Nov 13 2009
Consider the source, but according to an article in today’s Global Times (a fairly new English-language paper published in the PRC) western manufacturers are increasing their outsourcing activities in China: Foreign countries have started outsourcing to China again after a brief slowdown last year. The first nine months of the year saw 3,287 new enterprises …
Nov 07 2009
According to a CNN report, NAFTA, proximity to the U.S. market, and lower costs (largely the results of inverse currency fluctuations of the peso and yuan) have tipped the scales in favor of Mexico (and against China) as the new manufacturing destination of choice for U.S.- bound products.
Nov 07 2009
There is talk that the Beijing and and Guangdong governments are starting to play hard-to-get with foreign investors, downplaying their importance in upgrading China’s manufacturing, R&D and local market offerings. However one report in The Japan Times indicates that Dongguan, at least, is still welcoming foreign investment. A vice mayor of the Chinese industrial city …
Nov 05 2009
This China Daily article quotes Guangdong governor Huang HuaHua and Guangdong Party Chief, Wang Yang making it very clear that the pre-downturn initiatives aimed at moving the province’s manufacturing base up the value chain will continue. With the outline of the reform plan for the Pearl River Delta formally approved by the central government at …
Sep 17 2009
I love hearing about how LEAN strategies can do more important things than just help companies make more money. Watch this video (or read the transcript) of Bill Moyers Journal for 9/11/09 where he interviews Dr. Jim Yong Kim, a public health expert and the new president of Dartmouth College. Without mentioning LEAN by name, …
May 27 2009
Last month I wrote a post, “Dumping your waste upstream isn’t LEAN“, giving an example of how one large American company I know (and have left unnamed) has been bullying it’s vendors into accepting the costs of wasteful stocking in order to lower it’s own costs and leadtimes, while actually raising their own costs in …
May 12 2009
Yesterday I visited a small factory owned by a friend of mine. I had visited the facility once before, when times were good and they had more orders than they could keep up with. As I said, business was good, but the harder they worked the more they had issues with delivery, quality and cash …
May 07 2009
LEAN is about reducing waste and adding value. Adding value for shareholders and customers is important, but to be truly successful in the long run, an organization should strive to add value to all of its relationships, benefiting its employees, its community and, of course, its vendors. Here’s an example of a “LEAN” organization that …
Nov 24 2008
A recent article in The Economist helps to put the China factory closure issue in perspective. A longer-term concern is whether more expensive labour could wipe out Asia’s competitive edge. Labour costs are rising much faster than in the developed world, forcing some Chinese firms to close down. But Chinese manufacturing wages are still less …
Nov 20 2008
To read the press on plant closures in Dongguan, you would think that the city has become a sort of ghost town, with hordes of traumatically unemployed workers roving the streets like a pack of zombies (the un-severanced) seeking their last month’s paycheck from long gone bosses. Now, I work here in Dongguan, and I …
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