Lamp Production

Many of you are aware that Schylling is currently looking to design new products for the lava lamp. What I'm about to say is conjecture, but what if this is an opportunity to have part of the production moved back to the US?

I've been wondering how the recent tariffs may be affecting the production of lamps in China. Lava lamps are exposed to the trade war and have already taken heavy hits because "lamps" are part of the items affected. Aluminum and steel as well. The tariff is 25%. This could influence the new designs.

25% is a lot and there is a loophole. If the materials are sourced un-assembled from China in a way that they are not yet a lamp most or all of this tariff could be avoided. The "savings" would then be used to finish the assembly in the US. The wax and the master fluid could be done in the US once again. It would make for a higher quality product essentially for the same price. A decrease in defect rates would also introduce new savings for the company and bolster the brand. It also better protects their formulas from the generic market.

The 25% tariff creates more financial incentive than ever to bring production back to the US. It was considered once before and should be again. Of course it would still be mostly made in China, but that's irrelevant. Perhaps the community should once again voice their desire for the production to come back to the US under such a model. Maybe they will listen. Now is the time to speak up as they work on new designs.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by BamaMatt on June 3, 2019 at 1:17pm

I personally question if there is anyone left who knows how to make wax. Anyone still involved with the company that was around back during U.S. manufacture was probably so junior that they didn't know what was going on as the senior employees were making the wax and monitoring the quality control if it. They may have enough documentation to recreate the process but given the amount of time has passed they may not know what happened to it. I'm afraid if they make it here again they will keep using the China formula.

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Permalink Reply by k-nano on June 3, 2019 at 2:25pm

Even with the China formula they would see an immediate lowering of defect rates by installing the fluids in the US simply because they are no longer shipping lamps halfway around the world. Less shipping equals less defects isn't that hard to prove. Surely they are aware of this correlation?

I have a tremendous amount of experience with formulation. A ferrofluid lava lamp is far more difficult to formulate. If the organization as a whole was foolish enough over the years to lose both process control as well as documentation of the formulation that's because of a lack of respect for the formulation as an asset. They are close to nothing without it.

BamaMatt said:

I personally question if there is anyone left who knows how to make wax. Anyone still involved with the company that was around back during U.S. manufacture was probably so junior that they didn't know what was going on as the senior employees were making the wax and monitoring the quality control if it. They may have enough documentation to recreate the process but given the amount of time has passed they may not know what happened to it. I'm afraid if they make it here again they will keep using the China formula.

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Permalink Reply by BaBa-Gooey on June 3, 2019 at 7:20pm

I have had some pretty detailed conversations with a Shillying manager about their lava lamp failure rate and it is very high. The fact that that nothing has been done about it for so long shows nothing but massive incompetence. A first time lava customer that gets one of their shitty failures is never coming back to the brand. They have lost countless customers because of their poor quality control and lack of corrective action.

Before owning the company, Schylling distributed the lava brand for many years. They have known about these quality issues for a very long time. Their lack of action reeks of apathy and incompetence.

They also know that shipping lamps with the bulbs screwed in the sockets causes a large number of them to break. When this happens, shards of glass spread throughout the packaging. It is very hard to see broken glass embedded in bubble wrap. Their solution? They will keep shipping those lamps until they are gone. Why spend any money to eliminate and correct a serious danger? I have received several lamps filled with broken glass. This is a major product liability lawsuit just waiting to happen.

Everything about their product is piss poor. The flows suck, many are cloudy, manyof the ones that do flow and are not cloudy run hot and after a few hours all the wax sits at the top (worthless without a dimmer), the bases are extremely cheap and poorly made, finish easily rubs off (at least it did on my metallic lamp), the caps on the 16.3 don't even fit properly on the globe. Their quality control and use of the cheapest materials possible couldn't be any worse.

The only part of the product that I have never received damaged is the box!

Based on my experience with them over the last six months and the many replacements I have been sent for defective product, I have no hope Schylling will do anything good for this legendary brand.

They should sell it to Mathmos, or another competent company, and let someone who knows how to market and produce quality product take it over.

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Permalink Reply by Blind Faith on June 6, 2019 at 11:48am

So do you have any idea if we will see new lamps in the future, I’ve given up on seeing production return here. It’d be nice if creative motion still made lamps to at least have them. The irony with Lava Lite and what was Hagerstown enterprises Lava World International they had such a phenomenal brand back the until 2008 when lamps got really bad is we still had completion. But in the last decade the genetics are gone and the big company is a generic now...
BaBa-Gooey said:

I have had some pretty detailed conversations with a Shillying manager about their lava lamp failure rate and it is very high. The fact that that nothing has been done about it for so long shows nothing but massive incompetence. A first time lava customer that gets one of their shitty failures is never coming back to the brand. They have lost countless customers because of their poor quality control and lack of corrective action.

Before owning the company, Schylling distributed the lava brand for many years. They have known about these quality issues for a very long time. Their lack of action reeks of apathy and incompetence.

They also know that shipping lamps with the bulbs screwed in the sockets causes a large number of them to break. When this happens, shards of glass spread throughout the packaging. It is very hard to see broken glass embedded in bubble wrap. Their solution? They will keep shipping those lamps until they are gone. Why spend any money to eliminate and correct a serious danger? I have received several lamps filled with broken glass. This is a major product liability lawsuit just waiting to happen.

Everything about their product is piss poor. The flows suck, many are cloudy, manyof the ones that do flow and are not cloudy run hot and after a few hours all the wax sits at the top (worthless without a dimmer), the bases are extremely cheap and poorly made, finish easily rubs off (at least it did on my metallic lamp), the caps on the 16.3 don't even fit properly on the globe. Their quality control and use of the cheapest materials possible couldn't be any worse.

The only part of the product that I have never received damaged is the box!

Based on my experience with them over the last six months and the many replacements I have been sent for defective product, I have no hope Schylling will do anything good for this legendary brand.

They should sell it to Mathmos, or another competent company, and let someone who knows how to market and produce quality product take it over.

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Permalink Reply by Zachary on June 6, 2019 at 3:12pm

It is unfortunate! This was such a great product before it was outsourced to china!

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Permalink Reply by Mr MaGoo on June 6, 2019 at 3:29pm

I would not even give them credit for being generic any more. Lava Lite/ Shillying, whatever they call themselves or you want to call them has become lack luster, devoid and any new ideas on an aging product. Just look at the catalog back in the day of Lava Lite with all the different models they were coming out with! It is amazing that with all the technology today and where with all companies have at their disposal the best we can come up with is a plastic shrink wrap or etched area on glass. I don't see any of the "fire in the belly" enthusiasm from the company. It is heartbreaking.

I see all the old lamps and love them, they are truly marvelous creations, thoughts and ideas and built to last. Many come to their demise due to abuse and lack of knowledge how to take care of these beautiful lamps. I see mathmos, with the Neo, and different color combo's out of the box, and some may not like, but it is different and edgy, at least they are making an attempt to catch another part of the market. Shillying, I am afraid, is going to ride this horse into the ground. Truly sad, I wish better for them. But at this point, I just don't see it. Just my humble opinion. At this point I wish Mathmos could have access to the US economy, straight forward for their offerings. I am sure that would be the nail in the coffin for Shillying. Excuse me now, I have to go take my blood pressure pill. :P