Right on.
I used to be on PC Design Magazine's Editorial Review Board, and at a meeting of the Design, Fab and Assembly ERBs (in Pete's better days) there was a lot of talk about fab and assembly going off shore, and how everybody was working hard to stay competitive within the US by outsourcing. I asked the question "Aren't you worried about selling the farm? You're teaching all these overseas companies how to do your work to get the advantage of low labour costs - aren't you worried about them eventually eating your lunch?" Most of the answers boiled down to "We aren't worried - we'll make sure we stay ahead by developing new machinery, new processes and new techniques".
I wonder if those same people have the same blasé attitude today?
Andy K.
Sychip Inc
Office (972) 202 8852
-----Original Message-----
From: DesignerCouncil [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Brooks,Bill
Sent: Monday, April 19, 2004 2:40 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [DC] Outsourcing coming back to insourcing
I found this a telling statement... it is in line with my own reflections on
how we deal with outsourcing...
"Indeed, many manufacturers are responding to competition by keeping core
technologies secret and at home, while moving low-value-added production and
assembly operations abroad. For instance, Toshiba, Japan's biggest
chipmaker, is racing to develop high-end chips, and says it is determined
not to repeat past mistakes. Initially it co-operated with South Korean
chipmakers in basic DRAM memory chips, which have since become commodities,
only to find its rivals overtaking it far more swiftly than it had
expected."
Bill Brooks
PCB Design Engineer , C.I.D., C.I.I.
Tel: (760)597-1500 Ext 3772 Fax: (760)597-1510
-----Original Message-----
From: Jilly & Andy [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Saturday, April 17, 2004 10:00 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [DC] Outsourcing coming back to insourcing
Just finished reading a really interesting article about how Japan is
managing its manufacturing resources in the face of growing threats from low
labour costs in China and Taiwan. Titled "(Still) made in Japan" the article
appears in The Economist April 10th 2004 edition as a Special Report, and
looks at the issues of designing and keeping Japanese technology for the
benefit of Japanese companies, while using the economic advantages of
offshore manufacturing without having their competitive edges open to
copying.
There are a lot of singular lessons in this article for US manufacturers
too. The article is too long to reprint, but this paragraph struck me as
being the pointer to a way forward for the US. After talking about
sophisticated and efficient manufacturing plants, the article gives these
reasons for returning mini-disc player manufacturing back to Japan:
"Unlike Kenwood's Malaysian workers, who come and go frequently, workers in
its Yamagata factory stick around long enough to master several different
tasks. A typical Yamagata worker can quickly do four or five steps in the
assembly process before handing over to another worker, whereas employees in
the Malaysian plant did one step each. These days it takes four employees to
put together a mini-disc player in Yamagata, compared with 22 Malaysian
workers before the move. The Japanese plant takes up 70% less space, while
the defect rate has fallen by 80%."
Isn't that a lesson for the US too? More skilled, more dedicated workers
backed with efficient tools and processes that 'do more with less, and
better' ?
I believe we can apply this to board design too - the principles are
identical. It just takes management focus and a longer term view, and both
of these seem to be sadly lacking at the moment, in the rush to reduce short
term costs by whatever means available.
Andy Kowalewski
Chairman, IPC Designers Council
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