Australia : Wave of imports wipes out surfboard makers

**Poo and Pee** · 14-02-2011, 08:29 PM

only those who truely love surfboard shaping/manufacturing would still be in the game in australia. it's a very unpleasant job working with fibreglass for a number of reasons, and it takes a lot of work to produce just one surfboard. i'm sure there are some people in the business who are happy they can pay somebody in china to do all of the dirty work for them, at a price where they can still make a tidy profit selling their products..

**Loy Toy** · 14-02-2011, 09:38 PM

Mate they stick a pre~fab fiberglass body on a CNC planner in a sealed room and shape a board within 0.1mm profile accuracy in about 20-30 minutes these days.

Yes, the art of board making was very exotic and historical but very unhealthy and time consuming.

No need blaming the Chinese for servicing a market that is still there for the Aussies if they really want it.

**Poo and Pee** · 14-02-2011, 10:07 PM

Mate they stick a pre~fab fiberglass body on a CNC planner in a sealed room and shape a board within 0.1mm profile accuracy in about 20-30 minutes these days.

why do they aledgedly cost $1000 to make in oz then? you'd think one person could make dozens per week at that rate..

**Loy Toy** · 14-02-2011, 10:11 PM

Originally Posted by Poo and Pee

why do they aledgedly cost $1000 to make in oz then? you'd think one person could make dozens per week at that rate..

Exactly and that is why I have posted what I have.

You clamp a pre-cast fiberglass board in a jig, close the door, turn the machine on and come back to a finished high precision board ready for final treatment.

Excuses, excuses...............not willing to invest in these high tech machines I guess.

**Poo and Pee** · 14-02-2011, 10:21 PM

surfboards, like everything else in australia these days, are a rip off then..

the cost of living and pretty much most other things, are cheaper here in tokyo ..

**socal** · 15-02-2011, 12:08 AM

Originally Posted by Loy Toy

Originally Posted by Poo and Pee

why do they aledgedly cost $1000 to make in oz then? you'd think one person could make dozens per week at that rate..

Exactly and that is why I have posted what I have.

You clamp a pre-cast fiberglass board in a jig, close the door, turn the machine on and come back to a finished high precision board ready for final treatment.

Excuses, excuses...............not willing to invest in these high tech machines I guess.

These hippies would rather sit in their little shops snorting fiberglass and smoking dope all day.

**Ratchaburi** · 15-02-2011, 11:35 AM

Originally Posted by Loy Toy

Originally Posted by Poo and Pee

why do they aledgedly cost $1000 to make in oz then? you'd think one person could make dozens per week at that rate..

Exactly and that is why I have posted what I have.

You clamp a pre-cast fiberglass board in a jig, close the door, turn the machine on and come back to a finished high precision board ready for final treatment.

Excuses, excuses...............not willing to invest in these high tech machines I guess.

LT the cost of materials here in Thailand is cheaper that Australia.
The fiberglass is half the price
The Australian are very gready & to live there now you need to have money.
I come from Western Australia & they are the greadest of all the Australins.

**Loy Toy** · 15-02-2011, 12:36 PM

Originally Posted by Ratchaburi

LT the cost of materials here in Thailand is cheaper that Australia. The fiberglass is half the price

And I ask myself why mate.........

I know the cost of living counts, quality of life matters but really we are shooting ourselves in the foot by over-pricing raw materials before we even start the job.

If I was in the business I would import the half price fiberglass board bodiies and finish the job with all the know-how and Aussie ingenuity included.

FFS you have to be in front just considering transportation and import duty charges.

**Poo and Pee** · 15-02-2011, 01:06 PM

I agree with you LT.

instead of whinging, australian companies need to get their acts together and be more competative..

**Ratchaburi** · 15-02-2011, 01:21 PM

[quote=Loy Toy;1682462]

Originally Posted by Ratchaburi

LT the cost of materials here in Thailand is cheaper that Australia. The fiberglass is half the price

If I was in the business I would import the half price fiberglass board bodiies and finish the job with all the know-how and Aussie ingenuity included.

LT The surf bourd manufacture here Cobra Interrnation import the
PU foam the biuld coat resin & the finishing resin from Australia.

**terry57** · 15-02-2011, 01:39 PM

Originally Posted by Poo and Pee

instead of whinging, Australian companies need to get their acts together and be more competitive..

Impossible as the cost of labor here now is out of control.

Add taxes, workers compensation insurance, sick pay, long service leave and heaps of payed public holidays and the small business man is gradually being wiped out.

**Marmite the Dog** · 15-02-2011, 02:06 PM

Originally Posted by terry57

Impossible as the cost of labor here now is out of control.

Why are Aussies paying 1st world wages for 3rd world labour?

**Loy Toy** · 15-02-2011, 02:17 PM

For any company to remain successful and competitive they must automate removing labour content which in turn wipes out all the added charges and as per Terry's post.

Aussies have always been far to conservative when it comes to applying high-tech production machinery and that is why they are missing the boat.

One worker producing 20 high class surfboards a day is more then attainable.

**Spin** · 15-02-2011, 02:42 PM

Many boards made in Bangkok are made of epoxy resin / carbon fibre. There are huge factories there and the workers are paid next to nothing and have none of the safety / breathing apparatus that should be employed when exposed to epoxy resin dust.

Bangkok is a major centre as far as carbon fibre production goes, not sure if everyone is aware of this? Formual one, the lot.

**Ratchaburi** · 15-02-2011, 03:39 PM

Originally Posted by Spin

Many boards made in Bangkok are made of epoxy resin / carbon fibre. There are huge factories there and the workers are paid next to nothing and have none of the safety / breathing apparatus that should be employed when exposed to epoxy resin dust.

Bangkok is a major centre as far as carbon fibre production goes, not sure if everyone is aware of this? Formual one, the lot.

I manufacture a fiberglass product here in Thailand.
3 years year ago we were lucky to get a contract with a very large
I mean A very very large US Company we manufacture our product with there label OEM.
As it cost to much money for then to send there product from the US to Asia.
We send our product there label to
China, India, Vietnam, Cambodia, Philippians, Malaysia & Singapore

We can not get this product in to Australia because the Chineese are cheaper
The Australian what the product cheap so that they can make a very large profit

**madjbs** · 16-02-2011, 01:33 AM

So many holes in the guys argument it's difficult to know where to start.

I don't believe for a second the shops are making so much money on Chinese boards compared to Australian Boards. If there was such a big profit margin on Chinese boards then the current shops would be undercut very quickly by new shops (there can't be many barriers to entry when opening a surf shop!) So in reality the Australian boards are probably a lot more expensive in the shops compared to Chinese ones. The majority of the market is probably just for the casual user, which is why they won't pay so much for an Australian board.

The simple reason why he's going out of business is that there was probably an increase in board manufactures in Australia when times were good to an almost unsustainable level. Put that on top of a recession where people may not be buying expensive consumer goods there is almost definitely going to be a major over supply in the industry. The excuses he uses about China and Thailand is simply sour grapes.

Also he suggests China and Thailand only copy. Well, if that was the case he should be fine then as his new designs would be protected under Australian law and he could make a killing. Or, perhaps he is just copying as well!

The bottom line is that he is not competitive and therefore needs to invest in capital to reduce labour cost (high cost of labour does not make you not competitive as Terry suggests). Innovation also works.

International free trade is a good thing for everyone. The fact that some people are calling it a "lie" is absolutely ridiculous. Countries must produce what they have a competitive advantage in, China has an absolute advantage in many industries but not always competitive advantage, so using China as an excuse for all woes is silly.

Countries with high labour costs will naturally produce capital intensive goods while countries with abundant labour and therefore a low wage will produce labour intensive goods. That is why we China produces so much of the worlds basic labour intensive items such as clothing etc..

**nedwalk** · 16-02-2011, 04:31 AM

I offer in my product range, cheap and chearful chinese systems at a far cheaper price or a product that has european components and assembled in s.e. asian factories at a greater price..8 times out of 10, the bias rolls toward the euro product...so there ya go, and i,m on the sunny coast, this bloke has a niche product so he should be marketing it thus, given that he is so close to some of the best surf beaches

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