LCCA Video Interview with Lionel CEO and President Jerry Calabrese Part 4

I really enjoy the series of interviews by LCCA with Jerry Calabrese. But I can not figure out why he wasn't asked about who oversees quality control in Chinese factory who makes the trains and how quality control is accomplished. To me, this would have been a perfect time to ask these type questions. Was this a total politically correct interview?

TEX
Steve

quote:

Originally posted by TexSpecial:
I really enjoy the series of interviews by LCCA with Jerry Calabrese. But I can not figure out why he wasn't asked about who oversees quality control in Chinese factory who makes the trains and how quality control is accomplished. To me, this would have been a perfect time to ask these type questions. Was this a total politically correct interview?

TEX
Steve

Steve,

It was more of a matter of time constraint. We could have asked any questions and talk about any subjects. We were not restricted in any way, other then time. We had an all day off-camera business meeting with Jerry. We just ran out of time. This can be a question during future interviews. He touched on some of the supply and delivery issues,the customer service responsiveness, but we did not have an in-depth discussion specifically about quality control. He talked about the service.

Al K.

Al K.

I don't know but I can wait for the next interview! If things keep going the way they are, people will be throwin tomatoes at Jerry

Probably a good interview, but Jerry's comments were drowned out by the background music.

Tony
Up on "The D & H Bridge Line"

Jerry is obviously a bright and articulate CEO.

GREAT interviews!

THANKS, LCCA!

I really enjoyed hearing what Jerry had to say but the background music was a major distraction.

This interview continues JC's philosophy articulated in his first OGR interview not long after he took over LIONEL. He has really not wavered from his vision that the key to all manufacturers' success in the hobby is to grow the hobbiest from age 10 or 12.

That he does that while trying to satisfy rivet counter types is a juggling act indeed. I think he and Mike Wolf do superb jobs in quite different ways.

Thanks Al. I really enjoyed watching those interview videos. He's a CEO who obviously does all he can to promote the brand and has answers that show he cares about the trains not just the company.

It must be a heck of a task to stay on top of all that, development, customer service, getting the product to market and so forth. Quite a different sort of man to some CEO's of other consumer products who sometimes leave one wondering whether or not they are actually aware either of what they make or who their customers are.

I'm sure he's only too aware of quality control issues as someone pointed out, he did mention the problems with Chinese factories closing down and having to locate new suppliers, I would imagine that issue is very important to Lionel as witness Mike Regan's efforts to inform us with videos about dealing with maintenance of our equipment.

I should sign up for the LCCA, I know there was a card in my two sets I bought this Christmas.

quote:

Originally posted by Al K.:

quote:

Originally posted by TexSpecial:
I really enjoy the series of interviews by LCCA with Jerry Calabrese. But I can not figure out why he wasn't asked about who oversees quality control in Chinese factory who makes the trains and how quality control is accomplished. To me, this would have been a perfect time to ask these type questions. Was this a total politically correct interview?

TEX
Steve

Steve,

It was more of a matter of time constraint. We could have asked any questions and talk about any subjects. We were not restricted in any way, other then time. We had an all day off-camera business meeting with Jerry. We just ran out of time. This can be a question during future interviews. He touched on some of the supply and delivery issues,the customer service responsiveness, but we did not have an in-depth discussion specifically about quality control. He talked about the service.

Al K.

Al K.

Thanks for the reply Al. I understand these interviews are under time constraints. I believe questions relating to quality control, how it is accomplished in Chinese factory, who oversees QC and how is Lionel able to improve on QC are questions forum members have been asking for years. It would nice to get answers to these questions as I see them as priority topics on the forum and elsewhere.

TEX
Steve

quote:

Originally posted by mike dench:
Thanks Al. I really enjoyed watching those interview videos. He's a CEO who obviously does all he can to promote the brand and has answers that show he cares about the trains not just the company.

It must be a heck of a task to stay on top of all that, development, customer service, getting the product to market and so forth. Quite a different sort of man to some CEO's of other consumer products who sometimes leave one wondering whether or not they are actually aware either of what they make or who their customers are.

I'm sure he's only too aware of quality control issues as someone pointed out, he did mention the problems with Chinese factories closing down and having to locate new suppliers, I would imagine that issue is very important to Lionel as witness Mike Regan's efforts to inform us with videos about dealing with maintenance of our equipment.

I should sign up for the LCCA, I know there was a card in my two sets I bought this Christmas.

Mike,

We welcome you to join the club. You can join the club at anytime on our website www.lionelcollectors.org. Just click on the "join the club" box. Let me know if you need any assistance. You can call me at 248 709-4137 if you need to talk. We only have one rule in the LCCA and that is to have fun! Let's have some fun!

Al K.

quote:

Originally posted by TexSpecial:

quote:

Originally posted by Al K.:

quote:

Originally posted by TexSpecial:
I really enjoy the series of interviews by LCCA with Jerry Calabrese. But I can not figure out why he wasn't asked about who oversees quality control in Chinese factory who makes the trains and how quality control is accomplished. To me, this would have been a perfect time to ask these type questions. Was this a total politically correct interview?

TEX
Steve

Steve,

It was more of a matter of time constraint. We could have asked any questions and talk about any subjects. We were not restricted in any way, other then time. We had an all day off-camera business meeting with Jerry. We just ran out of time. This can be a question during future interviews. He touched on some of the supply and delivery issues,the customer service responsiveness, but we did not have an in-depth discussion specifically about quality control. He talked about the service.

Al K.

Al K.

Thanks for the reply Al. I understand these interviews are under time constraints. I believe questions relating to quality control, how it is accomplished in Chinese factory, who oversees QC and how is Lionel able to improve on QC are questions forum members have been asking for years. It would nice to get answers to these questions as I see them as priority topics on the forum and elsewhere.

TEX
Steve

Tex Steve,

I agree. We will be talking again with Jerry in the near future. There are obviously economic, supply and quality issues within the Asian toy train manufacturing supply base (new sources etc) as well in other parts of the world. We live in a global economy whether we like it or not. It is not un-common for suppliers who are not profitable to take short cuts and create their own poor quality issues. Then it also takes time to develop new suppliers. Lionel had to go to a new supplier and I think there is a steep learning curve for them to meet our North American standards and customer expectations. I suspect this is some of the reasons why Lionel is trying to develop some manufacturing back here in the US. They experienced some difficulties and setbacks, but they are not giving up, and they are continuing to work on developing alternate local manufacturing sources here in the states. I believe they are working hard to continue to develop and raise the quality standards of their current supply base and to simultaneously develop possible alternatives sources here. Stay tuned for future updates from the LCCA at www.lionelcollectors.org

Al K.

quote:

Tex Steve,

I agree. We will be talking again with Jerry in the near future. There are obviously economic, supply and quality issues within the Asian toy train manufacturing supply base (new sources etc) as well in other parts of the world. We live in a global economy whether we like it or not. It is not un-common for suppliers who are not profitable to take short cuts and create their own poor quality issues. Then it also takes time to develop new suppliers. Lionel had to go to a new supplier and I think there is a steep learning curve for them to meet our North American standards and customer expectations. I suspect this is some of the reasons why Lionel is trying to develop some manufacturing back here in the US. They experienced some difficulties and setbacks, but they are not giving up, and they are continuing to work on developing alternate local manufacturing sources here in the states. I believe they are working hard to continue to develop and raise the quality standards of their current supply base and to simultaneously develop possible alternatives sources here. Stay tuned for future updates from the LCCA at www.lionelcollectors.org

Al K

Thanks again Al. Looking forward in hearing what Jerry has to say on the subject of QC. Hope he doesn't dodge the bullet. When can we expect update of the Texas Special SW and calf? Are you going to be in Portland, OR in Feb?

TEX
Steve

quote:

Originally posted by TexSpecial:

quote:

Tex Steve,

I agree. We will be talking again with Jerry in the near future. There are obviously economic, supply and quality issues within the Asian toy train manufacturing supply base (new sources etc) as well in other parts of the world. We live in a global economy whether we like it or not. It is not un-common for suppliers who are not profitable to take short cuts and create their own poor quality issues. Then it also takes time to develop new suppliers. Lionel had to go to a new supplier and I think there is a steep learning curve for them to meet our North American standards and customer expectations. I suspect this is some of the reasons why Lionel is trying to develop some manufacturing back here in the US. They experienced some difficulties and setbacks, but they are not giving up, and they are continuing to work on developing alternate local manufacturing sources here in the states. I believe they are working hard to continue to develop and raise the quality standards of their current supply base and to simultaneously develop possible alternatives sources here. Stay tuned for future updates from the LCCA at www.lionelcollectors.org

Al K

Thanks again Al. Looking forward in hearing what Jerry has to say on the subject of QC. Hope he doesn't dodge the bullet. When can we expect update of the Texas Special SW and calf? Are you going to be in Portland, OR in Feb?

TEX
Steve

Tex Steve, Lou Caponi is still working out the details
and getting pricing from Lionel on the Texas Special Sw and calf. I am presently planning to be at the LCCA booth at the Portland WGHOT show. I hope i I look forward to meeting you there.

Al K.