When and why did Sonor stop working metal in Germany?

[Frank Godiva]

Environmental laws in the early 90s caused Sonor to move all metal works to Asia. This was unfortunately even after Sonor made a hefty capital investment in trying to comply with the new regulations. The 94 Designer video shows a guy fishing downstream from the factory to highlight how clean the discharge from the plant was.

Today the top line series wood shells are made in Germany. All the metal, plastic and rubber parts are made elsewhere.

“At the end of 1997, they formed a partnership with JMT Musical Instrument Company, a manufacturer of many brands of musical instruments and accessories sold worldwide. Then they moved all the Force molds and tooling to China. Going offshore allowed them to resume manufacturing the series the following year-but at a much lower cost.

Sonor's arrangement with JM (as he and the other Germans abbreviate the company's name) sign of modern economic realities. "If you look around to other industries-cars, financing, banks, pharmaceuticals—they're all merging to become bigger and more powerful worldwide," "That's what we have done. JM is part of the KHS Group, a big company — a strong company - with facilities around the world. We are prepared for the future now."

"Prepared" may be an understatement. Sonor's market share has already grown, and they exude a confidence the industry hasn't seen from them in years. "We budgeted for producing a very large number of drumsets in 2000-and we will reach it," "We're optimistic about growth because this is the first time Sonor is really working to establish itself in the competitive price range. But budgeting for strong sales isn't based upon enthusiasm. We have distribution partners all over the world. Each of them gives us a budget for the year, based upon their estimates of sales. For the 2001 and 3001 series, their budgets jumped up like crazy.

If Sonor's immediate prospects seem bright, the horizon could be positively blinding with China's billion-plus population. "Sooner or later the Chinese market will be open," "When that happens, Sonor will already be here. We chose JM based upon the quality of the company not the country they are in. But fortunately for us, they are in China."

JM's metalworks factory is at a separate four-acre site approximately thirty minutes away from the main manufacturing complex. (For environmental reasons, the government restricts electroplating operations to certain districts.) The processes performed there include die-casting, processing (drilling, threading, etc.), preparation (buffing, vibration polishing), and plating. Both facilities are clean, efficient, and completely modern.

Most of the diecasting is done on new vacuum die-casting machinery, the industry's technical standard. The vacuum eliminates air pockets in the molds as the metal is injected, ensuring stronger, higher-quality parts. It also reduces the burrs and other distortions common to less advanced types of casting.

Many of the smaller metal parts are polished in high-tech vibration polishing machines, where water and thousands of different-sized ceramic "cones" find their way into the parts' holes and crevices.

Then JMT's electrolytic plating machines, also state-of-the-art, apply copper, nickel, and finally chrome plating to much of the Force series' hardware.

"Most of the manufacturing equipment is brand-new," "Some of it is made right here at JM. Some of it comes from other countries. There are even some American-made computer-controlled machines that cost millions of dollars." Even for their lower-cost products, Sonor clearly spared no expense “