tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2807403883562053852.post5588281738000916437..comments2024-03-27T08:40:31.785-06:00Comments on Clayton Cramer.: Some Encouraging NewsClayton Cramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03258083387204776812noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2807403883562053852.post-83625376897890904902011-10-25T08:08:30.950-06:002011-10-25T08:08:30.950-06:00The "little or no transportation costs from m...The "little or no transportation costs from maker to consumer" is, at least for things like socks, probably <i>directly</i> a non-issue. <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Box-Shipping-Container-Smaller-Economy/dp/0691136408/" rel="nofollow">The Box</a></i> quoted a figure of something like 19 cents for a pair of jeans.<br /><br />I suspect the real key is what most Americans seem to miss about what is probably the most important aspect of Just In Time manufacturing: quasi-instant detection of defects. Sure, it radically reduces inventory (the sort of financial thing we tend to obsess on), but compare these two scenarios from, say, car manufacturing:<br /><br />Assembler orders and receives widgets quarterly; a jig of widget maker's gets out of alignment but is not detected, one quarter's lot are delivered with most of them useless. No one wins in that situation.<br /><br />Jig goes out of alignment. Manufacturer tries to assemble widget into cars or whatever within hours or one day at most. The assembly lines are stopped, the problem is fixed, proceed as usual.<br /><br />Now, for something like socks, someone will have to be doing statistical QA to catch the problem before it reaches the retailers, but anyway you look at it, the feedback loop is much shorter.<br /><br />Final note: Chinese manufacturers are generally notorious for delivering lower quality over time. Might not be a problem for Foxconn (which seems to be a special case and is run out of Taiwan anyway), but for the sort of manufacturer the average small to medium firm can retain I gather it's a big deal (and I can confirm this if desired with a friend of my father's).ThatWouldBeTellinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16910231314995266781noreply@blogger.com