mnufacturing piece

[SteveP]

interesting piece in new atlantic monthly...
moving manufacturing back here.
notable part to me esp was that ge had lost the ability to actually manufacture something pretty simple ( hot water heater ).
this is modestly applicable to bike manufacture..
in chinese manufacturing we can attain low cost to produce but , as we are reminded every day, we are never really sure of what we are getting..quality of paint, finish, engineering, etc.
this coincides a little with the discussion of the chinarellos in anpother thread.



The Insourcing Boom - Charles Fishman - The Atlantic

[-HvA-]

Here's an interesting piece along those lines:
Lenovo to Set Up PC Plant in the U.S. - WSJ.com

[Human Epic Jolt]

i guess someone's found a way to dispose of those disposable factories.

wha a coup.

[pdxharth]

Good article, Steve. Valuable lessons learned by industry. Interesting that they cite the clothing industry as not coming back because the work is too simple, so it is easily done offshore. Mass framebuilding is probably the same.

Here is yet another article, this one leads off with Ibex and wool clothing, so it is dear to my fuzzy little heart (THREE articles - does that make it a MOVEMENT?).

Born in the USA: The Amazing New Economics of Insourcing | Outdoor Gear - Equipment Reviews and Articles | OutsideOnline.com

[Human Epic Jolt]

industry doesn't learn.

[SteveP]

lot going on here.
its great to see.

[Human Epic Jolt]

128bitSteve. mine.

[David Tollefson]

Boeing found out that out-sourcing design work was a Bad Idea, though they're denying it now in their contract talks with the engineers...

[WadePatton]

why would you heat hot water?

yeah yeah, i call it a hose-pipe. so now we're even.

[Human Epic Jolt]

my paper aeroplanes fly fine. wingtips down.

[Human Epic Jolt]

you need a pictir./e


ill make one. all you have to do is identfy the designer.

[Brian Smith]

Strange that the Atlantic runs a story on this so late. GE's reshoring plans made news almost a year ago now, including here:
The Phenomenon of "Re-Shoring": Companies like GE are bringing manufacturing jobs back from China | TIME.com
The CEO of General Electric on Sparking an American Manufacturing Renewal - Harvard Business Review
Even the Super Bowl commercials contained content related to this story.

The manufacturing trade press was also all over this.
They've dramatically cut back the cycle time to assemble a unit as compared to what it was taking them in China, and wages for hires in this effort are substantially lower than previous levels for employees in the not-so-long-ago old days. It's an interesting story regarding sourcing a manufacturing operation in 2011 which happens also to be in the U.S. Newsworthy, but not quite the same story Atlantic's intimating.

What's worse is that Atlantic may have some bits confused.

The R2D2 unit was the one labeled made in China. I had one, it worked well, saved a significant amount of energy. When the Geospring unit made in Appliance Park became available, I returned the old one and bought it, at a discount compared to the previous unit's price. It works as well, and is quieter. Many components are still made in China, especially the more easily shipped and outsourced bits, but enough of the assembly (and tax incentives) take place in America to call it a made in USA product. I love these things, anyone who has questions about them and plans to be in their house for a couple of years, PM me for details.

[Human Epic Jolt]

how well is it connected with the weather?

[Human Epic Jolt]

Here you go.

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Flip
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Snip
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[WadePatton]

more "on point" i suppose is the Q=Are these real mfg or simply assembly plants where nothing is actually made but the import laws are circumvented and the "domestic 'product' laws" are engaged? i am old enough to be cynical, but nowhere as grey as Pucci.

as in the aeronautical facility we see in action above...in the old days a place like that would mfg the paper...or at least buy it in huge rolls of industrial-size (get it) paper and trim/cut/glue them up/down to their various applications. these days (in my exp) the paper is cut to size and fold lines are printed on it, then it goes into a container vessel and spends a few weeks at sea, then it goes to the assembly plant and WHATever nation is the location of the assembly plant gets to claim that the aeroplane was "made here". And it sells for half the price of those actually made here in part because the "aeropaper importation" rules/tariffs only apply to complete ready to fly products and not ready-to-fold-and-package products.

What strings are being yanked? I see it as a cover story for the ever present, poli/corp, behind the scenes manipulation.

I hope it's all good and i'm all wet, but that'd be rather naive. yo

[classtimesailer]

Higher fuel prices and rising wages (over there at least) -- win and win in so many ways.
Jeff

[thollandpe]

A thread on my favorite bike site about the return of US manufacturing, complete with comic relief and some healthy skepticism. My Sunday morning is complete . . . wait . . . heat pump water heaters!?!?

I shall be PM'ing Mr. Smith, as should anybody who heats water with electricity.

[WadePatton]

Higher fuel prices and rising wages (over there at least) -- win and win in so many ways.
Jeff

they're still working for peanuts and have no environmental controls. send our EPA over there (to any "developing nation") and watch the country wither completely.

whoops i'm i done.

i'm all for everybody doing better at the expense of no one. cheerios and count chocula!

[jamesand]

Higher fuel prices and rising wages (over there at least) -- win and win in so many ways.
Jeff

...and we 'won' the race to the bottom for our currency.

[Mike Mcdermid]

my paper aeroplanes fly fine. wingtips down.

my f****** dont they just nose bomb off to the side and crash