Ztrains: Marklin Z Scale, Now Made In China?

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Why Is Marklin Showing Up In China?
Recently Robert Allbritton of http://www.z220.com reported that a brand new Marklin car set, #87671, he saw at a Marklin dealer had a sticker on the box that read "Made In China". This has raised a few questions regarding exactly what we're getting when we buy Marklin Z trains. If Marklin Z products are being manufactured in China, is the craftsmanship still as high? Also, if this manufacturing move is done in order to reduce costs, do the end users get to see that cost reduction, either in terms of lower prices or in additional Z scale R&D? Another possibility is this move was done to keep Z scale prices level where they are.

I put a call into Marklin in New Berlin, Wisconsin this morning to try to get further clarification on this subject. The rep I spoke with said she was aware Marklin had moved some HO scale production to China in the past year or two, but was unaware of any Z scale production in China. She said she'd have Fred Gates, president of Marklin, Inc., return my call tomorrow, Thursday, 1/9/02, with more specifics.

I'll update this page as soon as I hear from Fred Gates.

Marklin Responds
As promised Fred Gates did return my phone call earlier today. I asked him the questions listed above and here's a brief look of his responses. When asked about the manufacturing in China, he said it was simply a matter of capacity, that Marklin in Germany simply didn't have the capabilities to produce both their existing line and the newer products so they have sourced out some pieces. He didn't know which particular pieces were being made in China, so I mentioned the #87671 car set that Robert Allbritton cited as one example. He didn't seem to think it was being done as a cost cutting measure, again citing capacity as the main reason for this outsourcing. He did mention an HO crane that caused an initial rumbling in the HO community because it was made in China, he went on to say that this crane was a very well built piece and it compared quite favorably to German pieces.

Fred explained that all Chinese manufacturing is directly overseen by Marklin technicians on site. I asked him a couple of times during the call if this was being done as a cost cutting measure (ok, so maybe I have seen too many interviews on "60 Minutes") and he repeatedly told me it was simply a matter of capacity, or lack thereof, in Germany.

Regarding the actual "Made In China" sticker on the box, Fred said that the "country of origin" sticker is placed there by the importing country to comply with the importing country's laws. He also said that the stickers don't always make it to the box... many times the country of origin will be on Marklin, USA's invoices, but the sticker won't necessarily be on the box even though countries like the United States require it.

As anecdotal evidence of Marklin's need to outsource to China, Fred told me that Marklin, USA generally receives only about 85% of items that they actually order from Marklin, Germany. On the face of it this could make sense, as many times local Marklin dealers put an order in and it takes months to arrive.

So there it is... whether this is good, bad, or makes no difference at all is probably up to each individual Z scale customer. I did appreciate the fact that the president of Marklin, Inc. did get back to me so quickly and seemed up front in his responses.

Now, I wonder if MSNBC or FOX News needs another investigative reporter?

Positive Reviews Of Chinese Products
I just received an email from Tapani Tuominen, another Z scale enthusiast and frequent contributor to the Yahoo! Z scale Forum. Tapani states that after an inspection of a newly received set, #87670, some subtle differences do show up. A couple of things that suggest that this set may be from China are:

• None of the cars have the word "Germany" molded on the underside.
• The cars are individually wrapped in a sheet of clear plastic film.

Overall though, Tapani says that, "The car set is beautifully made and the quality of details is excellent.".

Monday, March 8, 2010
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