A solution to a Real Problem - Bye, bye China – Hello America!

by Melinda Pillsbury-Foster 

The Installation guys, Gary and Daniel found my cabin, which was no small thing in itself, being located at nearly 6,000 feet down a twisty, narrow road. The old refrigerators, both of which would still have been usable if some unnamed person had not turned off my electricity.

I will spare you the details of what the insides of those poor refrigerators were like.

The new refrigerator, a Frigidaire, was plugged in, set, and before you knew it Gary and Daniel were off in a puff of dust, thanks to the drought.

But the Frigidaire did not get frigid. Room temperature was all it could do. Bad news for me and for Bruce Canby, who owns Ruddy's from where the gleaming white appliance, still packed in its carton, was sent.

Bruce called me back, apologetic, with the number for the local tech. Amy, of Tony's Appliances, answered the phone. When she heard my reference number I was told they were refusing to service my call, nothing personal. This was the fourth Frigidaire from that bad lot to blight their lives this year, Amy confided.

Huh? I said. Amy explained the parts their tech was told to buy in each case cost more than the refrigerator and did not work to fix the problem. Ahhh...the penny dropped. Frigidaire has found a way to dump its bad stock and double their money.

Need I say that these units are made in China? I thought not.

Bruce, informed of this illuminating conversation, told me he would be back to me in a couple of hours with a solution which would work. He did. He and his son delivered my new refrigerator yesterday.

Bruce is a real American, one who knows what the right thing is. Quality work and service are instilled in him as values. His family has been doing business in Tulare County since they arrived to farm in 1912.

But the day was not over. My elderly Mercury Sable needed a new radiator and I had consigned it into the well known hands of Kevin at 360 Auto on Olive Street. Kevin insisted on test driving it several times and asking me questions about the symptoms which had caused me to have it trucked down the mountain by Hula Towing, just across the street from 360 Auto. The Hula Technician Corey Thomas was courteous, fast, and precise. He even picked up the key, something he did not have to do. No time was wasted.

So why, I asked Kevin, did he have to test drive it several times and ask so many questions?

Because, he said, No matter what brand you buy today they are all made in China and all too often the part does not work when you lift it out of the box to fit it in place.

What is the cost of a part if you count the cost of unnecessary parts and those which do not work? For Frigidaire this could be intentional but all careless work costs money to downstream businesses and to the buyer.

America's dominance in world markets was once founded on very different values and personal ethics, like those exemplified by Bruce, Kevin and Corey. It can be again.

Values and standards deteriorate when you do not see the impact of your choices on others. When business is local our wish to do right is less often challenged by the temptation for extra profits, and correcting the problem is much easier.

On a very real level, the meltdown America has experienced is based on core values which conflict with the corporate mission for optimizing profits.

Today America is becoming competitive with the countries which drew away our own production. While wages are still higher in the US wages in these countries are rising. Our lower costs for energy and raw materials are opening opportunities for choices.

We need to ask ourselves, now, how we want to proceed as Korea, China, and other competitors begin to open factories here to employ Americans.

Remember Jay Leno, who has the parts for his expensive antique autos 3D Printed? It does not have to be an antique car. It can be a Frigidaire or maybe even my Mercury's radiator.

3D Printing is renew local commerce and lower costs of all of us. Remember an America which understood quality and businesspeople who stood by their work? It can be so again.

Everything we use depends on parts made in China. But using 3DPrinting could make the trip across the great Pacific Pond unnecessary.

As the automobile was once a toy, so, today, do most of us view 3D Printing. This, too, can change, as it did for the automobile.

How it changes is up to us and our own choices. 3D Printing allows for local jobs, which are in effect small businesses. This can take us to a very different future.

Values matter. How happy and satisfied we are with our lives hinges on our connections to others, being respected and valued as a person.

Doing excellent work, being reliable, consistent and innovative, made Americans respected. We can do it again, beginning with 3D Printing parts for appliances and other necessities. Now, there are limits, but these can change as those expert in the technology of 3D Printing provide solutions.

Are there Americans who would be delighted to work at home making parts for local shops? Yes. Running your own small business was once the foundation on which our economy rested. The family business was business school for a generation of entrepreneurs.

These same people could also begin to repair instead of dump older appliances and machines. Look around your home. How often have you had to dump some small, or large, appliance because it stopped working? Better to make it work again, better for all of us.

Imagine for a moment getting up in the morning to see what you will be making, your specs and what is needed, having popped up on your screen. You get busy, emailing your customer to confirm you are on it and when the part will be delivered. Fast, reliable parts, produced locally, will use less energy for transport. Low energy costs are one of the reasons jobs are returning to the US today.

So lowering the cost of energy is also an avenue for changing the future. In California today we have passed parity between solar and oil as sources for energy, one of ten states to have done so.

Wipomo, a company in San Diego, is installing solar technology which allows you to power your car and use the car to generate more energy, which can then be used in your home. Their only problem is keeping up with the demand. CEO Charlie Johnson advises consumers to, “Choose energy efficient products built to last.”

And there are other technologies, waiting, which can change what we do here in Tulare County which can lower our energy costs by 50%.

How long do you think it it will be until you can buy a 3DPrinted 1957 Chevy? How long until energy is no longer an issue? The power to change direction is in our hands.

American values are founded on the choices we make as individuals. We lost sight of that, and it cost us dearly – but we can return to what works for us as individuals, for our communities, and to build a different future for our children.

Bruce, Kevin, Corey and Greg, Corey's boss, live these values.

Your refrigerator is only the beginning.