Many people will not like the main reason as to why we are so far
behind in technology. In my opinion it is the unions. In a state that I do
not want to mention there is an old steel factory with WWII technology. All
because the union wants to preserve jobs.   If everything was up to the
unions, we would still have scores of people in a room manualy switching
phone calls.
                                 Hope I did not offend too many union
members.
                                        Regards,
                                        Ramon

>       This is a labor intensive approach, but when labor is cheap...
>
>
>
> Thanks for the good discussion -- it's consistent with my observations.
>
> Sorry to change the subject and run off on a tangent but here goes...
>
> It's not (just) the cost of labor it's the absence of labor in a highly
> automated environment typical in the large Asian fabs.  This is a common
> North American perception of Asian Fabricators.  We need to get out of
> denial -- it's not just cheap labor in Asia fabs.  It's a different
> investment climate that allows for intense capitalization and investment
> in automation.
>
> Asian fabs haven't just kicked North Americans teeth in with low cost
> labor -- but also with extreme levels of automation relative to anything
> I've seen in the USA. Oh yeah, and their yields and technology followed
> (up) as the automation came on line.  I see more engineers per capita in
> Asian fabs than in US fabs by about a factor of ten.  Also, we see way
> less total bodies (by nearly half) per panel output.  High end Asian fabs
> need less direct labor (less "organic" handlers) and more engineers to
> implement and manage the automation.  The exception to this rule is that
> is all breaks down at ET and final inspection: there the Asians do take
> advantage of the lower labor rates and throw a lot into the final gates.
>
> my impressions and $0.02.
>
> cheers,
> Dwight Mattix
> Sr Staff QE, Corp Hardware Engineering
>
>
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