MADE
IN China is a controversial issue and is criticized by the United States. MADE
IN China label is one of the prevailing labels all over the world due to China’s
increasingly developing manufacturing industry. The reason why the companies
outsource the production overseas rather than manufacture in the USA is low
labor cost.
Now everything constantly changes. Small U.S.
Manufacturers Give Up on 'Made in China'. It is clear that it is probably 30%
cheaper to manufacture in China, but there are other issues the owners are more
concern about now: The rising costs in China, difficult communication with manufacturers,
the hassles of using factories that are far away, time value, the good that are
sometimes got stuck in customs for weeks, the continuously changing rules and
the regulations, and “increasingly competitive,” American production. Taking
into account of the issues above, the manufacturing in the U.S. is probably
cheaper or more or less the same. These are the reasons resulting in
manufacturing shift. For example, Unilife
(UNIS) moved production to the U.S. The most advanced automobile of today --
the Tesla Roadster -- is already being manufactured in the United States using
robotic and AI technologies. . This
is just the beginning of the trend. The Future of Manufacturing Is in America,
Not China.
For
practicing manager, low manufacturing cost is not the only consideration for a
firm to decide either offshore outsourcing. Other comprehensive factors should
be considered for good performance.
Sources:
1. http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-06-21/small-u-dot-s-dot-manufacturers-give-up-on-made-in-china#p1
2. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/21/nyregion/a-manufacturing-about-face-made-in-america-but-sold-in-china.html
3.http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/07/17/the_future_of_manufacturing_is_in_america_not_china
I believe it maybe cheaper to manufacture products in China depending on the quantity and industry. If a company is producing large amounts of cheap widgets in a price competitive industry, it may be beneficial to outsource to China. However, if the industry has healthy margins, a strong reason for quality control and an ability to reduce American labor costs by using robots it maybe more beneficial to manufacture in America.
ReplyDeleteU.S citizens like complain “Made in China”. The funny thing is that most of products are not belonging Chinese company. Apple product, U.S. Brand, is made in China. Nike , U.S. Brand, is made in China. All the “made in China” products you can buy from malls or supermarket are belong to U.S or other countries’s companies. However, their brands are never belong to China companies. In brief, American small business are not competing with China companies. They are alway competing with U.S. Companies, which are bigger and have hug resource to build factories in other countries such as China ,Vietnam to cut their cost.
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