Posts Tagged ‘China’

A race to the bottom

April 4th, 2013
By: Vicki Bell

“Wal Mart is the death knell for small business everywhere they open shop. Wal-Mart is good for small business in the same way amputation is a successful weight-loss program. Wal-Mart is killing America, and if you shopped there this week, here’s hoping the American job you just shipped overseas is yours!”

So reads a comment about the money.cnn.com article “The Wal-Mart economy’s big winners,” which focused on four small U.S. businesses that “hit the big one” by securing Wal-Mart orders. There are some lessons to be learned from each of these businesses, lessons that are as basic as any in business: Listen to the market; find a need and fill it; and be persistent. There also are lessons to be learned from the comments left for this article. But it doesn’t appear that these lessons are getting through. (more...)

Getting up to speed on "soft" costs

October 18th, 2012
By: Dan Davis

I've got a friend that coordinates purchasing relationships between U.S. manufacturers and Chinese part suppliers. That may rub some people the wrong way, but his current occupation is just part of a natural evolution. He once acted solely as a manufacturer's rep for manufacturing service providers in the Midwest, but had to change his approach as everyone began to seek overseas sourcing connections. In typical American success story fashion, he saw an opportunity and jumped on it.

But this story isn't about him; it's about one of his customers. This one in particular had been a very satisfied customer until the arrival of new company management. The new regime wanted a review of all existing supplier relationships. In short, management wanted to see what cost savings could be gained by intensely scrutinizing current contracts.

My friend has been through these scenarios before, and he prepared a plan. How could he improve his position while helping out the customer? He knew it wasn't just about parts and prices; it was about solving a customer's pain—even if the company didn't know it had one. (more...)

Don't fear the summer swoon

July 5th, 2012
By: Dan Davis

Is the U.S. manufacturing slowdown a speed bump or a sink hole? Honestly, the answer really doesn't matter.

The June 2012 Institute for Supply Management™ Manufacturing Business Survey—the Purchasing Managers Index—declined 3.8 percentage points from the May numbers, falling to 49.7 percent, which typically means U.S. manufacturing went into contraction. This is noteworthy because the retrenchment comes after almost three years of consecutive months of growth; the last time the survey came in under 50 percent was in July 2009.

Enlightened manufacturers might show some concern, but they are looking ahead because they know U.S. manufacturing is about to undergo a big change. The work is going to be there for those that can deliver quickly and be cost-competitive. (more...)

'Reasons to push jobs overseas are starting to fall apart'

May 30th, 2012
By: Vicki Bell

News website headlines, such as those on msnbc.com today, battle each other for my attention. While I'm fascinated by the six-year-old spelling prodigy Lori Ann Madison, the youngest speller ever in the National Spelling Bee, reading her story had to wait until I read the one under the headline "China slowdown threatens US factory revival." The article by Economics Reporter John W. Schoen describes a catch 22—what looks like it could be a panacea for U.S. manufacturing job loss may actually exacerbate our economic woes. (more...)

Defending Chinese-made products

September 29th, 2011
By: Vicki Bell

Ricky Nelson had it right. You certainly can't please everyone, and it's foolish to try. If we editors had to please everyone every time we write something, nothing would ever be published. Someone somewhere will find fault, perhaps deeming it factually or politically incorrect or personally offensive.

I was reminded of this when last week's "Tube Talk" e-newsletter elicited responses to an item about a recent report on NBC's Nightly News about rising labor costs in China that could bring jobs back to the U.S. (more...)

'A small bit of good news'

June 29th, 2011
By: Vicki Bell

Among the headlines on msnb.com today was one that stood out as some very positive news for manufacturing: 'Manufacturing companies returning to U.S.' The linked article title, “Surging China costs forces some U.S. manufacturing companies back home," had me fist pumping a la Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon.

The article began by describing a recent morning at Master Lock's 90-year-old factory in Milwaukee where "a cluster of machinery was whirring, every 2 seconds spitting out one of the combination locks used by American high schoolers as the company readied for the back-to-school rush.

"The seven-day-a-week, three-shift-per-day whirlwind of activity marked a change from two years ago, when the machine normally ran for just a few hours a day because the unit of Fortune Brands Inc. was ordering more padlocks from suppliers in China instead of making them." 

Why the turnaround? (more...)

Catching the wave of reshoring

April 28th, 2011
By: Dan Davis

I'm working on our FAB 40 editorial feature for June. It's a collection of 40 metal fabricating companies that have submitted to us their revenue figures for 2010, projected revenue for 2011, and outlook for this year. The listing provides a great snapshot of the overall health of the fabricating industry.

To no one's great surprise, fabricators believe that 2011 is shaping up to be a pretty good year, even in the face of rising steel prices and international turmoil. As several fabricators have told me, when you come from the depths of 2009, you have no choice but to believe things are looking up.

Amidst the positive feelings and cautious optimism, a couple of fabricators noted how they currently are working on jobs that previously were outsourced to China. One fabricator actually called the jobs part of a "trend" and included that work as part of the reason his company will see a 15 percent increase in sales for 2011. Another fabricator called his store fixture business a "growing segment" because of all the jobs coming back from China. (more...)

Hu's on first?

January 21st, 2011
By: Dan Davis

Perhaps you noticed that Chinese President Hu Jintao visited Washington this week. If not Jay Leno did and theorized his initial meeting with President Obama's kids went like this: "So what factories do you work at?"

I laughed out loud when I read that joke. After spending the early part of this week reading about all of the special precautions that the White House was taking to ensure that the Chinese president and his entourage were welcomed in a way worthy of a world dignitary, I think an unscheduled celebrity roast should have occurred with President Hu as the special guest:

  • "I hear President Hu is quite the ballroom dancer. Having tap danced around that whole currency manipulation charge for the last five years, he's got to be pretty good by now."
  • "China is really starting to improve its human rights record. Dissidents are allowed two showers a month now in jail and are not subject to reruns of 'According to Jim.'"
  • "Everyone is noticing the quality improvement in Chinese-made goods. President Obama commented on how much he liked President Hu's Rolodex watch during their initial meeting." (more...)

Wikileaks confirms China's leverage

December 15th, 2010
By: Kate Bachman

No doubt the recent Wikileaks leaks revealed too much. It will remain to be seen whether or how severely Julian Assange will be prosecuted.

However, one of the revelations pivoted around what is most likely the primary—and heretofore publicly unspoken—reason why the U.S. has not been more forceful with China regarding its currency manipulation, intellectual property theft, and tariffs which have weakened the U.S. manufacturing segment's ability to compete against cheapened Chinese imports.

(more...)

Spiraling out of control

December 8th, 2010
By: Eric Lundin

Last week I took a trip to Genoa City, Wis., and felt like I had spent a couple hours in 1955 or so. I paid a visit to Ralph Wells, owner of Wells-Osborn Spiral Stairs, a company that specializes in spiral staircases. Founded in 1949 as a welding and repair shop, it expanded its repertoire to include spiral staircases when its founder, Bill Osborn, was asked by a customer if he could build such an item. Never one to shy away from a challenge, Osborn got to work on it. The shop had windows near a street, and curiosity from several passers-by turned into orders from several passers-by. Spiral staircases caught on, and to this day they make up about half the company’s revenue. (more...)