The globalization of modern industry has generated more than its share of controversy. The arguments over buying foreign or domestic products usually revolve around stimulating the local economy but there are other issues that should be considered. Even when shopping for components as simple as molded keypads, manufacturers should consider all the implications of buying foreign products.
Quality Of Materials
When buying custom silicone keypads, quality may not seem like an issue. After all, silicone is silicone. Or is it?
Silicone can be contaminated with other materials or cured improperly. Molded keypads made from these inferior materials will not hold up as well as those made from purer silicone blends. The characteristics of these unknown contaminants can compromise your product yielding effects as mundane as discoloration over time to as serious as emitting toxic byproducts.
Quality extends to the manufacture as well. Sloppy graphics, incorrect snap ratios, improperly matched colors and more can turn molded keypads into liabilities that will mark your equipment as inferior. Don't let your superior products be marred by substandard components. Saving a few cents on molded keypads could cost you thousands of dollars in lost business.
Environmental Concerns
The US has strict laws regarding environmental contamination by industrial operations. These laws protect our citizens, our lands and future generations from harmful byproducts produced in manufacturing operations. Silicone manufacture is a fairly benign process but still has the potential to produce hazardous waste.
Does a foreign supplier follow the same rules? Many nations have much laxer environmental laws and are even now destroying their environments in an effort to allow their industries to compete with US industries. Don't think you are safe from the effects just because the contamination is taking place in a far off land. It's all the same planet and pollution dumped into the atmosphere and oceans will find its way to our shores soon enough.
Foreign Sweat Shops
Another concern when buying from foreign suppliers is the terrible work conditions that exist in many of these manufacturing operations. Molded keypads produced by some foreign providers are produced in factories that use inexpensive labor that is barely above slavery. Workers toil in brutal conditions and are paid pennies a day so the factory can create cheap products for export.
The rights guaranteed to US workers are better than those offered to workers in most nations in the world. In addition to good salaries, American worker receive benefits such as health insurance and retirement pay that are rare in other nations. Even things as easily taken for granted as holiday pay or a 40-hour work week are unheard of in many nations.
Before buying molded keypads from a foreign provider, ask yourself what you are really buying. Are you getting value for your money, or are you simply shortchanging yourself with inferior products produced in appalling conditions?
Author is a freelance writer. For more information on molded keypads, visit http://www.sitech-corp.com/products/
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