A once great nation

finnbear270

Well-Known Member
Well we used to build lots of stuff, we used to mend lots of stuff, wonder where we got the current trend from, Just had a visit from an engineer (Heating etc), as our Combi has decided to throw the towel in, he followed the correct testing procedure as directed by the manufacturers ................ having had all the Ohms & Milliwhatsits on his meters, he referred to the destructions, "If the readings are xxxxx, then consider the board is f**ked, replace board, ...... If that does not cure the problem, replace gas valve":banghead::coat:


Ah well, cold showers till Tuesday earliest!:rolleyes:
 
our kia is in the shop and the compression is low and uneven (between cylinders)... Asked the head mechanic if they did a wet test to rule out a bad head.... I got that look.... and when I told him how (put a little oil in the cylinder), he couldn't believe it and thought I was an idiot.......
 
There you go.... heating off for the summer .. turned ours on earlier this wk as wife was unwell & the expansion tank blew the water out. No heating until engineer came to fix it!
Fixed it...did the same thing again...another engineer came & said the 1st engineer had turned a stop valve off & forgotten to turn it on again. Fixed now job done. Never send a boy to do a mans job eh! Then car broke - and that's been running all summer! S'fixed again now, but not without the kind of expense that would have bought a very nice Austrian scope. Hey ho. ATB
 
There's less and less stuff that can be fixed now. Most appliances have a certain life and that's that. The only way to fix things now is to replace parts. What used to be car mechanics are now all fitters.
 
I can understand Finnbears plight, my Worcester Bosch 35CDI II (11yr old Combi) has had so many new parts (control board, pressure vessel, air pressure thingy, pump, and touch wood is running fine. Luckily, dads a Plumber so I just buy parts and he fits for tea and dinner. Anything that doesn't touch I gas I can do myself (changing rads/rad valves/bleeding etc)

This is also partly why I bought a Toyota HiLux Surf (3L 3rd Gen) as it can be fixed and mended on the drive, and parts are very cheap from the likes of those boys at Roughtrax. Anything really technical (heads are prone to cracking if not looked after) go to a local Mechanic (old school bloke I know in Rotherham) not (((((NOT)))) a fitter or technician!

Finnbear is right though, too much stuff is built abroad, it's interesting to know that we (the UK) supply a lot of components, we ship them, we just don't do the final build in this country (this goes for cars, white goods Etc)

The fact of the matter is we will never compete on labour costs.

T
 
We will never compete with mass production of other larger countries, its impossible, we just don't have the land mass, raw materials or amount of cheap labour.
However we are up there with the best for our technical expertise in most fields of engineering, science and medicines.
 
Yep we're up there our local racing team and high tech race engine facility in the next village owned by MERCEDES ! Well english
 
There's less and less stuff that can be fixed now. Most appliances have a certain life and that's that. The only way to fix things now is to replace parts. What used to be car mechanics are now all fitters.
They call them mechatronics now in Germany, same thing.
Had one of them in a Hyundai dealership tell me that the double clutch in my Terracan was the problem (it does not have one) it was the transfer box at fault.
Martin
 
It's not too long ago (pre financial crash) that manufacturing industries were being called "metal bashers" by the whiz kids in the financial sector. The same whizz kids who would go off and buy a porsche or a bmw when they had made "loadsa money".
Now, apparently, the way forward is through manufacturing and exports,something that the Germans always knew.
Britain has a history of short term view and gain and the blue collar white collar different canteen mentality. The Japanese and the Germans and now the far East have always been ahead of us.
Also...re customer service, we can't hold a candle to American companies.
 
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we make interior parts for jag/landrover,,vauxhall/ford /honda gone from 250 to 700 peeps in four years.we can work for 7 days a week if we want.not all manufacturing is on its knees gents.and the chineese n yanks cant buy em fast enough.u try n buy a new range rover evoque,6month waiting list at least.its a global factory english/poles/latvians spanish/french and our stuff goes around the world .so its not all doom,gloom n bankers bonus
 
we make interior parts for jag/landrover,,vauxhall/ford /honda gone from 250 to 700 peeps in four years.we can work for 7 days a week if we want.not all manufacturing is on its knees gents.and the chineese n yanks cant buy em fast enough.u try n buy a new range rover evoque,6month waiting list at least.its a global factory english/poles/latvians spanish/french and our stuff goes around the world .so its not all doom,gloom n bankers bonus
Well said that man. Some of us still believe and also employ lots of folks and make a few bob too. My rant is this We have devalued engineering. Any eejit with a spanner is called an engineer. Not right. Engineers invented and designed the modern world. Full stop period. One of the best, and hardest jobs going. Britains problem is that we have forgotten this. For goodnes sakes we live in a society where it is socially acceptable to admit that one is bad at Maths, That one has no idea how things work etc etc. can you imagine that situation in Germany, or Japan, or Korea, or India? Get my drift. An Engineer is a professional, with a degree, experience, a track record of excellence, someone who has created something that did not previously exist. Fixing someone else's invention and design is called maintenance. Not Engineering.
 
Add to all that the lack of 'youngsters' willing to go into the 'trades'
plumbers, sparkies, chippies, builders, roofers etc. all those jobs that it used to be considered quite acceptable to start an apprenticeship from school. Now hardly anyone wants to do that, they 'need' to go onto further education, even when it's in some washy washy subject.

grumble over! There are apparently more people retraining between 30-40 in the trades than there are youngsters starting
 
Well said that man. Some of us still believe and also employ lots of folks and make a few bob too. My rant is this We have devalued engineering. Any eejit with a spanner is called an engineer. Not right. Engineers invented and designed the modern world. Full stop period. One of the best, and hardest jobs going. Britains problem is that we have forgotten this. For goodnes sakes we live in a society where it is socially acceptable to admit that one is bad at Maths, That one has no idea how things work etc etc. can you imagine that situation in Germany, or Japan, or Korea, or India? Get my drift. An Engineer is a professional, with a degree, experience, a track record of excellence, someone who has created something that did not previously exist. Fixing someone else's invention and design is called maintenance. Not Engineering.

Well said.
I am on my final year of an Electrical engineering degree.
I refuse to call myself and engineer even though I work full time in an engineers role.
What realy bugs me is the likes of "sky" and other companies saying "we will send round an engineer to fix whatever"
I take great pride in asking - "oh yea, what university did your engineer graduate from"?
In fact the word engineer is protected in Germany meaning someone who is chartered!
Its about time the same applied over hear!
Even technician is overused. That should be someone with technical qualifications - not just some tire changer!
 
Its funny how job descriptions/titles have changed over time. A machine operator used to stamp out washers in factories but,now he's a digger driver.
 
Scuby.
I know plenty of digger drivers that refer to their diggers as machines,which they are,of course.
But why not just say what you really mean.
What is a plant operator anyway? A florist,landscaper,nurseryman(male nurse).
 
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