Category Archives: China

Leading Manufacturing Countries from 2000 to 2010: China, USA…

Over the years I have been posting data on the manufacturing output of leading countries. In 2010 China finally overtook the USA to becoming the leading manufacturer (long after you would have thought listening to many news sources and political leaders). In a previous post on the Curious Cat Economics Blog I looked at the output of the top 10 manufacturing countries with a focus on 1980 to 2010. In 1995 the USA was actually very close to losing the … Continue reading →

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Marketplace Looks at the Apple Economy

Marketplace looks at the Apple economy in China [the broken link was removed]. Marketplace is an excellent source of actual journalism; rare in the post Bill Moyers days, sadly. A look inside a Foxconn factory< [the broken link was removed] The first misconception I had about Foxconn’s Longhua facility in the city of Shenzhen was that I’ve always called it a ‘factory’ — technically, it is. But after you enter the gates and walk around, you quickly realize that it’s … Continue reading →

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2010 Deming Prize

The Union Japanese Scientists and Engineers (JUSE) has awarded the Deming Prize to 4 companies in 2010: Corona Corporation (Japan), Meidoh (Japan), GC Dental (China) and National Engineering Industries Limited (India). Organizations receiving the Deming Prize since 2000 by country (prior to that almost all winners were from Japan): Country Prizes India 16 Thailand 9 Japan 7 USA 1 Singapore 1 China 1 This is the first time a Chinese company has won a Deming Prize. The parent company, GC … Continue reading →

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California Uses More Gas than China

Amazing Stat: California Uses More Gas than China [the broken link was removed]: California alone uses more gasoline than any country in the world (except the US as a whole, of course). That means California’s 20 billion gallon gasoline and diesel habit is greater than China’s! (Or Russia’s. Or India’s. Or Brazil’s. Or Germany’s.) That’s according to the California Energy Commission’s State Alternative Fuels Plan [the broken link was removed], which was posted online last Christmas Eve (pdf). The whole … Continue reading →

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China Outsourcing Manufacturing to USA

Chinese firms bargain hunting in U.S. Liu is investing $10 million in the Palmetto State, building a printing-plate factory that will open this fall and hire 120 workers. His main aim is to tap the large American market, but when his finance staff penciled out the costs, he was stunned to learn how they compared with those in China. Liu spent about $500,000 for seven acres in Spartanburg — less than one-fourth what it would cost to buy the same … Continue reading →

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Top 10 Manufacturing Countries 2006

Here is updated data from the UN on manufacturing output by country. China continues to grow amazingly moving into second place for 2006. I plan to write more on this data in the Curious Cat Investing and Economics Blog. UN Data, in billions of current US dollars:

Posted in China, Economics, India, Manufacturing, quote | 4 Comments

TVS Group Director on India – Manufacturing, Economy…

TVS group companies, based in India, have been awarded 5 Deming Prizes. He discusses Deming and quality a bit. He also discusses their experiences in manufacturing in China and the strengths they have found in each country. And he discusses the Indian economy and manufacturing.

Related: Hopeful About India’s Manufacturing Sector – Toyota Chairman Comments on India and Thailand Continue reading →

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Top 10 Manufacturing Countries

The newest data from the UN* confirms most of the recent trends in manufacturing output – most notably that China continues to grow dramatically. The data also shows a stagnation in USA manufacturing output over the last several years, though the USA remains by far the largest manufacturer. The most significant news from this latest data, I believe, is that that manufacturing output growth in the USA has been slower than global manufacturing output growth from 2002-2005. This was not … Continue reading →

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Manufacturing in Asia

The Economist explores the trend to manufacture in Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia… instead of China in: The problem with Made in China: helping China’s share of the world’s exported goods to triple to 7.3% between 1993 and 2005. In comparison, every member of the G8 group of rich nations, with the exception of Russia, saw its share fall. It is a similar story with manufacturing output. Whereas China doubled its share of global production to almost 7% in the decade to … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Economics, India, Manufacturing | 2 Comments

Womack on Lean in China

From the Lean blog another valuable podcast: Lean in China with Jim Womack. He is not impressed with the state of lean in China yet. Lean Enterprise China [the broken link was removed] has been established to aid the adoption of the best management practices in China. Read articles by Jim Womack Related: China’s Lean Journey – Manufacturing Jobs Data: USA and China – Toyota in China: Full Speed Ahead – Global Manufacturing Data by Country

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IT Outsourcing Slowing

Outsourcing bubble getting Busted: What should India do? – commenting on the 2006 Global IT Outsourcing Study Essentially the study says the outsourcing IT will continue to grow though more slowly than it has. It also states the benefits of outsourcing have not reached the level that was predicted for a number of reasons. The study predicts vastly increased competition from China for IT outsourcing work (which reinforces the general consensus). Perhaps most interesting, however, is the phenomenal growth in … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Economics, India, IT, Management | 2 Comments

China’s Manufacturing Economy

Brad Setser posts on manufacturing comparisons: Have China’s manufacturing powers been exaggerated? [the broken link was removed] I am all for pushing against over-generalizations that get repeated so often that they become conventional wisdom. The oft-stated argument that France isn’t growing is one example. In fact, France has grown faster than either Germany or Italy over the past few years, and France grew for the same reason the US grew: soaring real estate prices have pumped up domestic demand. But … Continue reading →

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Manufacturing Jobs Data: USA and China

Manufacturing Productivity and the Shifting US, China, and Global Job Scenes-1990 to 2005 (working paper – July 2005) by William Ward, Clemson University: Manufacturing productivity growth from 1990 to 2004 should have taken away 7.5 million of the 17.7 million manufacturing jobs that existed in the US in 1990, while GDP growth should have added back (at the new productivity levels of 2004) 5.7 million manufacturing jobs-for a net loss of 1.8 million. In fact, the US economy lost 3.3 … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Economics, Manufacturing, Popular, quote | 6 Comments

Toyota in China: Full Speed Ahead

Toyota in China: Full Speed Ahead [the broken link was removed], Business Week. Yoshimi Inaba, who’s driving the Japanese auto maker’s expansion in the Middle Kingdom, discusses the Chinese market and his goals there. Toyota’s market share is just 3.5% in China, compared to 13% in the U.S. and more than 40% at home in Japan. We’re a minor player in the China market, with a 3.5% share, but we’re one of the few manufacturers where demand exceeds supply. Even … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Management, Manufacturing, Toyota Production System (TPS) | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Lean Manufacturing Success

K&S makes first shipment to China [the broken link was removed] by Buzz Ball The award was given for K&S Wire’s continuous improvement in manufacturing excellence and its implementation of “lean” enterprise principles into its everyday operations. It is because of these principles that Schwartz was able to make the announcement about the shipment to China. “We took the order to construct 111,000 wire frames that will hold flip-flops,” said Schwartz. “Because of our ‘lean’ principles, our price was better … Continue reading →

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La-Z-Boy Lean

La-Z-Boy changing production lines to compete with China [the broken link was removed]: But in an attempt to better compete with the overseas market, the Neosho plant, along with six others in its division, is transitioning to the Lean Cellular Manufacturing method. In the new concept, the chair or sofa is manufactured by a team within a cell, thus eliminating separate departments. No jobs will be lost in the transition from batch-and-queue to lean cellular. “Basically, we will have teams … Continue reading →

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