Domestic News
souorce：深圳市龙硕电子有限公司endate：2009-9-4 11:21:44
Manufacturing trending away from China
The challenges of manufacturing in China and the still recovering global economy cause electronics supply chain jitters among OEMs and encourage second looks at the shift to outsource and the potential benefits of keeping manufacturing closer to home.
By Rob Spiegel, Contributing Editor -- Electronic Business, 10/13/2009
ChinaOver the past two decades, there has been a massive shift of manufacturing to China, especially for high-volume, low-mix electronic products. But in recent years, there has been a counter trend away from China. Some of the promise of manufacturing in China has worn off. Labor costs are rising. Energy prices have increased the cost of shipping. Many companies have experienced poor service and product recall due to faulty manufacturing. And counterfeiting has dimmed the promise of selling into China’s massive consumer market.
Consequently, many OEMs are rethinking their manufacturing plans and eyeing other areas of the world from Eastern Europe to Mexico and Latin America. “We’ve seen a flurry of people jumping on the bandwagon to move from China,” said Charlie Barnhart, co-founder and managing principal at Charlie Barnhart and Associates LLC, a Maui-based company that studies outsourcing. “The trend started in 2006 as people started to see that Mexico was cheaper than China.”
Barnhart noted that Mexico is less expensive when you factor in all of the variables, from shipping and rising labor costs to procurement difficulties and problems with the manufacturing itself. Barnhart also noted that many OEMs are finding the most efficient location for outsourcing is near the end markets. “The cheapest and most effective outsourcing is building in the region for the region,” he said. “Each region has a low-cost solution – Mexico for the Americas and East Europe for Europe.”
