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Westerners often associate Chinese factories with sweat shops. Given free access, I checked out Melody's admittedly humble living quarters and was struck by their cleanliness. Young low-level workers bunk four to a room just like they would in a college dorm. Families get their own quarters, unmarried men and women are strictly separated. Upper-level employees might be two to a room or enjoy their own depending on seniority. A number of old-time workers have permanently returned to their northern villages to build their own homes with savings from their Melody tenures. About 30 workers are directly related to Mr. Wang and thus extended family.
The canteen and kitchen

The factory itself is divided into downstairs and two upper floors. The ground floor houses storage, cabinet prep, a paint booth, a polishing booth and transformer assembly, potting and testing. One of the upper floors houses the reception, offices and listening room, the other assembly and final testing. Roof storage contains millions of tubes and capacitors and add-on storage in the yard does as well. We'll begin our tour of how Melody valve equipment is built on the ground floor.
Melody is working toward acquiring its own CNC machine. For now, chassis are outsourced.
One of the few production steps I didn't witness first-hand was the paint booth where Melody's trademark piano gloss black finishes are created.
Chassis prep is dusty business hence the slat flooring contains powerful ventilation equipment. Alex confirmed that Melody's manufacturing conditions comply with European and US regulations and routinely pass concomitant inspections.