How long had Briggs been outsourcing parts overseas?

[creia]

OK,first full disclaimer:
Maybe I am just naive or just been hiding under a rock too long....
How long has Briggs & Stratton been having parts made overseas?
As many of you know, my son and I work on and restore the old (1960s-1970's) "flatheads". We buy most of our parts on EBay as OEM Briggs "New old stock" (NOS). We recently bought 2 crankcase sidecover crankshaft oil seals from a couple of different sellers for a little 1975 Briggs 3 HP. Both came in original Briggs packaging and had the correct matching part #'s.The first one we installed leaked immediately. After removing it and on close inspection We noticed it had "Thailand" stamped on it. We installed the other one from a different seller that had "USA" stamped on it- it DID NOT leak. Do you think that Is just a coincidence that the overseas-made Thailand it leaked, or has Briggs lowered their standard of quality in manufacturing? - Please say it ain't so!!
Michael

[KE4AVB]

For a considerable while...I only been around them since '09 but have seen multiple countries of origin printed on part packages. It part of our world economy. This just show you how easily we can be affected by changes in our tariffs or laws on imports. It would nice if we could make all the parts here but thinking about can make your head spin. The factory that makes that gasket may make it for multiple OEMs under different PNs which we may never even see in this country.

I gotten parts that have been damage during transportation. Considering the amount of items being handled the problems are actually quite small but that nonetheless make things better with it is you, me, or someone else that get a damaged or part. On top of that with Murphy's Law it always seems to happen when you need the part the most is when you get one that is defective somehow. And something else to think about NOS is just that Old Stock. New but never used don't means that parts haven't deteriorated from age.

I don't know what people would classify me as when it to comes the environment but I just like not doing more damage than necessary, try to keep things clean, and recycle whenever I can. Now some of places that these parts come from don't have the same sense about keeping things cleaned. I have seen those pictures of places that are nothing but garbage dumps that people and other animals have to live around those foreign factories. I am thankful that the EPA and OSHA here does exist to protect us from ourselves. Yes their rules are a pain at times to deal with but they do protect us from being idiots too.

These agencies are having their hands tied lately by those that don't think the human species are destroying our environment. Sorry but I do agree with them that we are screwing up our world. When 911 happened I do remember how clear skies got after just 2 weeks in my area with all the planes grounded and all the limited vehicle usage.

Btw, I have only recycled around 10 gallons of used oil so far this Spring that would other be in the local waterways or some backyard area. I think last year my total was around 50-55 gallons oil and around 2000 lbs of steel.

[Fulltilt]

That reminds me...I gotta drag my waste oil up to Wally World for recycling Monday.

[creia]

Thanks for the replies so far- keep them coming!
We did notice that the crank seal made in Thailand came in a newer style Briggs packaging, while the USA made one was older packaging. My son and I have replaced LOTS of these crank seals and to the best of my knowledge this is the first one we have ever purchased and installed that was made overseas.What I find interesting (maybe just a coincidence?) is that this Thailand-made crank seal is the first and only one that ever leaked.
Michael

[bgsengine]

I know Briggs has sourced parts from overseas since the early 1990's when I first noticed a part "Made in Taiwan" on briggs packaging - they have factories worldwide where parts are produced... Could be the ones from Thailand are fine and you just happened to luck into one that slipped by Quality Control..

I *have* noticed a relative increase in "new defective" and mis-packaged parts (some missing parts and some that have 2 pieces in a single pack, some that arrived broken, etc. even had a couple of sealed packages with NOTHING IN IT!) With our parts volume it is more noticeable.. but I think they have had a slight uptick as a percentage of volume in new defectives - I usually just write them off and re-order when they are relatively cheap items, its not worth the time and trouble to file a claim on each one.

[KE4AVB]

I usually just write them off and re-order when they are relatively cheap items, its not worth the time and trouble to file a claim on each one.

Now that the business accountant at work. I have done this for years as it costs more to return some items than they are worth though I do let my supplier know shortages and mis-ships as they usually credit my account which I used the next time when I re-order the part(s).

I have received that wrong parts completely of considerable value then we ship them back for the correct ones. I had ordered once a hydraulic puller from Northern Tools and got a dozen ball pein hammers. I think someone thought that I should just beat the part off.

[Luffydog]

Got to love those people who sale the Briggs boxes with a cheap part with no numbers. And for the oil I am over 100 gallons of used oil this season.

[KE4AVB]

Thank you for recycling.

As I said I have only recycle a few gallons this year but my changes are small nowadays when compare to what I did in the past. I was changing oil in vehicles that were using 36-38 qts per oil change @ a rate 10 changes a day. And we did crush those 2 quart oil filters to extract as much as we could and this is something I still do here. Macks do have a rather large oil pan. and my catch pan back was a 55 gallon drum and boy was it fun if you dropped the drain plug in it. While there I made a drain basket that fit the 55 as to catch things like this and to keep the birds from drowning as they did fly in the shop at times.