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... if you ask actual manufacturing executives, they're far more bullish on America's future than many of its political leaders. On Thursday, professional services firm Deloitte teamed up with the Council on Competitiveness to release its 2016 Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index, showing that the United States is the second most competitive manufacturing economy after China. What's more, global manufacturing executives predict that by 2020, the United States will be the most competitive manufacturing economy in the world.
So why has the United States been shooting up the ranks? Long gone are the days when cheap labor was the most important input for manufacturers. Total manufacturing employment in China peaked during the 1990s and has been falling ever since. And as manufacturing continues to reduce the number of workers needed, the important ingredients to success in the sector are whether advanced technologies and materials are available, and whether or not intellectual property protections are strong. The United States beats out China on both of these scores.
This is not to say that anxiety over the decline of manufacturing employment is misguided. While it's good that manufacturing firms think that the United States is a great place to do business, their success in America will not have the same impact, in terms of providing a huge number of well-paying jobs, as they did a half-century ago.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 01 2017, @02:00PM
Assembled in the USA with parts made in China.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 01 2017, @02:16PM
> Assembled in the USA with parts made in China.
No. That was just a PR tactic. But it only mattered when it was cheaper to both manufacture and ship from china. Robots cost the same in every country. So actual manufacturing in the US becomes cheaper than manufacturing in China because there are no shipping costs.
China's got lots of good supply-line infrastructure - which makes it easier to spin up new manufacturing lines. That's the best thing they've got going for them right now. But given the cost savings of local manufacturing the US will naturally rebuild its supply-lines in the same way that China naturally built its supply lines when over-seas manufacturing was a cost savers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 03 2017, @10:55AM
OK so designed in China and manufactured in USA?