Manufacturing

[bjl584]

There was and interesting article that I read a few months ago about manufacturing in America. Polititians love to talk about increasing manufacturing and the manufacturing base. Keeping manufacturing jobs in this country and stopping outsourcing usually comes up in one way or another in debates and in speeches. The article I read contended that manufacturing really hasn't gone anywhere, and that this country produces as much if not more than it ever did. What did change is productivity. What used to take 100 people 8 hours to produce can now be done by a couple of robots and machines in 5 minutes. Makes sense. Maybe we should focus our efforts of job creation on robotics and technical jobs like computer programming and engineering instead of continually beating the manufacturing job drum. I guess to a point we do, but we don't hear it nearly as much as the former.

Thoughts?

[GREENBACK]

"Beating the manufacturing drum" works politically. Everyone knows that this concept has changed and it's not a new idea. I think it's one reason why corporate profits are generally pretty good right now but the jobless rate is somewhat stagnant. Companies have learned to do more with less.

We, as a nation, are going to need to rethink our approach to the demands of manufacturers. They generally are depending less on the typical production line worker and more on those with the skills to operate high tech equipment. Change is difficult but it comes along for every generation.

[maynard]

i disagree. Robotics are not the major cause of the downturn in manufacturing in this country. A manufacturing facility employess more than just machine operators. There is maintainace staff, engineers, accountants, sales people, tool and die makers, quality assurance people, managers, warehouse people, janiators, truck drivers, receptionists etc. When a manufacturing facility moves overseas all those other jobs go with it. None of those jobs are replaced by automation.

Ive been in manufacturing for 14 years and ive been in a lot of places. Robotics and automation are still unusual too see except for some very high end, specialized industries.

[disneysteve]

There was and interesting article that I read a few months ago about manufacturing in America. Politicians love to talk about increasing manufacturing and the manufacturing base.

I think this whole argument is flawed. The world has changed. We live in a global economy today. Technology has allowed companies to spread their workforce around the world. A company smack in the middle of the US like in Kansas could have employees in California or Maine or England or India. That simply wasn't possible 25 years ago. There's no going back.

As you mentioned, productivity is also a factor. It takes few to do the work formerly done by many. That isn't just about robots but technology in general. I can now do things in seconds on the computer in my pocket (my cell phone) that used to take me hours to do manually. Employers simply don't need as many workers to get the job done.

Are things still manufactured here in the US? Absolutely. Should we be making more things here? Maybe, maybe not. Are Americans willing to pay more for things in order to have them made here? Probably not. Is the cheap labor situation in China and India going to last? Nope. It is already changing as a middle class develops there and their personal income demands and consumption rises which is having a ripple effect across the globe. So 20 years from now, things will look different from today, just as today things look different from 20 years ago.

[Scanner]

I kind of look at the companies I have been applying to for ACT 2 of my career - companies that make CAT scans - there aren't many - Touchiba, Philips, GE, and Siemans. GE is the only American company, but honestly I have no idea where they are manufactured, just becuase GE is American. Siemans is German. Philips is from Amsterdam. I assume Touchiba is Asia (Japan?). It's truly a microcosm of a global economy DS spoke of.

That being said, there are so many skilled laborers needed in the US. You need someone to haul them, install them, inspect them, interface with PACS/computers, application specialists, customer service, field service engineers, and sales (which drives everything). I forgot R&D also.

I am not exactly sure whether to be upset that probably the components are manufactured in China.

Like DS said, do we really want to go backwards?

Raise your hand if you want to work on an assembly line with a Wall St. Banker blowing cigar smoke over you.

[disneysteve]

I am not exactly sure whether to be upset that probably the components are manufactured in China.

Good point. Even "American" companies are generally not making all components on US soil even if final assembly happens here.

Look at cars - perfect example. Which is more "American"? A car made in the US by US workers for a Japanese company or a car made in Mexico by Mexican workers for a US company?

Take an "American" product like the iPhone. Classic American ingenuity - right? Open one up, however, and see where all of the components are made. They are sourced from all over the world.

[EEinNJ]

"What used to take 100 people 8 hours to produce can now be done by a couple of robots and machines in 5 minutes. "- sorry, completely false.

I'm an automation controls engineer, been at it 25 years. It all comes down to cost. If labor costs are too high and it's not too difficult to manufacture, manufacturing is moved down south, to Mexico, or China, or contracted out. Automation is not cheap, the capital investment can take years to pay back. However, it can actually make it easier to off-shore manufacturing, because automated equipment can produce more at higher quality, with less skill required of the operator.

Politicians are complete morons when they suggest manufacturing jobs are an economic solution. US manufacturers cannot compete paying high wages and benefits to low skill employees. Besides, factory work is generally noisy and/or smelly, boring, and tiring.

Where the US does better competitively is in making high quality, high cost items, not high volume cheap stuff.