Western lights are just Chinese parts assembled outside of China.
If I could set the record straight I will tell you exactly where all our parts come from and where they are manufactured.
LEDs
Nichia are made in Japan. We use 757 series and UVA 3535
We also use custom LED Teknik LEDs which are specced in Australia but manufactured at a boutique factory in China, which we have visited and have a long relationship with. No-one makes LEDs in Australia.
PCBs
The PCBs are our own design. From scratch. They are not a copy of anything else on the market. The PCBs are manufactured in China because we can't get them made locally. We trialled a number of PCB manufacturers until we found one that did the best job. We use a special Taiyo solder mask specifically designed for LED reflection. Taiyo is a Japanese company.
Assembly
The PCBs and LEDs are shipped to us in Perth and assembly is sub-contracted out to a local company. The assembly process includes solder-wiping the PCBs, pick-and-placing the individual LEDs, and oven reflowing. It also includes hand-assembly of individual LEDs that do not light up after they come out of the oven and have been tested (and failed). We also hand-assemble some custom spectra boards in-house (in our own factory in Perth).
Conformal Coating
We coat the LED panels in-house using a conformal coating that is made in a Western country (not Asia), but which we would rather keep to ourselves at this stage as no-one else uses it and it took a lot of trials to find the best one.
Heatsinks
Designed by us, but made in China from a generic extrusion to save costs.
Cabling
Made by Techno in Italy using Italian connectors and cable. We used to buy the Techno connectors and then cut and assemble cable in our own factory using German Lapp cable, but now we order moulded cables direct from Italy. No Chinese parts used.
Loom
We make our own looms in-house using a combination of TE and Techno connectors which we assemble and epoxy by hand. All cabling and looms are our own design.
3D Printed Covers
Designed and made locally.
Stainless Hangers
Made in China to our own design.
Aluminium extrusion
Made by Item of Germany. Designed and machined locally.
Packaging
Boxes made in Australia and fixtures packed in Australia.
Drivers
Mean Well and uPowerTek, made in China (some used to be made in Taiwan). We hand-assemble our own Techno connectors and AC cables as the drivers do not come with connectors (uPowerTek come with AC plugs, Mean Well do not).
Lighting fixture assembly
All done in-house at our factory.
Everything we can source locally in Australia we do. Anything we can't, we choose whatever we think is best – not necessarily cheapest. Everything is designed here and made to our specs (apart from LEDs etc) – we do not sell re-branded fixtures.