August 2008 Edition
shop talk
The main ingredient
Forget ‘Lean’ and other phrases — it’s the people, stupid!
By Steve Rose
Lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, and
other industry improvement methods may have their place
in manufacturing but we are missing the main ingredient
to keep engineering and manufacturing strong — the
people!
We all wonder about the "send it to
China" business model. Design and market a product in
the U.S.A. and have it made real cheap in the Far East.
Sell it for a great profit, all without any labor
problems.
This business plan may work well for
athletic shoes and electronics, but engineered products
often have a different experience.
Many American companies have shopped
for lower costs in low-wage countries. They take all of
their prints and production techniques and give them to
a low-wage manufacturer. This low-wage manufacturer may
also have little respect for intellectual property. So,
while our fine American corporations are passing
knowledge through the front door, they should not be
surprised that this knowledge is also being passed
through the back door.
Giving all of our knowledge away in search of short-term profits seems like a losing proposition.
While setting up a low-cost shop, you
may also be training your competition to make your
products. The strategy of sourcing low-cost suppliers may end up providing
low-cost competitors with all of your knowledge and none
of your scruples. We can only guess how many unique
products now have unauthorized copies sold back in the
home markets.
Saving in production costs is a prime
factor in outsourcing to low-cost countries. Another
factor is the lack of skilled labor here at home. We
still have a low unemployment rate. Anyone who wants a
job can get one with enough motivation. As often stated,
manufacturing industries are having a problem attracting
employees (see cover story on page 56). Companies are
complaining that the school systems are not providing
the right type of education to meet industry’s needs.
It’s no wonder that companies want to
outsource. It is easier than dealing with our homegrown
problems.
This is not a situation where schools
can take the blame. This is a societal issue that must
be addressed by parents, educators and industry working
together. It is part of our continued development as a
nation and society that we have productive people to
keep things moving.
I recently heard about a program in
Germany that starts children into engineering in
kindergarten. You might say this is social engineering,
but Germany knows it is pre-eminent in manufacturing and
wants to stay that way.
What are we doing in the U.S.A. with
our kids? Extolling the "virtues" of sports stars and
entertainers. Being a sports star and making millions
may be a dream for many kids, but come on, we need to
deal in reality.
One of the growing challenges of
globalization is transportation costs. As we see the
cost of oil rise, we will add cost to transport these
"cheap" goods.
We know that in a global market capital is going to
seek the lowest labor costs. Having said that, giving
all of our knowledge away in search of short-term
profits seems like a losing proposition. What I would
recommend is, instead of training the Chinese, why not
train our American workers and keep our engineering
industry strong? Makes sense to me — build it in the
U.S.A.
Steve Rose is a professional trainer and president of RTSI,
Solon, OH. Rosaleen Rose offers Internet website development. They can be reached by phone at 440.542.3066; e-mail
srose@rosetraining.com ; or on the web at
www.rosetraining.com.
Copyright Rose Training Systems Inc., 2008
What do you think?
Will the information in this article increase efficiency or
save time, money, or effort? Let us know by e-mail from our website at
www.ToolingandProduction.com or e-mail the editor at
dseeds@nelsonpub.com.