Poland is just a few miles from Sweden (across the baltic sea). If I was to produce something to save the hassle with global manufacturing, tariffs, duty etc. I would produce in east european EU-states, too. And you can go there in person, check things and have common rules for production and sales. Poland produces a lot of consumer home electric devices (Siemens dishwashers etc.). There is also a good industrial infrastructure in Slovakia and the Czech republic. East Germany is not too bad, either. Lots of skilled people and tech know how in Saxonia - and still considerably lower wages for industrial workers than in West Germany. Besides: the QC of Elektron canât be so much worse I had a QC-related problems with almost every new device I bought from them (digitakt: sticky buttons; digitone: defect encoders; digitone keys: sticky key in keybed; cycles: one defect LED, Rytm: different colors and brightness of pads). The only thing that was up to the standard I expect in this price range was the Octatrack (gray) I will check if that one was made in Poland.
Edit (2021-03-21): To add some confusion to the discussion: my Octatrack was made in Sweden
Hah, they most likely oursourced the production because they couldnt get enough boxes made in sweden to meet the demand. Its a common problem for manufacturing in Finland as well.
Most people lose jobs at some point in their life and find another.
There are various economic reasons why and how manufacturing chains are built up.
Generally the most efficient when all the manufacturing steps happen at one factory, one company or at least at one geographical cluster.
Elektron already outsourced most part of the manufacturing. They had probably the final test and QC in-house but not the PCB manufacturing and SMD placement.
The problem with in-house testing and QC is that failure rate can be quite high for complex electronics and it is better to test at the assembly factory.
The failure rate for highest standard manufacturing, for example IPhone can be as low as 5 percent where the complete factory with the assembly line is optimized and set for just IPhone assembly.
Elektron is too small, probably no dedicated assembly line and personnel for their products, have to share slots with other products and many other changing factors with components.
At the end, failure rate can be 10 percent or even more. Moving dead PCBs is just waste of money.
Finding the right partner is the key in the industry. Whether in Sweden, China or Poland - it is crucial.
Eastern Europe is currently for EU what is China for the world. Especially cars and electronics related.
If the Polish contractor is good quality and good price, everyone including us customers will win. Thatâs simple economics. For example, Elektron can get more profit and can hire more developers (this is probably the area they are the best at) and make better products.
You say âless functional, cheaper boxesâ, I say "a great way to entice new customers to the brand.
Before the DT/DN, I would probably never have bought an Elektron device without some hands on experience first, which I was unlikely to get during lockdowns etcâŠ
Thanks to a cheap(er) entry point and a lot of great online videos, I was convinced by the DN and could afford it. I now have three devices from them.
For someone who doesnât know if Elektron devices are for them, the Model series is a great way to dip your toes in, and will potentially serve as a stepping stone to the bigger boxes in time.
Not everyone can afford to blow ~ÂŁ1k on a fairly small box that on first inspection may not look to do a great deal.
Sure, but if it worked, they should have made more money. I want them to succeed, but I also really want them to create a new machine that can sequence its own FX, and has parameter slide capabilities; thatâs the main reason Iâm drawn to Elektron.
The first year of a product is always tough as you have to cover all the R&D, tooling for manufacturing, small runs of test units etc. etc.
I would assume/hope this year will be a lot better.
Iâd like them to create a new machine with these capabilities that made me like them in the first place, not release the same old machines in a new color.
I would also say that I think there are few contractors overseeing the whole manufacturing process, the work is mainly done by robots
I happened to visit a very known Company Manufacturer in 2017 and I was shocked to see all robots doing the assembling from screwing screws to packing the finished product and preparing them for shipment in different territories.
I had a QC-related problems with almost every new device I bought from them (digitakt: sticky buttons; digitone: defect encoders; digitone keys: sticky key in keybed; cycles: one defect LED, Rytm: different colors and brightness of pads). The only thing that was up to the standard I expect in this price range was the Octatrack (gray) 
I will check if that one was made in Poland. 
