@miniman
perhaps its a bit overdone what i said. Perhaps my opinions are basing on experiences i made that many other didnt.
AND i mixed up some things: the question was how to get rid of the problem, and not why the problem with the worn frog appeared.
Why do i become so upset while talking about those things?
In the last years, i saw a lot of companys in Germany go down just because their unbelievable arrogance. Manufaturers of machines, tools, textiles lost orders and money just by saying: (just to proof what i mean with arrogance)
"we did that for the last 30 years like this, so the strategy cant be bad for the next 30"
"the customers should take what we offer"
"in the last 17 Years, NO faulty part has left my house"
In the model-railroad-branch there was another bad influence: the customers were divided in a mass-market and premium-market (what is not that bad basically).
But the effect was fatal:
simple mass-production-products rose in price for more than 200% innert 7 or 8 Years. Why? "Customers demand more details, so we changed the rod-coating from chrome to nicle"... a joke, but true.
They needed the money to
1.) pay their managers (when märklin went insolvent, the mangers had an earning from annualized 700-1000 Euro an hour!
2.) pay for prestige-projects for just a few premium-premium-premium- customers.
As a result, they sold expensive mass-ware with toy-charakter and super-expensive premium-ware in low amounts with many technical problems (because of the teething troubles).
Another (oposite)example, another branch: Porsche
When Mr. Wiedeking entered the company (he didnt make many faults, but his one an final!!) he checked the company and found out some interesting things:
the "cheap" 928-series (folks porsche) brought NO money, and the prestige-projekt 959 (what was a great car--no question) made costs of over 2 mio. DM per car. And was sold for just about 500.000.
He threw out all those bad projects and found a line: premium products for a premium market....not just for a handfull off super-riches.
Before, it was a "managing beside the market"
This is, what makes me so upset.
And especially in the Tracks question with LGB.
Makingt the guardrail a bit longer and a bit more precise (all that could be done in the original tool) could have made those switches work MUCH better.
But the calling for years and years to change that hit just dumb ears. And so the most important part of the customers began to search after alternatives....like me: the ones "between": we want valuable models of good quality and a customers service. An open ear.
"THE RICH" werent enough to make much money, "THE POOR" ever just bought starter kits, whats even not enough to make money.
And like this, a company goes down......but LESS companies made that against the (loud shouted) advice of their most reliable advisor: their customers.
LGB did.
Märklin did.
THATS why im so upset.
So, btw, it is some kind of "Off topic", i confess.....
Frank
