I think you need to look industry by industry or even company by company. As for the claim in comments that the US auto industry is inch-based, that is false. I worked for an automotive OEM; the industry was already metric (and the fighting was over) when I joined in 1978. Clearly being metric didn't save them from falling on hard times. Several factors affected this: *Labor costs *Product quality *Product range: Not understanding that failure to be profitable in small cars, and thinking that JUST maintaining dominance (and profits) in large car and truck was OK was critical. It led to a general failure to understand that foreign competition would gain ground and expand into those segments, and unpreparedness for a market shift. Related industries (agricultural and construction equipment, heavy truck and coach) also went metric shortly after automotive OEMs. None are doing well at the moment. Some other US industry (largely multinationals) have gone metric internally. There are some odd exceptions where not being metric may cause some real damage. I think Boeing's plan to do inch-based manufacturing with foreign partners on the 787 is pure folly. That CAN'T work. The manufacturing plan required them to go metric, but I think they are blissfully unaware of that. Our farmers seem to measure metric tons well enough to export grain in those units. (except there is resistance to genetically modified grains, and almost all our grain is "mutant".) Going metric is not the panacea those comments have assumed. Some industries have gone metric and failed anyway. It is necessary to look a little deeper at the causes.
--- On Sun, 10/4/09, [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote: From: [email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: [USMA:45928] Metric and the decline and fall of Anglo-American industry? To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> Date: Sunday, October 4, 2009, 6:36 PM #yiv296392039 p {margin:0;} This posting on the UKMA's blog has some interesting comments attached: http://metricviews.org.uk/2009/09/an-anniversary-overlooked/ Just wondering what some of the folks on this list think. -- Ezra
