Why Things are Manufactured to Break

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Nelson Atwell

Nelson Atwell

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If you build something that lasts forever, then you will go out of business. Just think if all the original Model Ts never broke, and never became obsolete.



You ever hear of Shelby Electric Company? Didn't think so. They built a lightbulb that is still burning after 107 years (see the story). You can't build something that costs a dollar and then never seel a second item to the same person. The guy that built that bulb has probably been dead for half a century, but his lightbulb still burns today.
 
I've been designing and building things for 23 years and I have NEVER designed anything to break.



What really happens is that you design something to last just long enough to be effective, both in customer preception and in your costs. Sure, we could design a machine that never broke, but at what cost? would you pay $1000 for a toaster oven that never wore out?



Like it or not, businesses only exist for one goal, and that goal is not customer satisfaction.
 
Had that same conversation with an older gentleman from our church.



We agreed that the issue isn't so much that things today break more than things of the past, actually we both determined that by and large things today tend to last longer and are of higher quality than the past.



We then came to one key conclusion, and that is that the big difference today is that things are made with less expensive components, typically are cheaper to build, and more and more are NOT engineered/designed to be maintained. In other words, they are built such that once they break, the only economical remedy is to replace the entire unit...repair, if possible at all, is simply too costly.



My appliance repair guy tells me the same thing. His charge with parts to replace the transmission on a clothes washer would be close to the cost of a brand new washer. The failure rate is about the same it has ever been, and washers still last between 10 and 15 years on average before needing repair...the big difference is that with today's models, when they go, they go to the curb.



TJR
 
Doctorcad says:



Like it or not, businesses only exist for one goal, and that goal is not customer satisfaction.
Click to expand...



True, that is the goal of all "for profit" companies.



But one key way of achieving that goal is through customer satisfaction. Many companies today have forgotten that.



They want their cake, which is profits, but they have forgotten the main ingredient, "customer satisfaction". Then they wonder why their cake sucks!



TJR
 
My appliance repair guy tells me the same thing. His charge with parts to replace the transmission on a clothes washer would be close to the cost of a brand new washer. The failure rate is about the same it has ever been, and washers still last between 10 and 15 years on average before needing repair...the big difference is that with today's models, when they go, they go to the curb.
Click to expand...



Just had the transmission go out on my washing machine in March. I thought it was just the washer/coupler at first, so spent $20 fixing that myself. That didn't do the trick, and so I just got a new washer/dryer combo that was on sale at Lowes. Cheaper than getting it looked at.
 
Jeff C, YEP.



I started talking to this guy from church on the subject as we were discussing new digital TVs. He has an old analog, floor model that he spent $800 for over 20 years ago. He doesn't want to get cable, or a dish, and wants to still keep getting TV past next Feb when the analog OTA signals die.



We discussed his options. I told him two things are for sure:



1) He can get a replacement, digital TV cheaper, today.



2) It in many ways will be superior in picture and capabilities than the TV he has.



3) It WILL NOT last 20 years.



TJR
 
I agree, it is not that things are manufactured to break. It is a matter that in the past, most consumer items were actually OVER-engineered. This was done, because it was the best way at the time to make sure that things made it through their useful life. Over the years, engineering analysis, modeling, and prediction as well as manufacturing methods have taken huge leaps. This has allowed the price to come down (good thing) but has had the side effect of making some thing break earlier (not necessarily before they have served their purpose) and easier to replace than repair. The consumer cycle has also shortened for most items (not all) -- meaning that people today tend to replace items sooner than they would in the past.



Rocks
 
I have a over 35yr old Gibson electric stove. I recently had to replace the bake burner. Had to do a match up. No direct replacments. I had to repair the wireing on one of the main top burners. That is all it has needed. It is one of the large stoves. With a large space in the middle to set pots and things. A stogage cabinet next to and below the oven. They dont make them any more.:D

Also my Amana refridgerator lasted almost 40yrs.:D
 
Nelson, the central heat was put in this house in the late '60s. It is cast iron burner and heavy wall exchanger. I check it everyyear. The ac condensor replaced twice the evaporator once.:D
 
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My parents still have an old Panasonic VCR they got in the early 80's. Picture will rival the newest VCR's. The item is sturdy built and looks nice. No need to upgrade to something that will fail in a few years.





Tom
 
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This bridge was built in the 2nd Century, and is the oldest bridge still in use. It is located in Adana, Turkey. I drove across it often when I lived there. It was definitely over-engineered. It was designed to carry horse-drawn trailers and foot traffic, but now heavy trucks drive over it.
 
In my younger days I worked for an electronic distributor. Mostly sold parts to TV repair shops. You hardly see any TV repair shops any more. Considering inflation, TV's, computers and other electronic devices cost about 1/10th what they cost in the old days. Everybody just throws it away and buys a new one. No wonder our landfills are filling up.
 
I saw quite a few TV and Electronic repair shops up in Stavanger, Norway last summer. Perhaps they stay in business repairing ships radios, but I saw a lot of old, cool TVs and radios from the former Soviet Union in those shops. The snack bar on the base I work at also has an old Russian radio that still works. This area of the world tends to hang onto things a lot longer than we do in the US.
 

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