Why would producing locos make them not "stagnant"? I don't understand... To give you some background, making Locos are the most expensive part of model railway production... And the part that carries the most risk... So if you are a good businessman why would you take that risk when others are willing to, why not just stay with your core business and add to that with items you know you can sell well and there is little risk? They have said that they will not be making locos as they don't make the money their core stuff does and are bigger risks to profit, they tried it once (N Jubilee) and that was enough.
You can stick to the knitting as they say and then totally fail to adapt when true competition comes along. As anyone who has studied production techniques will know, the great Edward Deming said 'you don't have to change. It's not mandatory to survive'
a lesson missed by many great British companies... and PECO have the opportunity handed to them on the plate, because they are actually very good at what they do, but they could be great...
To give you some background, making Locos are the most expensive part of model railway production...
They already make bodies, that's the hard bit, Minitrains have demonstrated what simple but effective chassis you can make very easily.
On the track front, they employ their own toolmakers, if they're worth their salt they could knock up a set of dies in less than a week at contribution cost, the injection moulding machines they have... where's the significant cost?
It's laziness, but it's served them well for 1001 years.
I guess returning to the original thread title, if I were a model railway manufacturer, I'd make cool track and I'd be better than PECO
But then I would have to deal with model railway enthusiasts who always know everything about everything, and I think that's what would keep me out of the market
P.
