thedistortedview

In response to a Google+ request from Louis Grey my background is in 30 years of manufacturing. To date I have participated in moving portions of 4 industries from the US to first Mexico then Asia. I have watched automation reduce direct labor in US manufacturing plants by 20% to 90% depending on the products.

As I have progressed from 4th generation Tool and Die maker to Manufacturing Engineer, Shop Foreman, Plant Manager and currently VP of Operations, I have marveled at the speed in which Japan, Taiwan, China and Vietnam have industrialized, improved quality and build infrastructure to support manufacturing.

What I am hoping to see is US High Tech companies realize that they can significantly affect America and its future by applying their resources to supplementing product development and current supply chains with manufacturing in the US.

As an example Google continues to grow its hardware businesses requiring significant global supply chains. Why not take a portion of the supply chain and locate it in the US? The US leads the world in developing advanced manufacturing techniques. Do we really believe that we cannot apply Google’s constant desire to bring significant change and options to the consumer with the manufacturing talent we have in the US to compete in consumer products?

Discussions on Quora constantly refer to the ability of companies to disrupt current technologies and business processes. Lets put some effort into disrupting the current economic climate and global dynamics using the talents we have to both innovate and produce.