Blog article by Ray Attiyah, Chief Innovation Officer
Manufacturing in China or using Chinese suppliers is not the bargain it once was. Chinese wages are rising at a rate of about 17% per year and a new study by Boston Consulting Group predicts wage rates in China and the United States will converge in 2015. There’s more to the story than labor costs.
There are changes happening here in the U.S. that are contributing to the decisions more and more companies are making to manufacture a higher volume of products and components on U.S. soil. Productivity in America is going up. Companies that embrace a culture of employee led, continuous improvement are finding that they are driving out waste, improving quality and competing globally. They are also putting more emphasis on innovation.
Our friends at PDI communications in Springboro, Ohio saw this first hand. The changes they made in 2010 in their TV assembly area created capacity for a new production line that was cost competitive with manufacturing anywhere.
Not far away in Enon, Ohio, Seepex is preparing for seven million dollar plant expansion. The expansion will allow Seepex, a worldwide manufacturer of industrial progressive cavity pumps and systems, to increase capacity and add capability as a research and development center of excellence.
Of course, China will always be a force in manufacturing and we recognize savvy business leaders need to evaluate their options very closely and come to their own conclusions about how to best meet their manufacturing and supply chain needs.
relationships with suppliers and customers. Our good friend Jim Hosley at 
Imagine Run-Improve-Grow™ as a triangle with the run function at the wide base. Ideally, your operators and front line supervisors are managing the run while your managers in the middle of the triangle are focused on proactive improvements. Too often the middle managers get called in to solve routine run problems. When they are working in the run, they are not working on improvement that would make the business more productive and profitable. It then falls to senior management at the top of the triangle to make improvements, when their time would be put to better use focusing on growth initiatives and innovation. I think you can see what then happens to the company’s growth pursuits when middle managers get stuck in the run. What percentage of time do you spend Running the business, Improving it and Growing it? What would you want it to be? How would the company benefit if you made the switch?
Run, operators and frontline leaders were empowered to make improvements themselves Run-Improve-Grow™ pushes time up. Middle managers have the time to focus on making 
2010 so he can focus on how to most effectively spend his time in 2011. According to senior advisor Valerie Jarrett, “the President’s ‘biggest regret’ was that because of economic turmoil – ‘he had to spend almost every waking hour in Washington working on solving that crisis.’”
With superficial relationships, it’s what you miss that matters. Specifically, you miss an opportunity to gather market intelligence and consumer insights. Your customers have a valuable perspective. They can provide information about potential future demand that is important to keep in mind when budgeting, scheduling and purchasing. They can also help you identify product improvements and gaps in the marketplace.
Like the President, the emergency of the day can prevent you from spending time on other important business matters. Great leaders have to learn to juggle them all. How well do you handle all of the elements of your business?