Many Americans are not friendly to the idea of foreign goods, government assistance, so on, and so on. However, one thing we as Americans ultimately open up to is price. Take for example the clothing manufacturing business that was once based out of the United States. Over a very short time manufacturers from China started bringing in goods. The quality was not equal, the price cheaper, the time frame impossible. Within a very short time the quality of Chinese based merchandise soon matched the quality if not better than that of merchandise made in the United States. Manufacturing costs are simply less in China than in the USA. In the current marketplace, one is hard-pressed to find clothing made in the United States.
Will the playground industry soon meet the same fate as so many industries before it? Most every country manufactures some amount of playground equipment locally. However, every country also imports equipment. AAA State of Play has sent American made materials to China, Alaska, North Pole, Korea, etc. Our offering of foreign made materials is currently limited due to supply chain problems in regards to lead times. The majority of our equipment is made in the USA. Many government projects require American-made goods. It is fair to say that most playground manufacturers offer something made overseas. We have visited many so called American-based manufacturing plants, and much space is in use as a storage warehouse for imports. Many times the manufacturers are importing equipment made in other parts of the USA. However, many USA plastic manufacturers do not possess access to the low price materials and machinery components than that of their foreign-based counterparts.
One can easily look at the Chinese playground manufacturers with much of the same distaste as the apparel manufacturers of the past once looked upon foreign-based materials. Currently many Chinese based playground manufacturers create structures with too much theme and not enough traditional equipment. Chinese structures and components are often overdone, although just as structurally sound as their American counterparts. Giant space ships, boats, castles, animals, and tree houses are popular overseas, but only on a limited scale in the USA. Until the themes are toned down and lead times can be reduced, American playground companies will keep the advantage. Shipping time and appearance will hold most overseas manufacturers back until more traditional equipment and new freight alternatives are available.
New inventions in freight is one major way overseas-based play equipment could enter the USA market. Prototype blimp airships will be able to transport several hundreds of tons of cargo across oceans in the matter of days instead of weeks at a comparable cost to ocean freight. Once affordable and instant international freight is more available every industry will change. Currently most freight airplanes can only take around 30 tons of freight at a time. As a result of limited space and high price of jet fuel, the price of airfreight is too expensive for playground equipment. Since the new blimps will likely be designed to be crew-less, in that a ground operator will be in control, the opportunity of error will be greatly reduced, as will overall costs. A blimp will also reduce injuries when transporting freight to remote areas such as the ice round routes. Many companies will be competing for working prototypes of a freight blimp, as the potential rewards to a manufacturer are limitless, as well as the extent of the impact across industries.
Very informative article! Looking forward for more articles on your blog.