How to ‘China-fy’ your manufacturing operations
August 14th, 2008 by Administrator
The September 2008 issue of IndustryWeek has an important cover story written by the magazine’s editor in chief, David Blanchard. In “Eye on China,” Blanchard explores the idea that “As China rapidly evolves into a more service-oriented economy, U.S. manufacturers need to adjust their China strategy to remain competitive.”
Blanchard’s piece reinforces part of what our own Kent Kedl had to say in his recent podcast about the “new normal” in China: China isn’t simply the cheapest place to find manufacturing labor, but (to paraphrase) it is still one of the best places to establish manufacturing operations.
As a sidebar to Blanchard’s cover story, Technomic Asia’s founder Steven Ganster writes about how Western companies can “China-fy” their manufacturing operations. From the article:
Achieving the right level of China-fication in facility set up, process and equipment is the key to success here. China-fication is transplanting to China what you do well in manufacturing in the West, while exploiting the unique competitive aspects of the Chinese market. China-fication also means you have to do things differently than you do in your home market while not meaningfully compromising the integrity of the end result.
Ganster goes on to remind manufacturers of Technomic Asia’s favorite refrain, to remember the “6 Ds”: due diligence, due diligence, due diligence.
Read the full article on IW’s Web site.
