It would be a huge strategic blunder to give up our manufacturing base. As much as I rail on the auto industry, we need heavy manufacturing. Still, our manufacturing industry needs to be competitive in order to survive. Sooner or later, low-wage countries will catch up with the developed world, and they will have the manufacturing base but offer no competitive advantage. Our industry will either die and be reborn later, or it will adapt and survive through the transition.
If I had my choice, I would say we need a re-invention of manufacturing based on automation, zero-defect processes, and skilled labor. If we want to compete and keep our industrial base, we need companies that make more, higher quality products with fewer defects using fewer people than in the past. We already have some of those capabilities in place, but we need to go further. There are many challenges on that road. I worry about the demands of unions to continue to employ more people than the industry needs. I worry that executive management has become a profession all its own, full of shiny MBAs who can talk to Wall Street but don't know dick about their own companies and make horrible strategic decisions at the worst possible moments. If manufacturing firms can work through those problems, they can build a new model for this century. Or the industry can die and be reborn in 40-50 years when China is no longer cheaper than the US. On Mon, Jan 26, 2009 at 9:10 PM, Judah M wrote: > > What do people think about manufacturing in America? Can there be a > resurgence? Should there be? Do we want to say goodbye to that sector > and rightfully focus on other sectors? > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;207172674;29440083;f Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:286792 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
