Sipik 68 Clones - How so cheap?

[High Efficiency]

As I continue to slip further and further into flashlight oblivion I haven't been able to rationalize how they're able to be sold so cheaply. Even in the enormous quantities they're undoubtedly made in, I can't get it to add up. Circuit, heat sink, and LED prices are no big deal but I can't understand having the flashlight bodies machined, finished, and shipped that cheaply. First thought is they were in fact cast zinc but they must be aluminum. If they're aluminum I imagine they must be CNCed but again, even in volume, I can't rationalize the price.

Any machinists around that could give any insight and help me get some rest at night by not wondering about these things?

For those unfamiliar:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006E0QAFY/?tag=cpf0b6-20

 

[Raven18]

Because, China...

 

[RetroTechie]

If they're aluminum I imagine they must be CNCed but again, even in volume, I can't rationalize the price.

You do realize that CNC machining (or similar where production consists of metal drilling, cutting, grinding etc) is an almost 100% automated affair in many cases? I've read of factories that run 24/7 where personnel goes home at night, machines keep working, and people return in the morning to remove products, replace drill bits, re-supply materials etc. Think machines cutting nuts & bolts continuously, where even drill bits etc. are automatically picked from a row with replacements waiting in line.

Suppose you do that for the 'time-consuming' :thinking: bits. Then add Chinese labour costs for the quick/easy final assembly. And who's checking quality? No-one (and it shows). :laughing:

On it goes to a large volume distributor's warehouse, and end-user packages are shipped for "free" on planes in space that might otherwise have stayed empty.

I suspect such a low price doesn't reflect all costs in terms of social or environmental impact. But it does show how efficient production & distribution can be in today's world, and where the head of the pack is in this "race to the bottom". Not to mention that these products are often mediocre quality - at best.

For comparison: check the bulk price of empty soda cans (in the neighborhood of $0.05 or so IIRC). Even that includes a number of process steps (aluminium refining, cutting/shapping, cleaning, printing, coating the inside, etc).

 

[RetroTechie]

First thought is they were in fact cast zinc but they must be aluminum.

Casting would be the more expensive process, FYI. Undoubtedly these lights start as aluminium tubes. Cut pieces of that, rotate fast, do some cutting on that piece of tube as it rotates (like said, mostly automated). The raw tube will be extruded, which is like pulling an endless tube out of a toothpaste-like opening.

I've worked with such extrusion machines, but then the plastics variety. Nothing 'magical' or difficult about it, just engineering & process control. Cutoff material can be recycled to further reduce costs.