SAN JOSE, Calif. – Etched into the base of Google’s new wireless home media player that was introduced on Wednesday is its most intriguing feature. On the underside of the Nexus Q is a simple inscription: “Designed and Manufactured in the U.S.A.”
The Google executives and engineers who decided to build the player here are engaged in an experiment in American manufacturing. “We’ve been absent for so long, we decided, ‘Why don’t we try it and see what happens?’ ” said Andy Rubin, the Google executive who leads the company’s Android mobile business.
Google is not saying a lot about its domestic manufacturing, declining even to disclose publicly where the factory is in Silicon Valley. It also is not saying much about the source of many of its parts in the United States. And Mr. Rubin said the company was not engaged in a crusade.
Still, the project will be closely watched by other electronics companies. It has become accepted wisdom that consumer electronics products can no longer be made in the United States. During the last decade, abundant low-cost Chinese labor and looser environmental regulations have virtually erased what was once a vibrant American industry.
Since the 1990s, one American company after another, including Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Apple, has become a design and marketing shell, with production shifted to contract manufacturers in Shenzhen and elsewhere in China.
Now that trend may be showing early signs of reversing.
It’s a trickle, but some American companies are again making products in the United States. While many of those companies have been small, like ET Water Systems, there have also been some highly visible moves by America’s largest consumer and industrial manufacturers. General Electric and Caterpillar, for example, have moved assembly operations back to the United States in the last year. (Airbus, a European company, is said to be near a deal to build jets in Alabama.)
There is no single reason for the change. Rising labor and energy costs have made manufacturing in China significantly more expensive; transportation costs have risen; companies have become increasingly aware of the risks of the theft of intellectual property when products are made in China; and in a business where time-to-market is a competitive advantage, it is easier for engineers to drive 10 minutes on the freeway to the factory than to fly for 16 hours.
That was true for ET Water Systems, a California company. “You need a collaboration that is real time,” said Pat McIntyre, chief executive of the maker of irrigation management systems, which recently moved its manufacturing operation from Dalian, China, to Silicon Valley. “We prefer local, frankly, because sending one of our people to China for two weeks at a time is challenging.”
Harold L. Sirkin, a managing director at Boston Consulting Group, said, “At 58 cents an hour, bringing manufacturing back was impossible, but at $3 to $6 an hour, where wages are today in coastal China, all of a sudden the equation changes.”
The firm reported in April that one-third of American companies with revenue greater than $1 billion were either planning or considering to move manufacturing back to the United States. Boston Consulting predicted that the reversal could bring two million to three million jobs back to this country.
“The companies who are investing in technology in the U.S.A. are more nimble and agile,” said Drew Greenblatt, president and owner of Marlin Steel Wire Products in Baltimore, which continues to manufacture in the United States by relying on automation technologies. “Parts are made quicker, and the quality is better.”
Other factors are playing a role as well, said Mitch Free, chief executive and founder of Mfg.com, an electronic marketplace for manufacturing firms. He pointed to trends including distributed manufacturing and customization as playing an important role in the “reshoring” of manufacturing to the United States.
The biggest challenge in bringing manufacturing home has been finding component suppliers nearby. Industry executives note that the decision to stay in China is often determined by a ready labor pool and the web of parts suppliers that surround giant assembly operations, like the one that Foxconn, the manufacturing partner of Apple and many other big electronics companies, operates in Shenzhen.
The Nexus Q, which links a TV or home sound system to the Internet cloud to play video and audio content, contains almost all American-made parts. The engineers who led the effort to build the device, which is based on the same microprocessor used in Android smartphones and contains seven printed circuit boards, found the maker of the zinc metal base in the Midwest and a supplier for the molded plastic components in Southern California.
Semiconductor chips are more of a challenge. In some cases, the chips are made in the United States and shipped to Asia to be packaged with other electronic components.
Google did not take the easy route and encase the Q in a black box. The dome of the Magic-8-ball-shaped case is the volume control – the user twists it – a feature that required painstaking engineering and a prolonged hunt for just the right bearing, said Matt Hershenson, an engineer who helped design the Q.
At $299, the device costs significantly more than competing systems from companies like Apple and Roku. Google says this is in part because of the higher costs of manufacturing in the United States, but the company expects to bring the price down as it increases volume. The company is hoping that consumers will be willing to pay more, though it is unlikely that the “Made in America” lineage will be part of any marketing campaign.
Google uses a contract manufacturer to make the Q. Last week it was being assembled in a large factory 15 minutes from Google headquarters. The company declined to say how many people were employed at the plant, which can run as many as three shifts each day. However, during a brief tour, made with the understanding that the exact location would not be disclosed, it was clear that hundreds of workers were involved in making the Q.
It is the kind of building that was once common across Silicon Valley during the 1980s and even the 1990s. More recently, former semiconductor fabrication and assembly factories have given way to large office campuses that house the programmers who design software and support Web sites.
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‘Made in USA’: The All American Clothing Co. Reveals Why America Just Can't Live Without It
UncategorizedAt a time when ‘Made in USA’ and American Manufacturing are at high level of discussion, there is not enough emphasis, action or resolve. Many focuses for political leaders have been on the issues of health care, tax cuts, and student loans–which are all necessary matters. But, our leaders have not focused enough on the all important ideal that allows citizens to attain and afford these issues. That is, creating jobs. Jobs cannot be created without American manufacturing built around the phrase ‘Made in USA.’ These words are what built America during the greatest job growth in its history–the Industrial Revolution. From the auto industry workers on the assembly line, to the farmers who harvest food, to the cotton mill workers who create the fabric used in clothing—the days of the Industrial Revolution created millions of American jobs with three words America just can`t live without—‘Made in USA.’
America cannot live without USA manufacturing. Manufacturing creates the jobs that fuel the tax base needed to support the American standard of living. Taxes help to pay for schools, police, fire/emergency services, healthcare and transportation. Without USA manufacturing and jobs how can America support these needs? According to the U.S. Census Bureau the American population was estimated at 313,793,643 as of June 2012. If every American spent $50 on one USA Made item a year, it would create an estimated $15.7 billion in revenue. In addition, each American manufacturing job produces up to 4 new jobs in other sectors (source: workingforamerica.org). This number alone would create thousands of jobs for Americans!
There once was a time when it was a tradition to have “Made in USA’ on all manufacturing items in the U.S, when there was a promise of the American Dream through the American manufacturing that provided jobs, and when industries like the apparel industry thrived in being one of the leading job suppliers for citizens in the United States. Those days are over. Today, there are very few companies who can say they are ‘Made in USA’ by American workers and from American materials.
According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the American Made apparel industry alone had 938.6 thousand jobs in 1990. Today, that number has plummeted to 150.3 thousand jobs. Along with other industries, the American apparel industry is slowly dying, racking up a loss of 788,300 jobs, a -84% loss. If trends like this continue Americans will keep on losing jobs, the national debt will continue to plunge, and someday there may never be tags on clothing that say ‘Made in USA.’
With the current unemployment rate at 8.2% (Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics), in what is the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. The need to supply American citizens a job in an American manufacturing industry is more important than ever for both U.S. citizens and the economy. Under these current conditions, citizens are finding it harder to live. College graduates cannot find a job, parents are supporting their children into their 20`s, and even military men and women cannot find a job after they return home from duty.
American citizens, business leaders, and political leaders must take a stand and make an effort to support this country. U.S. business leaders must stand up to do the right thing and bring manufacturing back to the United States. Citizens must support the effort to buy at least one USA Made item a year at $50 to create up to $15.7 billion in revenue, and American political leaders must support ‘Made in USA’ as a call to action in a bi-partisan way. There is still hope. If all Americans collectively come together and start supporting USA Made items, America will begin to flourish like it once did during the Industrial Revolution. $15.7 billion in one year, can double to $30 billion in the next. Together, with action, Americans can ultimately improve their efforts and each others` lives year in and year out. America has to. America has no choice. It has to support ‘Made in USA.’ America just can`t live without it.
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About the Author:
Logan Beam is the Director of Marketing and Communications for the All American Clothing Co, a 100% USA Made clothing company that passionately supports Made in USA goods. This release was written as a ‘call to action’ for all American citizens and all American leaders to increase their efforts in supporting ‘Made in USA’.
Follow All American Clothing Co. on Twitter
Team USA To Be Decked Out in Uniforms Made in China
NewsABC News’ Sharyn Alfonsi reports:
The classic American style – shown in an image above – was crafted by designer Ralph Lauren. But just how American is it?
When ABC News looked at the labels, it found “made in China.”
Every item in the uniforms that the U.S. athletes will be wearing at the opening ceremony in London will carry an overseas label.
Here’s how much the uniforms cost:
Men:
Beret – $55
Tie – $125
Belt – $85
Shirt – $425
Blazer – $795
Trousers – $295
Shoes – $165
Women:
Beret – $55
Scarf – $58
Belt – $85
Shirt – $179
Skirt – $498
Blazer – $598
“Why shouldn’t we have pride not only in the American athletes, but in the American manufacturers and laborers who are the backbone of our country?” Lepore said to ABC News. “Why? What’s wrong? Why was that not a consideration?”
ABC News reached out to Lauren and the U.S. Olympic Committee and asked why American-made clothing had not been selected for the athletes.
The committee said: “The U.S. Olympic team is privately funded and we’re grateful for the support of our sponsors. We’re proud of our partnership with Ralph Lauren, an iconic American company.”
The Made in America Movement Open at Wisconsin Dells
UncategorizedSomeone gave us the idea to ask our loyal and devoted Made in USA fans/followers to donate even just $1 to our cause, so we can have this tournament named after us. The tournament will be named as follows:
“The Made in America Movement Open at Wisconsin Dells”
If you send it as MONEY to a friend, and not as a purchase, no fees will be charged. Every penny counts.
Let’s get this tournament named after us, and let the world know about about The Made in America Movement!
Do you think we can raise $3,000 in 30hrs? Let’s see….
Ready! Set! DONATE!
If you would like to come on board as a sponsor, email me for details: info@themadeinamericamovement.com
Imagine YOUR banner across the golf course!
This is HUGE!
We will get our message to people across the Country.
Orders for U.S. Manufactured Goods Increased in May
UncategorizedPublished: July 3, 2012
Still, factory orders are down from the start of the year. And more recent data shows manufacturing activity shrank in June for the first time in three years, adding to worries that weaker global growth is weighing on the economy.
“The demand for manufactured goods is recovering moderately and irregularly, but that recovery has been relatively weak relative to the magnitude of the previous declines,” said Steven Wood, chief economist at Insight Economics.
Core capital goods, which include machinery and computers, rose 2.1 percent, which is better than the 1.6 percent estimated in a preliminary report a week ago.
Overall factory orders increased to $469 billion. That’s 43.5 percent higher than the recession low reached in March 2009. But orders have fallen 2.5 percent over the last five months from their postrecession high in December.
Orders for long-lasting durable goods, everything from airplanes to refrigerators, rose 1.3 percent in May. Orders for nondurable goods, which include food, paper, chemicals and energy products, edged up 0.2 percent. The increase may have been held back by falling oil and gas prices.
Still, orders are likely to decline in June, based on a report from the Institute of Supply Management. The trade group of purchasing managers on Monday said manufacturing contracted in June for the first time since July 2009 — one month after the recession ended
'Reshoring' of Jobs Looks Meager
UncategorizedThe net effect of this two-way traffic on the labor market has been “zero,” says Michael Janssen of the Hackett Group, a business consulting firm that released a contrarian report on reshoring in May. “Some of these jobs that are coming back get a lot of press,” he says. “There are just as many that get no press coverage still going offshore.”
No one knows how many of the manufacturing jobs created since 2010 actually made a round trip from the U.S. to a foreign address and back. And if jobs are returning, they’re doing so slowly. At the current pace of recovery, it will take 25 years for the U.S. to regain all the factory jobs lost since 2000.
China’s cost advantage is gradually eroding. In 2005 production in China was 31 percent cheaper than in advanced nations, according to the Hackett Group’s calculations. By 2013 the gap will be down to 16 percent, small enough for U.S. production to make sense in some cases, says the study. Likewise, Hal Sirkin, who wrote a 2011 Boston Consulting Group report that’s optimistic about a U.S. manufacturing comeback, estimates that over the next eight years 2 million to 3 million jobs could result from improved U.S. competitiveness. “A significant chunk will be jobs that went to other countries and came back,” he says.
So far, many of the jobs China is losing aren’t heading to the U.S. but to other low-cost Asian nations. Rising wages in China led Coach to start looking for alternate places to make its wallets and handbags. By 2015 the company aims to reduce China’s share of its production to about 50 percent from almost 80 percent today. New orders will be sent to factories in Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines. Reshoring to somebody else’s shores will be more common in coming years than jobs returning to the U.S., says Tim Leunig, who teaches economic history at the London School of Economics: “The next president of the United States, whoever he is, will end his term with fewer Americans working in manufacturing than he inherited.”
The bottom line: Though manufacturers have created 495,000 jobs since 2010, there’s little evidence it’s because of a reshoring surge.
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Lynch is a reporter for Bloomberg News in Washington.
Obama Administration Challenges China’s Unfair Imposition of Duties on American-Made Automobiles
Uncategorized“As we have made clear, the Obama Administration will continue to fight to ensure that China does not misuse its trade laws and violate its international trade commitments to block exports of American-made products,” Ambassador Kirk said. “American auto workers and manufacturers deserve a level playing field and we are taking every step necessary to stand up for them. This is the third time that the Obama Administration has challenged China’s misuse of trade remedies.”
This is the latest in a series of enforcement steps the Administration has recently taken to continue to hold China accountable for its WTO commitments. In two earlier WTO cases, the United States challenged duties that China had imposed to restrict imports of certain steel products and chicken products from the United States. The United States has also brought actions against China’s export restraints on several industrial raw materials, including rare earths, China’s restrictions on electronic payment services and subsidies to China’s wind power equipment sector. In each of these matters, the key principle at stake is that China must play by the rules to which it agreed when it joined the WTO. Those commitments include maintaining open markets on a non-discriminatory basis, and following internationally-agreed procedures in a transparent way. In addition, the United States previously invoked a China-specific safeguard to address rapidly increasing imports of Chinese passenger and light truck tires.
Background:
Shortly after President Obama decided in September 2009 to impose a safeguard measure against Chinese tire imports, China’s Ministry of Commerce announced that it would initiate antidumping and countervailing duty investigations of imports of American-made cars and sport utility vehicles (SUVs). Then, in May 2011, China’s Ministry of Commerce issued final determinations in which it found that imports of American-made automobiles had been sold at less than fair value (i.e., “dumped”) into the Chinese market and had also benefited from subsidies. WTO rules permit imposition of duties on imports of merchandise that are found to be dumped or subsidized, if those imports cause injury to the domestic industry. However, at that time, China suspended the imposition of duties.
Subsequently, in December 2011, China began imposing both antidumping and countervailing duties on imports of American-produced automobiles. The antidumping duties range from 2.0 percent to 8.9 percent, with an “all others” rate of 21.5 percent, and the countervailing duties range from 6.2 percent to 12.9 percent, with an “all others” rate of 12.9 percent. The specific products affected by the duties are American-produced cars and SUVs with an engine capacity of 2.5 liters or larger. Last year, the United States exported more than $3 billion of these automobiles to China.
The United States believes that China initiated the investigations without sufficient evidence; failed to objectively examine the evidence; and made unsupported findings of injury to China’s domestic industry. In addition, China failed to disclose “essential facts” underlying its conclusions; failed to provide an adequate explanation of its conclusions; improperly used investigative procedures; and failed to require non-confidential summaries of Chinese company submissions.
See here for a copy of the U.S.’s request letter to the WTO.
American Pride Turns into Profit for Young Entrepreneur
UncategorizedPublished July 04, 2012
“It really hit home for me, even though I was just a six-year-old. I was like, ‘Daddy let’s show them that we’re Americans,’ ” said Waldon, now 17.
Before the Waldons knew it, Emily had a decent business on her hands. She named it Flagpole Express.
“All we want is for people to have flagpoles and be able to have them in their front yard, because as Americans we need to show that we’re proud,” the young entrepreneur said.
In the last eleven years Flagpole Express has built, delivered, and installed more than 500 flagpoles at homes and businesses throughout Mississippi, Memphis, Tenn., and in parts of Arkansas.
“What we make is the best you can get,” Emily said with a smile.
Emily puts the poles together at home with her dad, usually after school when she’s done with homework, and then they deliver and install the flagpoles on the weekends.
“This is a country that the American dream is possible and really that’s what occurred with her little business,” said Emily’s Dad, Bryan Waldon.
Each flagpole sells for a couple hundred dollars, and the Waldons typically handle a couple orders each week, depending on the season. Over the past 11 years, Emily has made more than $100,000 in profits.
“Just fellow Americans wanting to show pride in America. They wanted what we had, the flagpoles, to show that they were proud also. It was a great coming together with the whole community being patriotic,” Emily said.
Emily plans on studying international business at college after finishing her senior year of high school. She’s still deciding where she’ll go, but she says wherever she goes, Flagpole Express is coming with her.
“I’m definitely going to keep with it as long as I possibly can. Maybe pass it down to my kids. It’s been great growing up with it.”
Garrett Tenney is part of the Junior Reporter program at Fox News. Get more information on the Junior Reporters Program here.
Read more: http://smallbusiness.foxbusiness.com/entrepreneurs/2012/07/04/american-pride-turns-into-profit-for-young-entrepreneur/#ixzz1zlRrHmsC
US Manufacturing Shrinks for First Time in 3 Years
UncategorizedMon Jul 2, 9:05 PM UTC
Production and exports declined, and the number of new orders plunged, according to a monthly report released Monday by the Institute for Supply Management.
The slowdown comes as U.S. employers have scaled back hiring, consumers have turned more cautious, Europe faces a recession and manufacturing has slowed in big countries like China.
Lawmakers Push for American Flags to be 'Made in the U.S.A.'
UncategorizedJuly 3, 2012
So ask sponsors of the All-American Flag Act, introduced in response to the $3.6 million in imports of U.S. flags, mostly from China.
The bill’s sponsors picked the eve of Independence Day to call on the House to pass a Senate-approved bill that would require the federal government to purchase only flags made entirely from domestic content.
It was not immediately clear why the bill has yet to come up for a vote in the House, which approved the measure in 2010. That bill never came before the Senate before the session ended.
Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Iowa), the House’s bill’s chief sponsor, said in a statement, “It’s time for the House to act.”
U.S. flag imports were valued at $3.6 million last year, with $3.3 million coming from China, according to the Census Bureau.
Currently, federal law requires that U.S. flags purchased by the federal government contain a minimum of 50% American-made materials. The legislation would require federal agencies to purchase only flags made entirely in the U.S. “from articles, materials, or supplies 100% of which are grown, produced, or manufactured in the United States.”
“In a time when we face economic hardship, it is critical to invest in the manufacturing base,” Brown said during Senate consideration of his bill last year. “There is no product that deserves a U.S.A. label more than American flags.”
A separate bill, the Genuine American Flag Act, that would prohibit imports for sale of foreign-made U.S. flags also has been introduced.
Google Tries Something Retro: Made in the U.S.A.
UncategorizedPublished: June 28, 2012
The Google executives and engineers who decided to build the player here are engaged in an experiment in American manufacturing. “We’ve been absent for so long, we decided, ‘Why don’t we try it and see what happens?’ ” said Andy Rubin, the Google executive who leads the company’s Android mobile business.
Still, the project will be closely watched by other electronics companies. It has become accepted wisdom that consumer electronics products can no longer be made in the United States. During the last decade, abundant low-cost Chinese labor and looser environmental regulations have virtually erased what was once a vibrant American industry.
Since the 1990s, one American company after another, including Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Apple, has become a design and marketing shell, with production shifted to contract manufacturers in Shenzhen and elsewhere in China.
Now that trend may be showing early signs of reversing.
It’s a trickle, but some American companies are again making products in the United States. While many of those companies have been small, like ET Water Systems, there have also been some highly visible moves by America’s largest consumer and industrial manufacturers. General Electric and Caterpillar, for example, have moved assembly operations back to the United States in the last year. (Airbus, a European company, is said to be near a deal to build jets in Alabama.)
There is no single reason for the change. Rising labor and energy costs have made manufacturing in China significantly more expensive; transportation costs have risen; companies have become increasingly aware of the risks of the theft of intellectual property when products are made in China; and in a business where time-to-market is a competitive advantage, it is easier for engineers to drive 10 minutes on the freeway to the factory than to fly for 16 hours.
That was true for ET Water Systems, a California company. “You need a collaboration that is real time,” said Pat McIntyre, chief executive of the maker of irrigation management systems, which recently moved its manufacturing operation from Dalian, China, to Silicon Valley. “We prefer local, frankly, because sending one of our people to China for two weeks at a time is challenging.”
Harold L. Sirkin, a managing director at Boston Consulting Group, said, “At 58 cents an hour, bringing manufacturing back was impossible, but at $3 to $6 an hour, where wages are today in coastal China, all of a sudden the equation changes.”
The firm reported in April that one-third of American companies with revenue greater than $1 billion were either planning or considering to move manufacturing back to the United States. Boston Consulting predicted that the reversal could bring two million to three million jobs back to this country.
“The companies who are investing in technology in the U.S.A. are more nimble and agile,” said Drew Greenblatt, president and owner of Marlin Steel Wire Products in Baltimore, which continues to manufacture in the United States by relying on automation technologies. “Parts are made quicker, and the quality is better.”
Other factors are playing a role as well, said Mitch Free, chief executive and founder of Mfg.com, an electronic marketplace for manufacturing firms. He pointed to trends including distributed manufacturing and customization as playing an important role in the “reshoring” of manufacturing to the United States.
The biggest challenge in bringing manufacturing home has been finding component suppliers nearby. Industry executives note that the decision to stay in China is often determined by a ready labor pool and the web of parts suppliers that surround giant assembly operations, like the one that Foxconn, the manufacturing partner of Apple and many other big electronics companies, operates in Shenzhen.
The Nexus Q, which links a TV or home sound system to the Internet cloud to play video and audio content, contains almost all American-made parts. The engineers who led the effort to build the device, which is based on the same microprocessor used in Android smartphones and contains seven printed circuit boards, found the maker of the zinc metal base in the Midwest and a supplier for the molded plastic components in Southern California.
Semiconductor chips are more of a challenge. In some cases, the chips are made in the United States and shipped to Asia to be packaged with other electronic components.
Google did not take the easy route and encase the Q in a black box. The dome of the Magic-8-ball-shaped case is the volume control – the user twists it – a feature that required painstaking engineering and a prolonged hunt for just the right bearing, said Matt Hershenson, an engineer who helped design the Q.
At $299, the device costs significantly more than competing systems from companies like Apple and Roku. Google says this is in part because of the higher costs of manufacturing in the United States, but the company expects to bring the price down as it increases volume. The company is hoping that consumers will be willing to pay more, though it is unlikely that the “Made in America” lineage will be part of any marketing campaign.
Google uses a contract manufacturer to make the Q. Last week it was being assembled in a large factory 15 minutes from Google headquarters. The company declined to say how many people were employed at the plant, which can run as many as three shifts each day. However, during a brief tour, made with the understanding that the exact location would not be disclosed, it was clear that hundreds of workers were involved in making the Q.
It is the kind of building that was once common across Silicon Valley during the 1980s and even the 1990s. More recently, former semiconductor fabrication and assembly factories have given way to large office campuses that house the programmers who design software and support Web sites.
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