Bummer news from Bell

Drunkonunleaded 4/10/2023 1:24pm
4/10/2023 1:24pm
stiksandstones wrote:
Ah yes, another california hater...you clearly didn't get the memo, that Bell/Giro will be moving from their CALIFORNIA offices, to their new CALIFORNIA offices at the...

Ah yes, another california hater...you clearly didn't get the memo, that Bell/Giro will be moving from their CALIFORNIA offices, to their new CALIFORNIA offices at the Fox building. Point being, no one moved out of CALIFORNIA.

Hasletjoe wrote:
I did read that. I simply provided facts that a lot of large corporations have moved from the state of California to more business friendly locals...

I did read that. I simply provided facts that a lot of large corporations have moved from the state of California to more business friendly locals.

Read this article from a year ago. States most of the production is now in foreign countries with the engineering in the US.

https://motoprove.com/where-are-bell-motorcycle-helmets-made/

Excerpt:

Does Bell still operate in America?

As their business grew and the cost of labor/production went up, Bell decided to move their business out of America. Currently, Bell operates its plants from different locations around the world. 

The production plants are located in China, Bahrain, and Quebec. Whereas, the R&D department still operates inside the United States. 

What did I say to elicit such response?  Let me buy you a Bud Light!

 

quadzrulebro wrote:
Their racing helmets (along with Fox, TLD, Fly, 6D, and many others) are made by Topkey Composites who is based in Taiwan.  Bell is a helmet...

Their racing helmets (along with Fox, TLD, Fly, 6D, and many others) are made by Topkey Composites who is based in Taiwan.  Bell is a helmet brand, not a manufacturer. 

Correct.  

I know that this is sort of convoluted, but the article being cited is referring to "Bell Racing" helmets, who produces products primarily for auto racing and licenses the name Bell.  You are correct that most of their production is now in Bahrain or China.  IIRC, they are owned by OMP.

"Bell Sports" is the Vista-owned Bell who focuses on moto and cycling.  Those are the ones produced by Topkey.

Bell Sports is mostly sales and marketing.  I'd like to believe that they do some engineering and contract other OEMs (such as Topkey) for manufacturing, but I would be willing to bet that their "engineering" is more on focused on validation and the innovation is in the hands of the actual manufacturer.

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insider
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insider 4/11/2023 3:43pm
4/11/2023 3:43pm
Drunkonunleaded wrote:
Correct.   I know that this is sort of convoluted, but the article being cited is referring to "Bell Racing" helmets, who produces products primarily for auto...

Correct.  

I know that this is sort of convoluted, but the article being cited is referring to "Bell Racing" helmets, who produces products primarily for auto racing and licenses the name Bell.  You are correct that most of their production is now in Bahrain or China.  IIRC, they are owned by OMP.

"Bell Sports" is the Vista-owned Bell who focuses on moto and cycling.  Those are the ones produced by Topkey.

Bell Sports is mostly sales and marketing.  I'd like to believe that they do some engineering and contract other OEMs (such as Topkey) for manufacturing, but I would be willing to bet that their "engineering" is more on focused on validation and the innovation is in the hands of the actual manufacturer.

You are totally wrong here. Bell Sports is much more then buying an off the shelve concept from a manufacturing partner like Topkey. The R&D and design happens all at Bell in-house. Shell, interior, safety features (except for example a licenced use of MIPS) are designed by Bell engineers.

Of course their manufacturing partners are involved from an early stage as there are multiple prototypes during development of a new helmet and of course the whole mass producing stage needs to be streamlined to the point it delivers the quality product Bell demands it to be. 

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Drunkonunleaded 4/12/2023 6:10am
4/12/2023 6:10am
Drunkonunleaded wrote:
Correct.   I know that this is sort of convoluted, but the article being cited is referring to "Bell Racing" helmets, who produces products primarily for auto...

Correct.  

I know that this is sort of convoluted, but the article being cited is referring to "Bell Racing" helmets, who produces products primarily for auto racing and licenses the name Bell.  You are correct that most of their production is now in Bahrain or China.  IIRC, they are owned by OMP.

"Bell Sports" is the Vista-owned Bell who focuses on moto and cycling.  Those are the ones produced by Topkey.

Bell Sports is mostly sales and marketing.  I'd like to believe that they do some engineering and contract other OEMs (such as Topkey) for manufacturing, but I would be willing to bet that their "engineering" is more on focused on validation and the innovation is in the hands of the actual manufacturer.

insider wrote:
You are totally wrong here. Bell Sports is much more then buying an off the shelve concept from a manufacturing partner like Topkey. The R&D and...

You are totally wrong here. Bell Sports is much more then buying an off the shelve concept from a manufacturing partner like Topkey. The R&D and design happens all at Bell in-house. Shell, interior, safety features (except for example a licenced use of MIPS) are designed by Bell engineers.

Of course their manufacturing partners are involved from an early stage as there are multiple prototypes during development of a new helmet and of course the whole mass producing stage needs to be streamlined to the point it delivers the quality product Bell demands it to be. 

I wouldn't say totally wrong, what I've said about their corporate structure (Bell Sports vs. Bell Racing) is correct.

With regards to their R&D, I made no absolute claim.  Frankly, it wouldn't surprise me if they allow the manufacturer do most of the legwork on R&D; this is common practice in other industries (and other business units within Vista itself).  It is good to hear that Bell is still working to push things forward, that's pretty rare in this day and age.

PTshox
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PTshox 4/12/2023 1:17pm
4/12/2023 1:17pm

Heck... someone reach out to Cody Webb... he worked there for a time and should be able to give you the scoop on where design/engineering is driven from. 

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Spoonguy
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Spoonguy 4/12/2023 2:45pm
4/12/2023 2:45pm

People forget large businesses have a responsibility to share holders as well, many who depend on that firm's success for income.

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RichieW13
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RichieW13 4/12/2023 5:12pm
4/12/2023 5:12pm
TheDennisSystem wrote:

Probably wasn’t too smart to print hundreds of billions of dollars in the past few years…

Maybe.  The alternative may have been worse. 

 

Though I'm not sure how that applies to this Bell situation.

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Hcallz5 4/12/2023 5:31pm
4/12/2023 5:31pm

The China mindset has ruined most products. Build it as cheaply as possible with no regard to how the people along the supply chain are treated. Just get it to my doorstep as cheaply as possible and I"ll throw it in the trash in two years and buy another. Seems like this style of economy is slowly coming back around to haunt us. The corps love when we have to keep buying junk so they keep making it. Then pay all the workers up the chain less and less because the cheap product has run all the small guys that actually build a quality product out of business. Sad day

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PTshox 4/12/2023 7:33pm
4/12/2023 7:33pm
Hcallz5 wrote:
The China mindset has ruined most products. Build it as cheaply as possible with no regard to how the people along the supply chain are treated...

The China mindset has ruined most products. Build it as cheaply as possible with no regard to how the people along the supply chain are treated. Just get it to my doorstep as cheaply as possible and I"ll throw it in the trash in two years and buy another. Seems like this style of economy is slowly coming back around to haunt us. The corps love when we have to keep buying junk so they keep making it. Then pay all the workers up the chain less and less because the cheap product has run all the small guys that actually build a quality product out of business. Sad day

Well... actually this is all starting to turn around and come back to North America. They call it "de-globalization"... meaning going from a global supply chain to one back home. I don't like the term as its a little off.. but bottom line is the US Industries have started to wake up and realize not having critical stuff mfg. near home is not such a great idea. It's already started. Covid helped push up the time frame. 

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Spoonguy 4/13/2023 4:06am
4/13/2023 4:06am
Hcallz5 wrote:
The China mindset has ruined most products. Build it as cheaply as possible with no regard to how the people along the supply chain are treated...

The China mindset has ruined most products. Build it as cheaply as possible with no regard to how the people along the supply chain are treated. Just get it to my doorstep as cheaply as possible and I"ll throw it in the trash in two years and buy another. Seems like this style of economy is slowly coming back around to haunt us. The corps love when we have to keep buying junk so they keep making it. Then pay all the workers up the chain less and less because the cheap product has run all the small guys that actually build a quality product out of business. Sad day

Didn't Kmart start this in the late 1950s?

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