Another industrial revolution is upon us.

[gcode]

A post on X

Shenzhen was a fishing village in 1980. Today it ships more electronics than the entire United States. You can go from CAD file to injection molded prototype in 48 hours there. In America that takes 6 weeks and 4 vendors.
That is not because Chinese engineers are smarter. It is not because their labor is cheaper anymore either. Shenzhen wins because of density, speed, and a culture that treats building physical things as the highest-status work you can do.
Every one of those is copyable. America copied nothing for 30 years and offshored instead. In 2000 the US was 25% of global manufacturing value added and China was 6%. By 2023 China was 29% and the US was 17%. That was a choice. We can make a different one.
Here is a playbook, in order. And the order matters.

[Newbeeee™]

America "Elite" instruction directing Goobermint policy and flow-down to many BigCorp companies followed with the smaller Co's accountants getting giddy jumping on the offshore policy thinking they're gunna get rich closing their making departments copied nothing for 30 years and offshored instead.

Fiss

[CNCAppsJames]

One on my Childhood BMX Freestyle heroes (Bob Haro) got into it a little online. He just released a limited edition new model Freestyle bike. All made in Taiwan. I expressed my displeasure that he didn't even give the machine shops in his local area a shot at making parts for it. I told him I could give him 10 shops in a 15 mile radius that would be stoked to do it. That bike isn't cheap. He didn't even defend making it in Taiwan... just called me a  grumpy hater. 

[TSmcam]

One on my Childhood BMX Freestyle heroes (Bob Haro) got into it a little online. He just released a limited edition new model Freestyle bike. All made in Taiwan. I expressed my displeasure that he didn't even give the machine shops in his local area a shot at making parts for it. I told him I could give him 10 shops in a 15 mile radius that would be stoked to do it. That bike isn't cheap. He didn't even defend making it in Taiwan... just called me a  grumpy hater.

Bob Haro was a true pioneer in the sport. He cornered the number plate market well before anyone else, and back then pretty much every bike at our races had a Series One or Colour Plate. When the first Haro Freestyler came out, it was bleeding edge, thats for sure. But, it was indeed sad to see him jump on the retro bandwagon with a junk Taiwanese made repro. All the big companies have done it. Its just faking the funk, with crap quality. They could have been made by good genuine local US shops. But it is all about the money.

[gms1]

This revolution will never happen. That would mean the richest people will have to pay more for labor and that isn't happening. That was just some feel good post on a social media site. And yes I think it really sucks we have off-shored our entire industrial complex for more investor bux.

[mowens]

We tried copying Japan. Anyone familiar with "kaizen"?

[Brian]

Bob Haro was a true pioneer in the sport. He cornered the number plate market well before anyone else, and back then pretty much every bike at our races had a Series One or Colour Plate. When the first Haro Freestyler came out, it was bleeding edge, thats for sure. But, it was indeed sad to see him jump on the retro bandwagon with a junk Taiwanese made repro. All the big companies have done it. Its just faking the funk, with crap quality. They could have been made by good genuine local US shops. But it is all about the money.

I worked for Specialized for about a year in ~85 or ~86 and Giant (before they established their own brand) was one of their big suppliers even then, and they also had a number of Japanese mfrs making their stuff as well, so this is nothing new really. I don't want to single out Specialized as somehow different/worse than any of the other companies ; as far as I know the shift to overseas manufacturing in the cycling industry was well underway for some time before that.

My recollection was that the lower-end stuff was Taiwanese, and the better stuff was Japanese. Years before, all of the really good stuff was European...sound familiar?

Yup, just like the machine tool industry!

[Newbeeee™]

We tried copying Japan. Anyone familiar with "kaizen"?

JTL
Just too late....

[CNCAppsJames]

JTL
Just too late....

It's never too late for Continuous Improvement. 

My first job as a machinist was at Cummins Engine Company. Yes, THE diesel manufacturer. I'm forever grateful for that. Continuous Improvement is baked into my DNA from that experience. It was a privilege I did not deserve. My dad worked there for about 15 year prior to my arrival. So yeah, I got in because of who I knew/who I was related to. What I did with it though... that was how I earned my keep. Kaizen, GD&T, SPC, etc... I learned there and drank it all in as a kid in my early 20's. 

[CADCAM396]

We tried copying Japan. Anyone familiar with "kaizen"?

Yep but once it went through translation by all the MBA's turned into a shit show.

[CNCAppsJames]

Yep but once it went through translation by all the MBA's turned into a shit show.

MBA's... BITD most, if not all actually had real world experience in industry so the MBA just gave them some additional management tools to be more effective.

Somewhere along the way the good idea fairy appeared and voila now we've got kids in their 20's and early 30's with MBA's that think they actually know something. Nothing against kids in thier 20's. Palmer Luckey and some of those guys were doing badass stuff in their teens and 20's. These people.... they are NOT them.

A "Sr. Applications Engineer" was looking at my LinkedIn profile. 3 years as an AE... and 7mos. as a "Sr. Applications Engineer", and just a few short years in manufacturing. FAR less than 10 total years in manufacturing. Not that there is any specific time where one can earn the title. 3 years though. #NotEvenClose