April 22, 2008
Taiwan shines in China's shadow
By Terry Costlow

Taipei isn't the most attractive national capitol, but when it comes to healthy manufacturing, Taiwan is sitting pretty. On a recent trip here, I didn't hear anything negative about exports or manufacturing.

Taiwan just reported record high trade exports, with a 22 per cent monthly increase that nearly doubled analyst estimates. Not bad by any account, even if the rise was tempered by an increase in imports.

The handful of manufacturers I talked to were upbeat, with little fear that a downturn is imminent. When China's the biggest export market, the U.S. slowdown is not a key concern.

Though Taiwan's considered a low-cost manufacturer by most Americans, manufacturers have already been offshoring some jobs to mainland China, saying that they can't compete with China's inexpensive labor.

Though we Americans often focus on the local impact of global trends, China's surge is altering the way business is done in all industrialized countries.
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April 18, 2008
Dilly dally with Dell
By Terry Costlow

Setting up the complex equipment in modern factories is no easy task. It won't become simpler if you don't have good support from equipment suppliers. I've gotten a reminder of this in recent weeks.

I wanted to hook a new Dell notebook to a DVI desktop monitor. Keyboards, mice and networks all went together as planned. But no output to the screen. I spent an hour on a Website help line. 90 minutes on the phone. I waited days for the cable that was to fix things. Still no picture " wrong cable.

Another hour on the phone. A few more days waiting for a cable. Another failure. Yet another 45 minutes on the phone. Finally, I reached someone who realize that my monitor has a VGA plug so I don't need one of many variations of a VGA to DVI cable I'd been sent. If I had actually looked at the back of the LCD, I probably would have noticed this myself.
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March 16, 2008
Building an infrastructure
By Terry Costlow

Manufacturing is slumping in many fields, but there's still some growth in at least one area. The companies that make the equipment used to build factories, roads and other parts of our

The makers of off highway equipment are still in an upturn, though sales have slowed in the U.S. This industry has been hiring extensively. For example, Liebherr has invested more than $25 million at its Newport News, Va., since 2005. It has added more than 3,000 jobs last year.

But some companies at the huge ConExpo conference in Las Vegas are seeing slower growth in North America, creating some uncertainty about forthcoming investments. Most manufacturers still expect to see steady growth in the BRIC countries, Brazil, Russia, India and China. Growth in these countries has plenty of impact on U.S. manufacturing. But for those who make construction equipment, opportunities in these emerging countries is helping create demand that's sometimes difficult to fill.
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February 29, 2008
Cheers for American manufacturing
By Terry Costlow

The troubled state of U.S. manufacturing doesn't get much attention as we move towards the November election, but the

Mailman Cliff Clavin from Cheers is delivering its message, that America need manufacturing. John Ratzenberger has been touring the U.S., asking people to press politicians to do something to rebuild the manufacturing infrastructure. Part of the pitch addresses globalism, asking politicians "to enforce trade laws and hold cheating countries like China."

Politicians aren't getting the message, but Ratzenberger has at least gotten media attention as he warns that an "industrial tsunami" threatens the U.S. The Chicago Tribune business section recently put him on its front page, and appearances throughout the country have also carried the message beyond the reach of trade publications.

Rebuilding, or even retaining, the American infrastructure isn't an easy thing to do. But three cheers for Ratzenberger and AAM for putting pressure on politicians. Without efforts to call attention to manufacturing, there's little doubt that politicos will dodge this critical issue.

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