久久久无码人妻精品无码_6080YYY午夜理论片中无码_性无码专区_无码人妻品一区二区三区精99

US EUROPE AFRICA ASIA 中文
Business / Economy

Companies have home thoughts from abroad

By Joseph Boris, Ariel Tung and Qiu Quanlin (China Daily) Updated: 2012-07-11 09:24

Companies have home thoughts from abroad

US firms returning, Joseph Boris, Ariel Tung and Qiu Quanlin report.

Companies, including General Electric, have defended their efforts in reshoring - moving work back to a company's country of origin - by citing a variety of factors.

These include lower energy costs in the US, largely due to discoveries of natural gas, that are helping to drive down operating and transportation expenses and labor-cost advantages caused by the narrowing wage gap between Chinese and US workers.

The steady appreciation of the yuan has also diminished the currency-exchange advantage that made China a hugely successful exporter.

With this latest twist in the global hunt for supply-chain efficiency, the expected increase in consumption among China's 1.37 billion people could provide a lucrative market for factories originally designed to produce goods for export to the US, an established practice known as offshoring, or offshore outsourcing.

Experts agree that one thing is certain, reshoring - sometimes also referred to as "onshoring" - must make financial sense, or a company won't even discuss it. Meanwhile, the calculations have to include the fate of manufacturing capacity in China, in which many companies have invested heavily.

"Today we see an economic situation where a strong case can be made for many products - that they should be made closer to the customers," said William Scheller, a professor of industrial engineering at Kettering University in Michigan.

GE's Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Immelt has led the industrial conglomerate's reshoring initiative. One notable example has been the addition of more than 1,000 jobs to GE's "lean manufacturing" site for large household appliances in Louisville, Kentucky. The company said offshoring has ceased to provide the cost savings that once justified overseas production of refrigerators and washing machines that were subsequently shipped to the US. GE also received tax breaks of $17 million from the state and local governments to entice it to add the jobs in Louisville.

Retooling factories

The consistent expansion of the Chinese consumer market, despite slower-than-expected growth in the economy overall, has made it economically sound for GE and other US manufacturers to retool their factories in China to produce goods for the local market while also returning jobs to the US.

The US reshoring trend will become increasingly prevalent during the next two years, said Harold Sirkin, a senior partner at Boston Consulting Group in Chicago and co-author of its "Made in America, Again" series of research papers.

"With China growing at 7 percent now, the US or European companies are not closing down plants in China, because of its rising (domestic) consumption," said Sirkin. "They are retooling their plants in China for Chinese consumption. In some cases, they are building more plants in China."

According to a recent survey by BCG, more than one-third of US-based manufacturers with yearly sales of more than $1 billion have plans to repatriate some production from China, or are at least considering such a move. A total of 106 companies across various industries took part in the survey, which cited "labor costs" as the prime reason for reshoring, while "product quality", "proximity to customers" and "ease of doing business" were other important factors.

The findings are consistent with an earlier study by the company that said increased wages, shipping costs and land prices in China, combined with a stronger yuan and a weaker dollar, had narrowed the cost disparity between China and the US for many goods produced for the US market.

BCG also forecast that the US will add 2 million to 3 million manufacturing jobs by the end of the decade. The industries most likely to see reshoring are plastics and rubber products, industrial and commercial machinery, electronics and computers, transportation goods and fabricated metal products.

The number of new jobs might seem paltry when compared with the number of US jobs lost over recent decades, but Sirkin argued that automation and other forms of "increased efficiency due to advanced technology" have also contributed to those losses and that offshoring alone can't be blamed.

"In 2015, for a certain amount of goods imported, the cost of production in China will be 10 percent lower than the cost of production in the US. The difference is only 10 percent, and can be offset easily," Sirkin said.

However, rising costs in China are just one of the reasons behind the reshoring wave, according to some manufacturers.

GE's expansion of its Appliance Park in Louisville - the facility's first upgrade for 50 years - is part of a $1 billion investment the company plans to complete by 2014 to create 1,300 jobs in the US. By June, the Connecticut-based giant had hired more than 1,000 factory workers to build water heaters and refrigerators.

Job creation plans

Immelt, who heads President Barack Obama's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, has since 2009 announced plans to create 11,000 manufacturing jobs in the US. GE officials, including the CEO himself, have insisted the company's reshoring moves have nothing to do with politics.

"There was a business case to do this and to make money," said Scheller, the Michigan academic and outsourcing expert, referring to GE's Louisville expansion. "The tax incentive helped persuade him (Immelt) to do it now. He's looking at long-term profitability and business growth."

According to Kim Freeman, a spokeswoman for GE Appliances, reshoring has "more to do with our ability to control our own internal processes and costs". Labor and shipping costs in China are just "a piece of it", she said.

"Part of what's going up in China we are able to bring down in the US," Freeman said, pointing to the "competitive wage agreement" the appliances division reached in 2011 with its unionized US workforce. For the first time, GE Appliances employees will work according to a two-tier wage structure under which those hired after 2005 earn $13 an hour while the hourly pay of longer-serving employees begins at $22.

Equally important, Freeman said, is the "lean manufacturing" concept GE has adopted to "eliminate waste in processes or materials, and to improve product quality in the same time".

Redesigning its product line has helped lower production costs, according to Freeman. A water heater, production of which was moved to Louisville from China, is now more energy-efficient and less expensive, retailing in the US at $1,199 to $1,299 compared with $1,399 when it was imported.

GE officials said no Chinese factories were closed, nor were workers laid off. Appliances is a small part of the company's business, and any change in manufacturing locale has a limited effect on its Chinese operations, said Geoff Li, a spokesman for GE China.

The company, which has been operating in China for more than 100 years, committed in 2010 to investing $2 billion in China over three years. Each of GE's businesses - including aviation, energy, transportation, healthcare, financial services and appliances - is present in China.

GE's revenue from operations in China in 2011 was $5.7 billion. That's a small fraction of its global revenue, but represents 20 percent growth in each of the 10 years since 2002 when the number was roughly $1 billion.

In late May, the company opened its second research-and-development facility in the country, the China Innovation Center in the Southwestern boomtown of Chengdu. The new R&D center will enable GE to connect more directly with consumers across Asia, leading to products made specifically for them and based partly on their input.

"The future in China will be innovation, not just low-cost manufacturing. The goal now in China is to localize, make the products simpler, and make the products more suited for Chinese development," said Immelt when he visited Chengdu for the center's opening.

Caterpillar's new leaf

Meanwhile, Caterpillar Inc, the world's biggest maker of construction equipment and other heavy machinery, has announced that it will build an assembly plant in Victoria, Texas, to triple its existing US production capacity for hydraulic excavators. The move will improve cost efficiencies in the production of one of the company's best-selling machines.

Caterpillar, based in Peoria, Illinois, also plans to quadruple excavator production at its facility at Xuzhou in Jiangsu province to support rising demand in the Chinese market.

"We are aggressively growing operations in China," said Caterpillar spokesman Jim Dugan. "For excavators, we are increasing our capacity in China while we are also in the middle of building several other new factories in the country."

Georgia-based NCR Corp, which makes ATMs and point-of-sale electronic devices, built a plant in the US state of Georgia to redirect production in 2009. The NCR plant in China, which used to produce ATMs for US customers, now serves its growing Chinese market and other countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

The company wants to "meet the needs of the local market - whether in China, the US or Brazil", said Peter Dorsman, NCR's executive vice-president of global operations. "We are always concerned about rising costs in China, but these are things you can't control. We try to focus on the ones that we can control," he said.

NCR's Chinese market is "definitely growing a lot faster" than its US counterpart, Dorsman said. By 2015, the ATM installation base in the US is expected to have grown by 4 percent, while in China the rate will have soared by 160 percent, according to Retail Banking Research, which provides information about automation in the banking industry.

Dorsman said NCR plans to add production capacity in China, either by increasing employee shifts or the number of production lines.

"We have noticed that some US companies have moved their manufacturing businesses back to their homeland from the Pearl River Delta. But these companies are traditionally concerned with lower-end manufacturing," said Feng Shengping, chief researcher with the Guangdong Situation Research Center.

Feng attributed the reshoring of US manufacturing to an economic adjustment by the US government to attach more importance to the manufacturing industry in the wake of the global financial crisis.

"The US government has come to realize that manufacturing can help partly drive its growth out of the gloomy economy. If you give too much attention to service industries, such as finance, you will lose the consumer market amid the economic turndown," Feng said.

A number of international manufacturers, many from the US, have shifted some or all of their operations following a decline in profits and an increase in the costs of labor and production that started to hit the Pearl River Delta, a traditional manufacturing hub in South China, last year.

For example, the US headphone producer Sleek Audio has moved its manufacturing base from Dongguan, in the heart of the Delta, to Florida.

"The US government's growing attachment to manufacturing is a major factor behind the reshoring. The rising costs of labor and production in China, where they previously invested, are just minor reasons," said Feng.

The reshoring trend has been well demonstrated by China's utilization of US investment in recent months, with the number of new companies approved by the Chinese authorities falling by 4.5 percent year-on-year to only 571 in the first five months of this year, according to sources with the Ministry of Commerce.

US investment increased by just 0.29 percent to $1.3 billion in the first five months of the year, according to the ministry.

Referring to US reshoring, Feng warned the authorities in Guangdong not to simply relocate traditional manufacturing businesses to other regions following a province-wide industrial upgrading policy adopted three years ago.

"Only through developing a healthy industry chain including research, finance, processing and market distribution can you improve competitiveness amid the downturn," he said.

Contact the writers at atung@chinadailyusa.com

Hot Topics

Editor's Picks
...
久久久无码人妻精品无码_6080YYY午夜理论片中无码_性无码专区_无码人妻品一区二区三区精99

    国产精品99久| bt欧美亚洲午夜电影天堂| 欧美xingq一区二区| 国产一区二区福利| 国产精品毛片久久久久久久| 91视频免费播放| 亚洲超碰精品一区二区| 精品国产在天天线2019| 成人在线视频一区| 一区二区三区欧美久久| 日韩一区二区三区在线观看| 国产不卡在线播放| 一区二区三区毛片| 日韩一级二级三级精品视频| 国产成人在线色| 成人欧美一区二区三区白人| 欧美日韩久久一区二区| 韩国v欧美v亚洲v日本v| 成人免费在线视频观看| 91精品国产品国语在线不卡| 国产精品电影一区二区三区| 欧美视频完全免费看| 免费高清在线视频一区·| 国产肉丝袜一区二区| 一本色道久久综合亚洲91 | 久久嫩草精品久久久精品一| 97se亚洲国产综合自在线| 日韩福利电影在线| 国产精品污网站| 欧美美女bb生活片| 顶级嫩模精品视频在线看| 午夜私人影院久久久久| 国产视频一区二区在线观看| 欧美性猛片aaaaaaa做受| 精品写真视频在线观看| 一区二区三区.www| 久久久精品综合| 欧美日韩午夜精品| 丁香六月综合激情| 天天操天天色综合| 国产精品麻豆欧美日韩ww| 欧美另类videos死尸| 成人免费的视频| 蜜桃视频第一区免费观看| 亚洲欧美日韩久久精品| 亚洲精品一线二线三线无人区| 欧美影院一区二区三区| 国产成人av福利| 日韩精品电影在线| 亚洲女子a中天字幕| 久久亚洲精精品中文字幕早川悠里| 欧美午夜在线一二页| 成人深夜视频在线观看| 一本一道久久a久久精品综合蜜臀| 麻豆91精品视频| 亚洲综合无码一区二区| 欧美经典一区二区| 日韩精品一区二区三区视频播放| 欧美中文字幕不卡| av中文字幕不卡| 激情偷乱视频一区二区三区| 亚洲国产一区二区三区 | 日本一道高清亚洲日美韩| 亚洲乱码一区二区三区在线观看| 久久久久久久久久看片| 日韩欧美成人午夜| 欧美日韩亚洲丝袜制服| 99久久99久久精品免费看蜜桃| 国产一区二区三区在线观看免费视频| 婷婷久久综合九色国产成人| 亚洲欧美二区三区| 国产精品久久777777| 国产亚洲一区二区在线观看| 日韩一卡二卡三卡四卡| 欧美久久久久久久久中文字幕| 91国产视频在线观看| 成人av电影在线观看| 国产成人亚洲综合a∨婷婷| 久久aⅴ国产欧美74aaa| 日本美女视频一区二区| 亚洲va国产天堂va久久en| 亚洲免费av网站| ...xxx性欧美| 国产精品久久久久久久裸模| 欧美国产欧美综合| 国产亚洲欧美一区在线观看| 精品对白一区国产伦| 欧美大片顶级少妇| 日韩欧美区一区二| 欧美一区二区播放| 日韩一区二区三区观看| 欧美一级搡bbbb搡bbbb| 777午夜精品视频在线播放| 欧美日韩一区高清| 欧美三级中文字幕在线观看| 欧美专区日韩专区| 欧美日韩一区三区| 欧美人动与zoxxxx乱| 欧美二区在线观看| 91精品国产色综合久久久蜜香臀| 91精品欧美一区二区三区综合在| 欧美精品aⅴ在线视频| 欧美一区中文字幕| 精品国产伦一区二区三区免费| 精品日产卡一卡二卡麻豆| 26uuu亚洲综合色| 久久久影视传媒| 久久精品一级爱片| 国产精品欧美一级免费| 亚洲欧洲日韩在线| 亚洲在线免费播放| 日韩精品国产欧美| 老色鬼精品视频在线观看播放| 黄页视频在线91| 粉嫩久久99精品久久久久久夜| 99久久精品情趣| 色婷婷久久久久swag精品| 欧美影片第一页| 91精品欧美综合在线观看最新| 欧美大度的电影原声| 国产视频一区在线观看| 中文字幕综合网| 亚洲丶国产丶欧美一区二区三区| 日韩中文字幕亚洲一区二区va在线 | 久久中文娱乐网| 国产欧美日产一区| 成人免费小视频| 亚洲国产精品久久人人爱蜜臀| 日韩av网站在线观看| 国产一区二区三区香蕉| 成人aa视频在线观看| 色吧成人激情小说| 欧美一区二区三区不卡| 国产性色一区二区| 亚洲另类春色国产| 男女男精品视频| 国产成人aaa| 91福利在线导航| 欧美一区二区三区视频| 国产亚洲欧美一级| 亚洲激情综合网| 日本不卡一区二区| 国产成人精品免费看| 日本大香伊一区二区三区| 91麻豆精品国产91久久久使用方法| 久久久亚洲精品石原莉奈| 亚洲精品一二三| 麻豆91在线播放免费| av色综合久久天堂av综合| 欧美特级限制片免费在线观看| 日韩欧美一级特黄在线播放| 中文字幕制服丝袜一区二区三区| 亚洲成人免费看| 国产一区二区成人久久免费影院| 一本色道久久综合亚洲精品按摩| 日韩欧美aaaaaa| 亚洲男帅同性gay1069| 精品综合免费视频观看| 91免费精品国自产拍在线不卡| 日韩一区和二区| 亚洲欧洲日韩一区二区三区| 奇米四色…亚洲| 91网站最新地址| 欧美变态tickle挠乳网站| 亚洲美女免费在线| 国产在线视频精品一区| 欧美系列一区二区| 中文字幕欧美区| 奇米影视一区二区三区小说| 91在线视频观看| 精品国产自在久精品国产| 一个色综合av| 精品一区二区三区视频在线观看| 91精品福利在线| 日本一区二区免费在线观看视频 | k8久久久一区二区三区 | 日韩欧美在线网站| 一区二区在线观看免费视频播放| 国产美女一区二区| 欧美午夜精品免费| 国产精品乱人伦一区二区| 乱中年女人伦av一区二区| 在线观看免费一区| 中文一区二区完整视频在线观看| 日韩国产精品91| 91黄色免费版| 久久久久国产精品免费免费搜索| 日韩国产欧美在线观看| 91在线视频官网| 欧美激情在线一区二区| 久久精品国产色蜜蜜麻豆| 欧美色综合网站| 综合欧美亚洲日本| 粉嫩一区二区三区在线看| 欧美成人免费网站| 三级欧美韩日大片在线看| 欧美综合一区二区三区| 国产精品不卡在线观看| 国产成人亚洲精品青草天美| 精品欧美一区二区久久|