BD recalls are adding up...

Ray Pinpillage wrote: What makes you think they had dedicated QC managers to begin with? A lot of manufacturing firms split QC responsibilities with other areas of responsibilities.

a global public company that makes life saving equipment does have dedicated QC managers???

OMG u sooo smart !!!

;)

Morgan Patterson wrote: Certainly can, and seems they're taking all the right steps and I think the comparison is helpful. Right vs Wrong way of doing it...if that's not helpful to you, okay.

Being better than the worst-in-class does not demonstrate acceptability, it demonstrates that you are better than the worst-in-class.

That is why I said it is unhelpful, reference to actions exceeding the negative outlier case do not demonstrate quality.

But you are correct, you can compare anything you want.

If they really did clean house in the QC dept, can't help but feel a little bad, hard to imagine an entire dept. was complicit & deserved to be fired.

Dylan B. wrote: No, these are different problems. The slings had a "tape splice," but there was no problem with the bar tacks. The "tape splice," if from where two lengths of webbing are taped together on the spool for bulk transportation and storage.

Whoops, that's right, thank you.

I am a metolius fan, but even I know that BD is a quality company that wont let their brand or gear fall to poor standards. They will stand behind it.

And when I can finally get a full set of BD .3-3 made in the states from a retailer (after the china stuff has cleared out), I will and it will compliment my metolius as a good back-up/doubles set.

They will get it ironed out because they do care.

RangerJ wrote:http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en/recalls.html 2016 is a bad year for recalls, but their track record seems strong for producing quality gear. There was this unfortunate incident with that alpine bod buckle back in the 90s though. youtube.com/watch?v=ccC_d1u…

Earl Wiggins made that happen. He was in charge of the rigging crew on the film; and apparently a few special effects. Some of the stories you hear on the construction site turn out to be pretty cool. Currently working for one of the riggers from the movie.

Pete Spri wrote:I am a metolius fan, but even I know that BD is a quality company that wont let their brand or gear fall to poor standards. They will stand behind it. And when I can finally get a full set of BD .3-3 made in the states from a retailer (after the china stuff has cleared out), I will and it will compliment my metolius as a good back-up/doubles set. They will get it ironed out because they do care.

Why wait?

Why not buy the Made in China gear now? They have a much better track record than the gear that has been in their current Utah factory.

Morgan Patterson wrote: I think Spiney's last comment brings up a great point... does he know this to be the case though or just conjecture?

As stated, conjecture. But a possibility consistent with the facts: multiple recalls, quality "audit," job listings for most or all of the QA staff (an obvious clean-out)… and yet, a current job listing for QA inspectors specifying that they must work shifts at times of day when a large body of data shows human attention to detail as at its lowest and the propensity to make mistakes is at its highest.

All of that, in aggregate, proves absolutely nothing. But it is consistent with a toxic management culture that is attempting to shift blame to the previous QA staff.

That is why, if I were thinking of applying for the open position of BD QA Director, I would be asking some very pointed questions of BD management and finding out as much as I could about the background of this situation. I'd definitely be looking to buy the former QA Director a beer, and to find out what he thinks happened…

I have no dog in this hunt. No inside info. I know no one involved personally, have no financial interest beyond owning a few Camalots, and am going solely on the public record here.

It looks like from a corporate standpoint they are going through a turbulent time-

August 2014 Change of leadership from an industry insider to Zeena Freeman (Previously held positions at The Gap and Sony- her Linked touts her as someone involved in "Lifestyle Brands")

June 2015 Zeena Resigns

October 2015 Large sale of POC brand

Seems to me they want to push into the lifestyle brands segment of the outdoor industry while still servicing the climbing goods category. These recalls are a result of losing focus somewhere along the way, moving production from PRC to US, along with possible cost saving measures due to the fact they are bleeding cash (had a $75 million dollar net loss in 2015).

Take a look at their financials:
blackdiamond-inc.com/phoeni…;p=irol-newsArticle&ID=2148311

Glad all my cams are old!

heres the 100$ question ...

does BD inspect and test EVERY piece of gear that goes out .... or do they to a sampling?


if its the latter it explains alot

;)

bearbreeder wrote:heres the 100$ question ... does BD inspect and test EVERY piece of gear that goes out .... or do they to a sampling? if its the latter it explains alot ;)

Exactly.

I like BD, but their attitude that they are somehow special for finding a "very small number" of assembly/mfg failures unacceptable is worrisome. OF COURSE it's unacceptable. I just hope they can get their QA/QC act together and put this behind them quickly.

ubu wrote: Exactly. I like BD, but their attitude that they are somehow special for finding a "very small number" of assembly/mfg failures unacceptable is worrisome. OF COURSE it's unacceptable. I just hope they can get their QA/QC act together and put this behind them quickly.

Well, BD, which is it? 3 sigma or 6 sigma?

bearbreeder wrote:heres the 100$ question ... does BD inspect and test EVERY piece of gear that goes out .... or do they to a sampling? if its the latter it explains alot ;)

I hear they do a drop test on every piece of gear.

Dylan B. wrote: According to both recalls, all of the recalled products were manufactured in SLC, not China.

Perhaps BD should move their production line back to China.

I like reading all the responses.

I'm happy that BD is opting to do the recalls before there are any injuries and without outside pressure.

BD does have a long history of innovative ideas in outdoor equipment, and props to them for setting many standards.

I think the helium friends are sounding more reliable to me as far as a lack of recalls go...

I didn't realize BD moved production back to SL, Utah -- that's cool.

So, does BD have a larger number of recalls per number of products, compared to other rock gear companies? Most of the recalls lately are climbing related products.

Any input on this question?

GMBurns wrote: I hear they do a drop test on every piece of gear.

I heard they test every piece of gear they sell to failure, before allowing it to be put on shelves ;)

Frankly, not being a QC guy, I'm not sure how typical QC procedures try to find low-frequency catastrophic errors (e.g. the tape splice problem between spools), but it looks like BD employs/employed 3-sigma:

rockandice.com/gear-guide-t…

I guess low-frequency catastrophic error would be the natural-born enemy of 3-sigma, which would be most adept at monitoring systemic variation.

That is a substantial net loss for a company of this size. Forget the recall, I hope BD doesn't go out of business. Better stock up on some c4's.

Good for BD, "biting the bullet" so to speak, to try and make this right. I hope they recover from this. I know I will continue to buy their cams.

C. Holt wrote:That is a substantial net loss for a company of this size. Forget the recall, I hope BD doesn't go out of business. Better stock up on some c4's.

Net loss of what? The company found 1 defective cam in-house. Posted photos on how to inspect the cams, which they don't recommend sending in cams and biners which don't have the defects. So other than having to put money into a QC audit and safety recall outreach I don't see much loss to BD resulting from this.

I think he's talking about the $75 million loss mentioned above.