ACL Bearings in trouble... =(

[bazeng]

It looks like they are struggling!
I'm running ACL Race in my vr4 and ACL Duraglides in the AMG.

I think I'm gonna stock up just in case.
I personally think they make the best bearings around.

Hopefully they stay in business

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/08/26/2667020.htm

 

[DOUGMO]

yeah, its been coming for a while baz, the affects are alreay filtering through the engine recoing business'.

sad to see so many jobs go from lonnie though if it falls on its arse 280 employees in a town of under 70k people is pretty serious.

 

[EVO-00X]

Personally I cant uinderstand how such a company is struggling so much? They have a fair share of the market for bearing supply so you would think some bad business decisions have been the cause of it?

What's $7m to Ford Australia? surely they could bail them out and become a partner in there somewhere?

 

[DOUGMO]

i think a bit of it may have to do with the retail/trade arm of the business going bad in vic about 8 months ago which i think sapped alot of life out of the business.

also they dont have any cheap labour/staff to work around the clock making bearings.

 

[EVO-00X]

Then they can limit supply (reducing overheads) which in turn will increase demand. Then they can increase cost to help bail themselves out provided they are competitive enough. The automotive industry will pay the extra $$ for ACL for sure you'd think? There's no substitute for quality and people wouldnt mind a 20% increase in cost for example. We're not talking about big $$ items here as sets of bearings may be worth $100-$200. Anyohw, Im sure they've exhausted every avenue to try and dig themselves out of a hole lol

 

[DOUGMO]

one off(or every now and then) engine builders probably wouldnt mind but if you have to increase your overheads by 20% on parts to build reco engine for example it cuts into your profit quite a bit.
i think too many people are driven by cost only these days, which is a killer.

 

[Dean]

Then they can limit supply (reducing overheads) which in turn will increase demand. Then they can increase cost to help bail themselves out provided they are competitive enough. The automotive industry will pay the extra $$ for ACL for sure you'd think? There's no substitute for quality and people wouldnt mind a 20% increase in cost for example. We're not talking about big $$ items here as sets of bearings may be worth $100-$200. Anyohw, Im sure they've exhausted every avenue to try and dig themselves out of a hole lol

If it was that easy, they would have done it by now
Its not as simple as reducing overheads.
Increasing costs would also force consumers to look to cheaper alternatives and substitute quality.
Thats just the way the world operates.

 

[EVO-00X]

Yeah but only a fool would go for cheaper less quality engine bearings as its better to pay a bit extra for the good stuff Australia has a great commodity in ACL, if they do bump up their price a bit I'd still think the majority of us would continue to buy their product for piece of mind. That is, as long as they dont start cutting corners and reducing manufacturing costs which in turn can effect the quality of the product. The last thing I'd want to see is the good name of ACL go down the drain

 

[Dean]

Correct. For the basic consumer like us.
Although for the big guns, like Ford with million dollar contracts with the company, an increase in price would be detrimental to them.
Fords not doing that great already as it is! Any increase in price would most likely mean they'll look to China.
Which is sad, and the last thing I'd like to see aswell.

 

[DOUGMO]

and I think you will find that they are concentrating on the ford orders and others may be suffering for it......and really why wouldnt they look after them selves?

 

[v8silvia]

lets just hope the quality is not effected in the cost cutting

 

[marinetowing]

I have relatives that work at the plant, after a meeting yesterday it appears that they have put the company into liquidation and have offered redundancies to some employees.