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by fornever
3471 days ago
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While I'm not sure they are tackling it the right way (haven't really looked in to it), that manufacturers in the west can't competitively run prototyping or other small production runs is a real problem. Unpredictable quotes, lead times, high MOQs, tooling costs in the west or the language barrier and shipping cost/time in asia doesn't provide any value in itself. |
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Our supply chain is long and expensive. Start there. And by this I mean everything, from raw materials, components and sub-assemblies to tooling, equipment and consumables. The length and complexity of our supply pipe can easily double or triple a manufacturer's costs and impose very high inventory costs.
Our regulations are crippling. For example, try to get a steel weldment porcelain enamel coated. In China, no problem. In the US. Nearly impossible and definitely not even in the realm of being competitive.
Our unions have done of good job of helping kill-off industries. Union leaders (not union members, leaders) succeeded at pressing companies so hard without regards for long term viability that they eventually forced some of them out of business or out of the country.
Taxes are ridiculous. One way to look at it is how much of the year is devoted to, effectively, working for the government. In other words, in order to earn the tax money paid to the government you have to work.
Well, at a 39% corporate tax rate the entire company is working for the federal government for approximately the first 4.7 months of the year. After that they get to keep their profits.
In Ireland, with a rate of 12.5%, the people in a company work for the government for 1.5 months and the rest of the year they get to keep their profits.
So, taxes in the US means you are working 5 months to pay them vs. less than 2 in Ireland. That is horrific.
Liability and tort reform is a huge deal. As a manufacturer you are incredibly exposed to being sued out of existence (or out of being able to compete due to financially crippling lawsuits).
Labor force education and availability is becoming a greater issue every year. Skills development has stagnated over the years. We don't have a modern tech savvy workforce. Schools don't teach any of that stuff any more. As a software guy the "hour of code" is great but as a hardware guy I think the "hour of drilling a hole and cutting wood" is equally important.
So, again, there is so much more to making a product beyond rapid prototyping that at some point you have to wonder if people understand that there are far more pressing areas to be optimized, areas with far more significant impact on the bigger picture.