They’re looking an awful lot like the more expensive American-made originals, as many overseas factories have been steadily closing the production-quality gap over the last two decades.
So, is the price the only difference anymore? Is now the time to start saving on those impressive-looking imports?
Here’s a simple 4-step process to solve the puzzle.
Quality differences are still evident, even if detecting them takes more careful inspection.
Where foreign manufacturers have primarily closed the quality gap is on their castings, by expanding their operational capabilities and honing their skills on tooling.
Castings are key to a quality piece of equipment and, on the showroom floor, they present well. But performance and durability also depend heavily on the details.
Where these imports still tend to come up short against American-made originals is in their failure to hold the tight tolerances necessary to achieve a higher-quality fit and finish.
The results, if you take a closer look, are apparent in issues such as looser joints, rods and other moving parts that can affect output precision and consistency. Or, if occurring at stress or contact points, they can cause breakdowns.
If the fit-and-finish details still aren’t obvious, ask for an opportunity to put the import up against an American-made alternative in a hands-on trial.
Many imports earn the term “knock-off” because they’ve been reverse-engineered (i.e. copied) from an American model. The outcome can appear as a true replica. But, without understanding what every dimple, ridge and other subtle design feature was intended to achieve in the original, these overseas manufacturers have no way of knowing if their finished product is really working correctly.
You’ll notice the difference when you put the machines to work. The import will simply feel cheaper, less rigid and, to an extent, perhaps even unstable—whereas the original should demonstrate a smoother, crisper motion, with less effort and less ‘play’ among the components.
Following years, months, or, even in some unfortunate cases, only weeks of use, the quality shortfall in the cheaper imports will become glaring. The natural wear and tear of operation will take a toll on these imports much earlier in their life cycle.
Even if premature wear occurs on a component intended for periodic replacement—the most common example is a set of cutting blades—the import’s higher replacement frequency adds to your total cost of ownership.
And that’s when the price gap closes, making the American-manufactured product a wiser long-term investment.
Higher quality, American-made equipment does, indeed, promise a greater return on investment.
But that doesn’t mean the cheaper imports (often, vastly cheaper) don’t have a rightful place in some foodservice kitchens.
But the imports can make perfect sense for other operators who are equally justifiable as more price-conscious buyers—those who might run a smaller-scale establishment, a startup venture that’s tight on capital or a kitchen looking for a low-volume addition to its current capacity.