President Obama's adviser U.S. job creation, moves GE X-Ray manufacturing to China

[werepossum]

And in about 18months some chinese company will start making competing xray systems that are remarkably similar to the GE product in its design.

True, and inevitable. There is no nation smart enough to competently manufacture your products but not smart enough to copy and eventually improve them.

Interesting. At the same time, GE is also moving production of certain refrigerators from China and Mexico back to Kentucky. GE said the reasons included better accounting for costs, better ability to respond to customer needs, faster cycle times, and less inventory needed.

They also noted that while offshoring did provide for cheaper parts, they found there were drawbacks to separating design, engineering and manufacturing. Employees no longer really understood why things were done a certain way.

http://industryweek.com/articles/witnessing_a_rebirth_25067.aspx

Not sure why those factors would apply to refrigerators but not X-ray machines.

The bolded is huge. Separating the manufacturing engineering from the design engineering rapidly results in an inability to design good, efficient to manufacture products. About the time that your manufacturing drone begins to crank out really good competing products, your engineers will have begun losing the ability to do so.

I don't blame Obama. I don't even blame Immelt - although calling him a Republican is a freakin' joke. I blame both parties who set up the laws that make this practical and profitable - and make domestic manufacturing almost impossibly uncompetitive for most products. And I blame the American consumer, who will not purchase American-made products at the necessary premium when Chinese-made or Mexican-made competitors first came out. Regardless of the politicians, WE could have ended this. We did not. Now with most consumer products, we don't even have American-made alternatives.

 

[Engineer]

Interesting. At the same time, GE is also moving production of certain refrigerators from China and Mexico back to Kentucky. GE said the reasons included better accounting for costs, better ability to respond to customer needs, faster cycle times, and less inventory needed.

They also noted that while offshoring did provide for cheaper parts, they found there were drawbacks to separating design, engineering and manufacturing. Employees no longer really understood why things were done a certain way.

http://industryweek.com/articles/witnessing_a_rebirth_25067.aspx

Not sure why those factors would apply to refrigerators but not X-ray machines.

While I don't understand the X-ray movement, I'll gladly eat my crow on the moving of the refrigerator plant back to the US. Bravo on that one!

 

[OutHouse]

PURE. FUCKING. GOLD.

I love how these forums bash Obama, but it's republican/tea party/conservatives that pull the trigger.

B-b-b-but he did it while Obama was in charge! Oh, so Obama is reponsible for something like this, but you all discredit him when we bring up killing Osama? Great.

Also, can we just call republican/tea party/conservatives what they REALLY are; greedy theiving slime set on exploiting America's honesty.

its disgusting how you follow your party and this administration blindly even when you are watching it destroy the country. can they do no wrong for you?

 

[OutHouse]

True, and inevitable. There is no nation smart enough to competently manufacture your products but not smart enough to copy and eventually improve them.


The bolded is huge. Separating the manufacturing engineering from the design engineering rapidly results in an inability to design good, efficient to manufacture products. About the time that your manufacturing drone begins to crank out really good competing products, your engineers will have begun losing the ability to do so.

I don't blame Obama. I don't even blame Immelt - although calling him a Republican is a freakin' joke. I blame both parties who set up the laws that make this practical and profitable - and make domestic manufacturing almost impossibly uncompetitive for most products. And I blame the American consumer, who will not purchase American-made products at the necessary premium when Chinese-made or Mexican-made competitors first came out. Regardless of the politicians, WE could have ended this. We did not. Now with most consumer products, we don't even have American-made alternatives.

i agree with just about everything you said. Immelt is the jerk who was behind the incandescent light bulb crap. how many GE American jobs did he export to china for that deal?

 

[werepossum]

i agree with just about everything you said. Immelt is the jerk who was behind the incandescent light bulb crap. how many GE American jobs did he export to china for that deal?

I'm not sure how many, but Immelt moved GE's light bulb production to China long ago. He's a major part of what is wrong with this nation.

GE may be moving refrigerator production back into the USA because of greater Energy Star tax breaks, as a major part of GE's core competency is lobbying for and farming tax credits.

 

[Throckmorton]

Do you trust Xray machines made in China?

 

[Hacp]

We don't pay people $7000 a year to work 60 hour weeks with no vacation, benefits, or worker safety laws. We shouldn't have to compete on unlevel ground with nations that operate this way.

Your argument implies American workers should be operating at that level.

My argument is that if its if you bring cost to do business down, companies might just start opening up plants here in the US.

 

[Throckmorton]

My argument is that if its if you bring cost to do business down, companies might just start opening up plants here in the US.

If you bring cost to do business in China up, companies might just start opening up plants here in the US.

 

[Fern]

Except that the thread is about an example off shoring...

It may be, but I'm doubtful that there is any "offshoring" here. Looks like the typical BS from a blog.

Everything I read says no one in Wisconsin is losing a job.

If no one is losing a job, how can there be any offshoring?

Looks a heckuva lot more like GE is merely moving to get in on a rapidly growing market in China.

IMO, nothing to see here folks. Heck, we want US companies to move into foreign markets and capture business. Not sure why anyone would see that as a bad thing.

Fern

 

[Spikesoldier]

And in about 18months some chinese company will start making competing xray systems that are remarkably similar to the GE product in its design.

this

 

[Fern]

Do you trust Xray machines made in China?

Where in the blog/article does it say any manufacturing jobs are being transfered?

It doesn't.

Seems like a lot of assumptions are being made here.

Aside from a few execs going to China, all I see is that GE is hiring about 65 people people over there to better get into China's growing x-ray market.

Fern

 

[Hacp]

If you bring cost to do business in China up, companies might just start opening up plants here in the US.

Or they might not open up at all.

 

[PingviN]

If you bring cost to do business in China up, companies might just start opening up plants here in the US.

Competing not with price nor quality, but by punishing companies going for the better deal?

American liberalism is odd from time to time.

 

[werepossum]

My argument is that if its if you bring cost to do business down, companies might just start opening up plants here in the US.

We built up a Western civilization that at the time had no peer. Personally, I see no benefit in reducing regulations and wages to compete with the Third World.

 

[werepossum]

It may be, but I'm doubtful that there is any "offshoring" here. Looks like the typical BS from a blog.

Everything I read says no one in Wisconsin is losing a job.

If no one is losing a job, how can there be any offshoring?

Looks a heckuva lot more like GE is merely moving to get in on a rapidly growing market in China.

IMO, nothing to see here folks. Heck, we want US companies to move into foreign markets and capture business. Not sure why anyone would see that as a bad thing.

Fern

If true, that's a good thing. However that's also what large companies say when they are in the process of moving to China or Mexico - no one in America is going to lose their job. We aren't moving a factory to China, we're just opening up another plant. Then, soon as that Chinese plant is producing efficiently, oops, we have to close this plant because the demand just isn't there.

Your point about BS from a blog is valid, and I hope that's all this is. But considering how much production GE has already moved offshore, I remain skeptical when they say they merely want to expand exports into another market.

EDIT: It's also very difficult for me to believe that although GE is going to headquarter its X-Ray division in China, production isn't moving there. I call shens.

 

[Fern]

-snip-

EDIT: It's also very difficult for me to believe that although GE is going to headquarter its X-Ray division in China, production isn't moving there. I call shens.

They just got done completing a brand new manufacturing facility in NY:

http://www.oldcastleprecast.com/pla...tcasestudies/Documents/case study GE Xray.pdf

Fern

 

[werepossum]

They just got done completing a brand new manufacturing facility in NY:

http://www.oldcastleprecast.com/pla...tcasestudies/Documents/case study GE Xray.pdf

Fern

That's nice to know. That lends credence to them not moving production to China, which makes me wonder why they would move their headquarters there.

 

[Fern]

That's nice to know. That lends credence to them not moving production to China, which makes me wonder why they would move their headquarters there.

I don't know why the blog says they're moving their HQ there. How do move your HQ but no employees lose jobs in the USA?

That doesn't make any sense to me. Another reason why I think the blog is BS.

The real question is why hire 65 people over in China?

Well I think the answer is obvious, that's what you do when you to penetrate a new market. They'll need to have a sales staff etc. They'll also likely need some product modifications specifically for China.

As I'm sure you know, the is no such thing as a 'Chinese' language. There are a of large/popular languages in China, as well as a bunch smaller more localized dialects (or outright different languages). I suspect the machines will need to be modified for that. Possibly for integration with whatever op sys they use as well.

I'm guessing the Chinese like calling for orders, support or whatever and getting a foreigner on the telephone line about as much as we do.

I was working/living in Europe back in the 80's. I remember when Compaq first started selling PC's there. They just boxed up the regular (USA) pc's and sent them over. That's cool and all, but Europe uses and different electrical plug and voltage. So, they were fugging worthless.

Having staff in the foreign country prevents these type of stupid of F-UP's.

Fern

 

[IGBT]

more will leave to avoid obama health care scam. cap and trade scam will encourage all the rest to leave. All you'll have left is public employment.

 

[Throckmorton]

more will leave to avoid obama health care scam. cap and trade scam will encourage all the rest to leave. All you'll have left is public employment.

If we really wanted jobs to stay here we'd create universal healthcare.

 

[trenchfoot]

Do you trust Xray machines made in China?

Now there's something to think about the next time I have to take myself or any of my family members in for an x-ray.

In the toolmaking trade that I occupy, I have found that made in China consumable tooling like drills, taps, reamers, countersinks, end mills etc. are just plain no good. In any decent grade of steel, especially in the common 4140 range or 1018 even, these Chinese made tools will wimp out and destroy itself under chip loads that tools made elsewhere will have no problem with. And this happens under ideal working parameters no less.

Because of the way our purchasing dept. works where I believe kick-backs are occurring, no matter how strongly I tell them not to purchase Chinese cutting tools, some of that crap still gets into the inventory and I have to warn all involved to turn that stuff back in or they might get seriously injured from using them. Yet purchasing will continue to bring that junk in by the shitload and have it just sit and rust out with the justification that the tooling "was so damn cheap they couldn't resist the vendor's pleas. (bribes).

Until I see a marked improvement in quality from the Chinese made tooling, I will refuse to use that stuff if on the grounds that those tools are unsafe to use, espcially in the heavier machines.

Life threatening X-ray machines made by a gov't subsidized bidder who would sell it at a loss to make a deal off the back end? No thanks.

 

[OutHouse]

Where in the blog/article does it say any manufacturing jobs are being transfered?

It doesn't.

Seems like a lot of assumptions are being made here.

Aside from a few execs going to China, all I see is that GE is hiring about 65 people people over there to better get into China's growing x-ray market.

Fern

yea just another American made product sold off to the Chinese. woot! fuck the American worker!!!

 

[1prophet]

A positive development to offset some of the bad news of off shoring.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Izea72ojj3s

 

[Hacp]

We built up a Western civilization that at the time had no peer. Personally, I see no benefit in reducing regulations and wages to compete with the Third World.

Except high unemployment and stagnant growth.

 

[rudder]

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011...rgeting-us-un-discovered-experts-blame-china/

Might as well move while the getting is good. China has all the R&D data anyway to build it now on their own.