Nowadays, most parts manufacturers produce their products in China or Southeast Asia.
We’re no exception at Moto Rockman—about half of our components are manufactured overseas.
The reason is simple: lower costs.
But what exactly makes it cheaper?
The biggest factor is, of course, labor costs.
Employee wages are generally much lower.
And yet, many of the suppliers I work with in China drive nicer cars than I do.
They’re not even managers.
So how does that happen?
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Next comes material costs.
It’s not that they use cheaper materials.
They’re cheaper because they’re produced in enormous volumes.
Take aluminum alloys, for example:
① A2017 → Duralumin
② A2024 → Super Duralumin
③ A7075 → Extra Super Duralumin
These are the three major duralumin alloys.
The higher the strength, the higher the price.
A2024 typically costs about twice as much as A2017, while A7075 can cost more than three times as much.
That’s why, in Japan, A2017 is commonly used whenever possible.
The interesting part is that A2017 is a Japanese standard alloy.
As a result, it’s not readily available overseas.
If an overseas factory wants to use A2017, it has to be imported from Japan.
That means paying not only for the material itself, but also for shipping.
At that point, producing overseas starts to lose its cost advantage.
So manufacturers often end up choosing the more expensive A2024 or A7075 instead.
But here’s the surprising part…
While A2017 isn’t widely available, A7075 is manufactured in massive quantities in China.
And because of that, it’s inexpensive.
In fact, Chinese-made A7075 often costs about the same as Japanese A2017—or sometimes even less.
The main reason for choosing A2017 is usually cost.
But if you can buy the stronger A7075 for the same price, it’s an easy choice.
As an added bonus, A7075 also produces a better anodized finish.
It’s a win-win.
That said… it’s still China.
Some suppliers are said to be less than trustworthy.
We trust the suppliers we work with, but we have no way of knowing every material source they use.
They provide mill certificates (material inspection certificates), but I’ve even heard stories of those being falsified.
That’s why we regularly send materials to an independent industrial testing laboratory for verification.
Fortunately, we’ve never found any substandard material so far.
