Techtronic Industries( TTI who makes Ryobi, Milwaukee, Craftsman, and other brands) is building a factory in Anderson, S.C. The home has been here for more years than I can remember. They used to make Singer Sewing Machines way back when. It is my understanding that it is owned by a Chinese, and I guess he is planning to leave China!

TTI is a large Chinese manufacturer.  Apparently, labor costs are rising in china. It will mean American jobs, but China will still reap big profits.

good to hear...

What Stick said...

I've read descriptions of an apparent trend that's been going on for some time (maybe 10 years or more):  re-industrialization.  It turns out that in an age of instant gratification and just-in-time inventory, a couple months on a boat and a couple more waiting in harbor for unloading makes for inefficient distribution (only very high value small items are worth air shipment).  Add to that:  the really cheap labor locations have power outages, quality control problems, bad roads, and safety...well, that last is missing all too often.  So, for some time USA has been enjoying a quiet and steady increase in manufacturing output of products previously outsourced.  (Another motivation:  "made in America" premiums offered by outlets such as Walmart)   Before we break out the champagne, it turns out that employment for such production increase is much lower than previous norms because returning production is being done with much higher automation.  The figure I saw was that overall manufacturing tripled, but employment was roughly unchanged.  A few years back, I read an article on GE's returning water heater manufacturing to the US:  their overseas supplier used something like 20 hours to assemble one heater.  A GE engineering/production team went back to basics and came up with a redesign that reduced components by 20%, and labor to about 4 hours.  The net was that it could be made cheaper here.  I think outsourcing was a lazy answer for management that no longer came from Engineering, but from the Finance and Legal departments.  The wheel has turned once again.  Look at Boeing's 777 Big Bet.  Head of the company took a big risk, but it is paying off.  Of course, this isn't Rosie The Riveter construction, and we need to address "Lifetime Learning" challenges to keep skills up to date.  It will be a messy process, but encouraging.

Pete

You make some very good points and as a blue collar guy I feel jobs coming back to the US is a mix of good and not so good. It's great that jobs are coming back but the number of jobs is much less than what has gone. Also, for most, the jobs are at or near minimum wage with few benefits. Even so, jobs lost to outsourcing, off shoring, or whatever you want to call it are a tiny drop in the vast ocean of jobs that technology has taken. This is not a new  phenomenon as it has been happening since there was labor.   In the past, jobs taken were often replaced by newer jobs, often less dangerous, often with overall better conditions. That isn't necessarily the case any more. With the attitude of "profit at any cost" and the advancement of technology more and more jobs are being taken with no creation of new jobs. Back in the 90's I read a book called "The end of work" by Jeremy Rifkin. He pretty much predicted this situation. There is a video called "humans need not apply".   To me, it's very sobering as I know from experience, if labor can be replaced, it will be

 

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Capitalism breeds innovation and efficiency. Government interference stifles both.

Isn't that who bought the Delta band (memory fade)? They already had a plant in SC, maybe they are gearing up to use it.

I have always felt we lost jobs because of inefficiencies as well as high labor costs. No offense to you union guys but I have heard of union rules requiring one person do a job and the whole job being held up till that person gets it done. I know some of this is safety, but have safety "rules" also caused expenses that are unneeded? OSHA may be one of the most expensive factors in manufacturing when they go against common sense to employ illogical rules.

 

Ok rant over.

Delta Machinery bought the Unisaw and some other machinery. Owner is Chinese, mfg. is now in China, but warehouse is in S.C. That is my understanding; and was located just around the corner from TTI. I believe it is moving to another location in the state. I think some of TTI's management left to form this company.