Feather Shuttlecock production

Discussion in 'Shuttlecock' started by bbi2004, Sep 9, 2011.

  1. bbi2004

    bbi2004 Regular Member

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    I am from India, I would like to start production business of feather shuttlecock for my locality.

    Can any body guide me how to produce feather shuttlecock?
     
  2. CanucksDynasty

    CanucksDynasty Regular Member

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    You're probably better off hiring an ex or current production manager and engineer from an existing shuttlecock manufacturing facility. They would/should have the info needed on how to make a feather shuttlecock (ie. materials, grade of feathers, etc). Good Luck.
     
  3. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    manufacturing anything isn't really for the faint of hearts. for something as delicate as a badminton shuttlecock the amount of expertise and machinery needed isn't something that is acquired overnight but with lots of experience and legacy.

    here is a video of the RSL factory which will give you a glimpse at what is involved:

    [video=youtube;kiAdro2SwvU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiAdro2SwvU&feature=channel_video_title[/video]

    [video=youtube;HK0c2xKQb8Q]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HK0c2xKQb8Q[/video]
     
  4. leongwaipak

    leongwaipak Regular Member

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    Wow! Great videos Kwun!

    Talk about labour intensive!

    The capital investment itself is really not for the faint hearted.
    I would seriously consider doing a Joint Venture with an existing manufacturer.

    Also, what the videos didn't show was the very first step of the feather production.
    DUCKS! I can't even guess how many ducks are used in the making of shuttlecocks.
    Afterwards, what do you do with the meat! Beijing Roast Duck is an obvious answer. ;)
     
  5. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    it is the other way around. the duck and geese are not the byproduct of feather production, the feathers are the byproduct of geese and duck consumption in China. Duck and geese are regular dishes eaten in China and other Asian countries.

    I am not sure if there is such a supply of feathers in India. my guess is that it will be much lower supply. furthermore, i think India has stopped (at one point) feather import from other countries, so much so that they banned import of shuttlecock due to the bird flu. so you may or may not have issues with feather supply. among other issues that you might face.
     
  6. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    with the recent explosion popularity of badminton in China itself, the demand for shuttlecock and thus feathers have increase tremendously. as a simple rule of supply and demand, the demand has increased the price for feathers and thus the result is the sharp increase in price for feather shuttlecock in recent years.
     
  7. extremenanopowe

    extremenanopowe Regular Member

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    Luckily my suppliers are still keeping their price. ;)
     
  8. bbi2004

    bbi2004 Regular Member

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    Can anybody tell me about the minimum machinery required and where to procure?

    Indian shuttlecock manufacturer import feather from Bangladesh and China.
     
  9. Winex West Can

    Winex West Can Regular Member

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    One misconception about feather shuttlecocks that most people assumed is that the birds (ducks and geese) are killed for their feathers. You still get get feathers from the birds without killing them :D

    Beside feathers supplies, you still have to source the cork for the shuttle heads and these are also in high demand (competing with wineries around the world).
     
  10. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    AFAIK, there are no Goose meat production in Bangladesh so you will be looking at duck feathers from there.
     
  11. demolidor

    demolidor Regular Member

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    Yes I'm sure they'll enjoy the live plucking experience. Why not pull out a nosehair to get an idea :p But you are not incorrect:

    Feather and Down Production

    The largest exporters of down and feathers are China and Hungary. All together, there are about 25 countries that have a significant production of down and feathers. They are located mainly in Europe, Asia and North America.

    The China Feather and Down Industrial Association claims that only about 1-3% of feathers from their country come from live birds, whereas 97-99% is a slaughterhouse by-product. The European Down and Feather Association claims that about 98% of feathers are a by-product from the poultry meat production, leaving only 2% to come from live birds.
    Swedish Documentary

    In February 2009, a Swedish TV documentary studied the down industry for the popular television program "Kalla Fakta" (meaning "Cold Facts" in Swedish). This documentary estimated that between 50-80% of the world's down market comes from live birds. This was denied by the China Feather and Down Industrial Association. IKEA, the Swedish furniture company, independently verified that the 50-80% was correct, after which they cancelled an order from China for down-filled furniture.
    Ofcourse that is for the "down" market but realistically it would be quite hard to "gather/pluck" only ripe feathers out of thousands. Conclusion: you can get feathers from Hungary as well ;)

    One "scoop" on a Dutch badminton forum (self proclaimed Yonex fanboy forum and just about only bit of original news despite actual local Yonex representation) was that Yonex was working on a synthetic featherlike shuttle that looks much more realistic than the Mizuno ones but a few months later ... so far nothing has turned up.
     
    #11 demolidor, Sep 10, 2011
    Last edited: Sep 10, 2011
  12. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    not so quick, another article:

    http://digitaljournal.com/article/267439

    S
    ays:

    In 2008 the Dutch trade ministry refused to take steps against importing such down, saying the 'problem rarely occurred in North Western Europe'. However live-plucking is a traditional activity in Hungary and Poland -- where the geese are plucked 3-4 times a year. Feathers from live animals are considered better quality.
     
  13. leongwaipak

    leongwaipak Regular Member

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    Plucking sounds so much more humane but 3-4 times a year of pain! lol
    Much better than being gassed or whatever way the poor ducks are being put down.
    And I know they only use a hand full of feathers in each wing.
     
  14. Winex West Can

    Winex West Can Regular Member

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    Here's Winex's version (Hot off the press - got an email from Winex Taiwan a few days ago Genius feather shuttlecocks.jpg
     
  15. hola4

    hola4 Regular Member

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    This look really ugly.:( How is the flight and duribility? Any comment from the press?
     
  16. demolidor

    demolidor Regular Member

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    From "North Western Europe" yeah ;). Not China or Hungary, China "producing" 80% of the world's supply ... (haven't seen any shuttles lately from NWE, I'm sure they would go for an absolute premium))


    I think I would prefer to be unconscious or dead when they pull out my nosehairs :p ..."humane". Now I have to look up the whole article again :rolleyes:. What I remember was there is a difference between "plucking" and "gathering". If you have ever had a decent sized pet bird you'll often enough find "old" feathers around. Those are "ripe" feathers and come out quite easily sometimes by just flapping their wings hard. Plucking those from live birds was called "gathering" and is quite painless but no way all feathers on a single bird are "ripe" at the same time. And with the huge demand apparently you don't really believe the humane producers have the patience to wait ;) ... Perhaps one day we'll see biological feather shuttles :D.
     
    #16 demolidor, Sep 11, 2011
    Last edited: Sep 11, 2011
  17. awekuda

    awekuda Regular Member

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    i didn't know india had made its own shuttlecock until i see this video...
    bbi2004 all the best to you.. hope you could improve its quality to par with china made shuttlecock :D
    [video=youtube;wkpibE8teC8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkpibE8teC8[/video]
     
  18. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    that's very interesting indeed!

    the machines seen in the RSL video doesn't look like rocket science. perhaps someone in India can invest some machinery expertise and produce them themselves.

    frankly, what's shown in the handmade process is really quite poor. i think machine made is paramount to a more consistent play given the precision needed to make an shuttlecock.
     
  19. Enya.zwp

    Enya.zwp Regular Member

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    Looks so strange! does anyone try this shuttle?
     

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