R&D activities.
5. Dyson have long been pro-active in supporting education in Design & Engineering within the UK and around the world:-
   http://www.jamesdysonfoundation.com/

The negative perception of Dyson in the mind of the occasional British person is, in my view, largely the result of selective reporting in the media at the time of the announcement on the job move, getting in the way of the full picture... and also lasting resentment from the pubic at similar labour moves in the past.

In the people that remain unconvinced... that Dyson are a traitor of the highest order... what patriotic, locally-made purchasing choices can they realistically make? As I understand it, Numatic's Henry is the sole contender. A respectable enough machine on its own merit, with a good following - although lacking in any recent innovation to the design and around twice the price of canisters with similar features.

However, if you want an upright, a bagless or a powerhead vacuum cleaner your domestic choices are somewhat restricted. British people who shun Dyson on principle and instead buy a Vax or a Hoover brand... well, that's not exactly a rational decision, is it? Apple Inc. used to manufacture in the USA at one time - they don't any more. Should patriotic US citizens be avoiding the iPhone in droves and buy a touchscreen handset from LG instead?

Well done Moose.

As most here will tell you, it really makes no difference to us.  The point is so obvious that it's laughable. Every one gets it except Sir James and his fan club.  Dyson's gone from monthly and quarterly news releases on how well dyson sales and profits are going to a dead silence.  Reporting the last 2 years' results 11 months after the fact.  

The truth is crystal clear:  Dyson was a multi-billionaire in 2006.  In 2008, he's a multi-millionaire. 

Remember what I said?  Forgot already.  Here it is again.  Money is easy to make once but much harder to keep making over and over again.  Even with almost $9 MILLION US handed to Sir James on a silver platter.

The truth comes to light [sooner or later], despite all the spin, excuses and sugar coating.

Carmine D.

CarmineD wrote:
What exactly do you find laughable?...perhaps it's his combined annual net income of $300-$340m (2005-2007) that you find laughable?...or maybe his daily wage of $320k (two years - 2006 and 2007) is laughable?

Did you ever hear the joke...  A dumb guy is driving his car slowly down the road.  A trucker wants to pass but the dumb guy won’t move out of the way.  The trucker becomes angered and begins honking and shouts at the guy to “Pull to the shoulder” (of the road).  The trucker yanks the dumb man out of his car, sets him down and draws a circle on the dirt shoulder and demands “Stay inside the circle.”  The trucker retrieves a baseball bat from his rig, he walks to the dumb guys car and destroys it.  To the truckers astonishment he sees the dumb guy laughing.  The trucker is blown away by what he sees and demands “What’s so funny!”  The dumb guy says...  “Well, when you weren't looking, I stepped out of my circle 3 times.”

Keep laughing.


DIB

DysonInventsBig wrote:

dyson DiB:

What's laughable are you, and your out-of date dyson data and jokes.  Ancient history.  You and Sir James are living in the past.  It's not 2005/6 anymore.  It's the end of 2009.  Here's a news flash: The competition has overtaken you/dyson.  You're looking at the good old days in the rear view mirror. 

Carmine D.

Something doesn't add up

 If  8,000 cleaners a day US is more than the sales figures of 2004 -2007 why would Dyson be making less money? Unless it is fewer, and if sales are dropping around the world, then less revenue would make sense. But what's this about an increase in market share? If your market share is increasing, then shouldn't revenues be increasing also? I'm reminded of the Wizard of OZ, "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!"

"...As I understand it, Numatic's Henry is the sole contender. A respectable enough machine on its own merit, with a good following - although lacking in any recent innovation to the design and around twice the price of canisters with similar features..."

Eh? Twice the price of canisters? Get your facts straight MO0se.. the Henry is a tub canister roughly priced at £90 and the Vax V100 which is its nearest rival is £20 cheaper.. not exactly double the price. Both these canisters have larger dust capacities than slim line sledge canisters and are thus built to withstand bigger domestic cleaning.

vacmanuk wrote:
I made the observation as my father needed to buy such a vacuum for his workshop recently. The Numatic cleaners are the usual choice and easy to get hold of in the hardware stores. But they're a little pricey at around the £100 mark, so after some searching, we found the following at around half the price :-

Earlex WD1100 Workshop Combi-Vac Vacuum and Blower
http://www.comparestoreprices.co.uk/home-improvement/earlex-wd1100-workshop-combi-vac-vacuum-and-blower.asp

Trebor wrote:

Hi Trebor:

Read again what M00seUK says about the dyson financial results.  He's right on the money!  I highlighted the most relevant part to your concern.

M00seUK wrote:

Forbes magazine lists the wealthiest persons in the world every March, as dyson DiB pointed out here when he first posted the information.  Forbes did an article/interview with Sir James for the first time in March 2007 with $2 BILLION for his 2006 wealth.  He appeared on Forbes list in 2008 with $1.6 BILLION for 2007.  He appeared in Forbes again in 2009 with $1 BILLION for 2008.  The cut off for the Forbes list is $ ONE BILLION US.  However, Forbes lowered the bar for its wealthiest Americans recently to $990 MILLION because so many fell off the BILLIONAIRE list.  You can see the trendline over the years with Sir James and therefore dyson, since he is the owner.  Do you think Sir James will make it in March 2010 for 2009?  As M00seUK points out in his post, your guess is as good as another's.  Of note too is that the article DiB posted above which refers to Sir James as a multi-millionaire, not billionaire as was the case in the past.

Carmine D.

Dyson Malaysia - the only assembly plant worldwide.

• Employees:  Over 200 skilled workers.
• Producing: 100,000 units every week.
• Sold: Nearly 30 million vacuum cleaners.
• Countries:  47

Source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/9/6/focus/4655225&sec=focus