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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=Wimblees@AOL.COM =
href="mailto:Wimblees@AOL.COM">Wimblees@AOL.COM</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A =
title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> April 24, 2001 4:30 =
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Baldwin's last =
gasps?</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT size=2>In a =
message dated
4/24/01 3:48:30 PM Central Daylight Time, <BR><A
href="mailto:rbrekne@broadpark.no">rbrekne@broadpark.no</A> writes:
<BR><BR><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px =
solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"
TYPE="CITE">Hey... maybe we all should pool together and put up the
necessary <BR>$49.95 and get Del to turn the company around.... what =
do
ya'll say <BR>?? I can see it now... "PTG techs save One time Piano =
Giant
from <BR>demise ...." <BR><BR><BR></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV><BR><BR>I'm afraid it will take a little more than $49.95 to buy =
Baldwin.
Last year I <BR>heard that the company is worth about $33 million. If =
all PTG
members (about <BR>4000 of us). each put up about $8500, we'd have =
ourselves a
piano company to <BR>call our own. <BR><BR>Then all we have to do is =
figure
out a way to pay Del. <BR><BR>Willem </DIV>
<DIV>
<HR>
</DIV></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans" size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans" size=3>Under the circumstances, I'll =
take it in
cash up front, thank you... I feel duty bound to point out, of course, =
that I'm
not at all equipped to function as a company CEO. A piano designer, yes, =
but I
do know my place.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans" size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans" size=3>And Willem is right, of course. =
It will
take considerably more than $49.95 to purchase Baldwin. Even the past 25 =
plus
years of somewhat less than enlightened management has not managed to =
wreck that
much havoc.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans" size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans" size=3>Still, much opportunity has =
been lost and
as to whether there is enough time and enough resources to turn the =
company
around at this point, only time itself will tell. It the company is able =
to
bring someone in soon enough to start putting the pieces back together =
again --
who knows. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans" size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans" size=3>Several have mentioned that =
Baldwin has the
capability to build great pianos. Well, let's just say that they have =
the
potential to build rather nice pianos when everything goes well. That =
means they
have the potential to build pianos that are -- with one or two notable
exceptions -- the equal of most anything being built in this =
country today.
But it won't happen. No matter how hard they work on 'quality.' Because =
it's no
longer a quality issue. It's a design and manufacturing =
issue.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans" size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans" size=3>Baldwin made the decision to =
transition
itself out of the high-end piano market when it left Cincinnati. Not =
that there
is anything at all wrong with the workers in Arkansas -- properly =
trained and
supervised they are quite capable workers. But the company left behind a =
long-term and very experienced work force that was used to turning out =
first
rate instruments at a moderate, but steady and dependable pace, and =
attempted --
with a new and inexperienced workforce -- to speed up the production of =
a
fundamental design that simply does not lend itself well to fast =
production. It
was like Steinway's experience during the 1970s when it was owned by =
CBS: there
was a directive to increase production from something like 2,500 pianos =
a year
to 5,000 per year without adding appreciably to their facility or their
workforce. Couldn't be done without great damage to the product.
Those designs also were not amenable to rushing, something =
Steinway's
current management seems to understand quite well and is capitalizing
on.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans" size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans" size=3>Baldwin has five grand piano =
designs that
were intended to be built relatively slowly by workers who were highly =
skilled
and experienced at what they were doing. When everything works properly =
most of
these designs yield pianos that sound and perform as well as any other =
similar,
traditional design. The problem, of course, is that if anything goes =
wrong along
the way none of them are going to sound all that great. Unfortunately, =
the way
they are being built today, things go wrong more often than they go =
right.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans" size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans" size=3>Which is, of course, a complex =
way of
saying that all of Baldwin's first line of pianos are obsolete. As are =
most of
their vertical designs. Their 43" (109 cm), or whatever, console piano =
is a
joke. It was originally designed as a 40" (101.6 cm) scale and stretched =
to
whatever it is today by adding a 2" (5.1 cm) flange to the bottom of the =
plate
and whatever to the casework and casters. The 243 Hamilton (what is it =
now,
46"?) was originally designed in the 1930s, if memory serves, and given =
a
superficial redesign in the late 1980s. It should have been replaced. =
The 248 is
the only relatively new design in their vertical lineup. Except, of =
course,
for the rather eclectic Model 6000 which is very much a love it/hate it =
sort of
piano.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans" size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans" size=3>No one wants to listen to my =
solution.
Which is to start over one by one with state of the art designs that are =
planned
from the start to be built using simple, but sturdy tooling operated by
semi-skilled to skilled workers. Designs in which most any task or =
process can
be learned by any reasonably intelligent worker in just a couple of =
weeks.
Designs which can be built with precision because they are designed to =
be
simple. Designs in which there is a sufficient margin of error built =
into the
materials selection and assembly process so that even if perfection is =
not
always attained -- and it won't be -- the resulting instruments are =
still going
to perform up there with the best instruments of the world. =
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans" size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans" size=3>Is this just daydreaming? No. =
Not really. A
lot has been learned about both piano design and piano building during =
the last
seventy-five to one hundred years. And it's been about that long since =
most of
these pianos were designed. We can do much better now. Such designs are =
now
possible. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans" size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans" size=3>'But new piano design is =
problematic and
uncertain, isn't it? I mean...how do you know if it will 'come out all =
right.'
Easy. By understanding the basics of piano design. How does an architect =
know
that the building she is designing is going to stand up through the next =
earthquake? Through study and experience. It's not rocket science. =
(Well,
designing buildings for earthquakes might be -- piano design is
not.)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans" size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans" size=3>'But this would really take a =
long time,
wouldn't it?' The company doesn't have much time. No, Not really. With a =
suitable, though not large, staff, a company committed to the =
project the
whole line could be done in a couple of years.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans" size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans" size=3>'But such a program would be =
extremely
expensive, wouldn't it?' Again, no not really. At least not for a =
company
already in business. At least it wouldn't have been in Baldwin's case =
since one
of the more expensive components of a new design is the plate pattern =
and they
were already investing in quite a bit of pattern work when they switched =
foundries. New vertical designs can be incorporated into ongoing =
production
processes. And air operated rim presses are not all that complicated or
expensive to make. Good grief, if we can make one in our small workshop =
surely a
company the size of Baldwin can do it as well. Work tables and assembly =
fixtures
can be modified from stuff already on hand. Pinblock fitting is still =
pinblock
fitting. Stringing is still stringing. Except for spacing actions aren't =
going
to change much. Keys are keys. Well, you get the idea.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans" size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans" size=3>But none of this is going to =
happen. This
scenario would require a considerable amount of courage and long-range =
thinking
on the part of the companies top management. An understanding of things =
like
long-range product planning and an understanding market trends early =
enough to
deal with them pro-actively rather than trying to react to them after =
the
fact.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans" size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans" size=3>Bob Hoff wrote in the latest =
Journal that
the U.S. manufacturers could not compete against the imports. I pretty =
much
reject statements like this out of hand: American piano =
manufacturers
simply chose not to compete out of -- depending on the company -- a =
combination
of greed, arrogance, lethargy, fear and ignorance. They had a solid head =
start,
but instead of reinvesting in their company's future the various
managers allowed their plants to run down and their products to =
become
obsolete while in other countries other managers were investing heavily =
in
production equipment and new designs (albeit designs often
patterned closely after old U.S. or European designs). No, we =
didn't lose
an industry -- we deliberately threw one away.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans" size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans" size=3>So, there. This seems to =
have been
another of my nights for ranting and raving. I think I've gotten it =
out of
my system now. At least for a while.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans" size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans" size=3>Regards,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans" size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Lucida Sans"
size=3>Del</FONT></DIV></FONT></FONT></BODY></HTML>