Category: all
Taking A Break
31-07-2011
Although the need for an internet database of the sourcing of consumer goods seems to be clearer than ever in the current economic climate, we have been unable to secure reliable funding to continue with the site in its current form. We are therefore...
Category: Site News
Huawei Technologies
26-07-2011
There's a fascinating report on the BBC site about Huawei Technologies, whose dominance of various telecoms markets is astonishing - they connect a third of mobile phones globally, for example. You can read it here.
Category: China
Rare Earths Again
24-03-2011
Regular visiors to this site will know that rare earths are a vital part of modern manufacturing. There was an article illustrating why on the Time website recently that makes things even clearer. You can read it here. If you care about the future of...
Category: Resources
Made In Germany
01-03-2011
Just as 'Made In China' has caused people globally to re-think some of the assumptions of globalised world trade, 'Made In Germany' is having similar effects in Europe and beyond. The weak Euro has helped Germany to export its way out of recession...
Category: Country Of Origin
Building Their Dreams
24-02-2011
China car company BYD's first US-oriented model is undergoing evaluation at the moment. It's a hybrid, and while rather unrefined in engine-mode, the battery technology seems to work quite well. Its low-pricing might even make it a rival for the Chevrolet...
Category: Cars and Vehicles
Assembled In The USA
11-02-2011
The New York Times has updated its detailed guide to car models assembled in the US, Canada and Mexico. It's well designed and easy to use, and ideal for automotive industry students, or for schools with engineering or technology curriculums. It breaks...
Category: Cars and Vehicles
BMW's Commitment....To The USA
10-02-2011
BMW aired a commercial during the recent 2011 Super Bowl, and impressed people by emphasising its commitment to manufacturing in the US at the Spartanburg, SC plant where the X Series of vehicles is built. Most people driving these vehicles in Europe...
Category: Cars and Vehicles
Read BMW's Commitment....To The USA
UK Trade Deficit
09-02-2011
The news that the UK trade deficit stood at £9.2bn for December, despite the weaker pound, is shaking confidence in the country's ability to export its way out of the deficit and a recession. When the services sector's contribution of £4.4bn...
Category: Globalisation
Roadtests To Remember
07-02-2011
The recent roadtest of the new Ariel Atom V8 on Top Gear caused quite a stir, as it was up against the outstanding BMW S1000RR motorcycle that has itself shaken up the motorcycle world. You can catch the clip on You Tube, and see the car not only beat...
Category: Cars and Vehicles
The Panda In The Room
22-01-2011
The visit of President Hu to the US may have focussed on trade, but it could also have been an ideal time for Obama to raise the critical issue of China's cyberwarfare programme. Unfortunately, the issue remained in the closet, just like it did when Obama...
Category: China
Round Up 5
14-12-2010
Welcome to another round up of recent articles of interest to manufacturers and armchair global strategists alike, who take a more global view and are sceptical of the advantages of trading with China, on which this blog focusses. Hope you find something...
Category: Globalisation
Round Up 4
21-10-2010
Here's another set of links to recent articles with a globalisation theme you might find interesting.
Chinese Premier Hu Jintao gave an impressive performance at the beginning of the month on CNN's 'GPS,' although he wasn't asked particularly...
Category: Globalisation
Round-Up 3
04-09-2010
Here's another round-up of articles that caught my eye recently, in case you missed any and would like to follow them up. As usual it's from a European perspective with a close watch on China.
The August headline that over 2000...
Category: Globalisation
Educating The Workforce
27-08-2010
There's a great post on Manufacturing Crunch currently from writer and fireboat engineer Jessica DuLong. It's a fascinating exploration of the challenges we face in linking people to the jobs available and asks whether we need to dilute the privileging...
Category: Workforce
July Round-Up
02-08-2010
Here's another round-up of recent articles on manufacturing and related issues, with a close eye on the Chinese front.
Li Ka Shing, one of Asia's richest men, is proving that the Chinese buy-up of strategic world resources isn't just confined...
Category: Globalisation
Creating Jobs
22-07-2010
We've always argued here that Globalisation has been an unmitigated disaster for the West. So it was good to see Andy Grove, co-founder of Intel, publish this article recently at Bloomberg. He emphasises the priority of creating jobs and employing people,...
Category: Country Of Origin
June Round-Up
01-07-2010
If you take a wider view of manufacturing, I hope this brief round up of recent articles you might have missed might be useful to you, especially if you keep an eye on the China front.
You might find this profile in the UK Daily Mail of Taiwan's...
Category: Globalisation
Billionaire Prophecies
20-06-2010
There was a fascinating interview with Chinese property billionaire Zhang Zin today on CNN's GPS, Fareed Zakaria's programme. Zhang Zin is the CEO of SOHO China, a very successful property empire. In it, she predicts that China can't continue as the outsourcing...
Category: China
Big Trouble In China ...?
17-06-2010
While the US stares financial oblivion in the face, and Western Europe starts to wonder if the Euro was such a well thought-through idea after all, it may come as a surprise to some to learn that all is not well in the Far East either. You can read an...
Category: China
Read Big Trouble In China ...?
Global Oil Resources
13-06-2010
A good article in today's UK Independent newspaper draws attention to what we've been saying on this site for quite some time now. The unravelling of globalisation is a process that's already underway and is bound to lead to greater competition for...
Category: Resources
Rarer Earths
02-06-2010
Rare earths are elements essential to many manufacturing processes. In the future, the control of the supply of rare earths will help influence where manufacturing industries are located. With its control of no less than 95% of world production, China...
Category: China
Foxconn Suicides
27-05-2010
The current concern over working conditions at Hon Hai/Foxconn's giant assembly plant in Shenzhen, China, is overshadowing the global launch of the iPad, which is made there. We've run and recommended articles on working conditions at this plant for over...
Category: Workforce
More Mean Than Lean
19-04-2010
There's an article in the UK Daily Mail newspaper currently about conditions in a factory in Dongguan, China, which assembles mice and webcams for Microsoft and others, including Hon Hai (Foxconn). Although a right-wing newspaper, it often has interesting...
Category: China
Born In The USA, Or Just Assembled There?
09-04-2010
The New York Times wrote an insightful piece last year on the supply chains for engines and transmissions for US-assembled cars. You can access it here. As soon as the updated version for this year comes out, we'll let you know, or if you know of a more...
Category: Cars and Vehicles
Read Born In The USA, Or Just Assembled There?
iPad Component Tracking
08-04-2010
For everyone interested in supply chains and component sourcing, there's a revealing article on the iPad at Business Week. You can access it here.
Category: Supply Chains
CNN- just Hype-Ad for the iPad?
04-04-2010
CNN is a real mixed bag of a media institution. Occasionally there's still good reporting and that roving first-on-the-scene feel that reminds you of its early days.
Yesterday wasn't one of those occasions. The launch of the iPad would have been...
Category: Globalisation
Read CNN- just Hype-Ad for the iPad?
The Right Decisions
03-04-2010
There's another thought-provoking piece over at Evolving Excellence by Lean Consultant Bill Waddell, comparing the practices of Rio Tinto and Google in China. It's well worth a visit and a bit of reflection on how the desire to get into China is affecting...
Category: China
Fairer Trade
15-02-2010
There's some incisive comment by Gilbert B. Kaplan over at the Huff Post on the need for a fairer trade policy http://is.gd/8rYLv. He's a commentator who understands that losing 5 million manufacturing jobs in the US since 2000...
Category: Globalisation
When Worldviews Collide
26-01-2010
Google's reaction to the discovery that its e-mail servers had recently been hacked by the Chinese government's cloak and dagger nerds has been a revelation. You may have been following the stand-off, and rightly so - it brings together many of...
Category: China
Bear Necessities
20-01-2010
An article on the Lean Production site Evolving Excellence brings a few good points into focus on the problems companies have when outsourcing. It features the German Steiff company, famous for its toy bears, and discusses why its outsourcing of bear...
Category: Outsourcing
Honda Supports Re-Localisation
21-12-2009
Honda UK has been running a very interesting ad campaign at the moment. It captures the new mood of re-localisation that is emerging, and which is supported by this website, very well. Here's the text:
'Buying Local. You might not think it's...
Category: Globalisation
Read Honda Supports Re-Localisation
Of Playstations And Battle Stations
12-12-2009
If you've ever wondered whether a consumer electronics industry is still worth having, you might be interested in the news that the US Dept of Defense has just bought 336 old-shape Playstation 3 consoles to develop into a cut-price military supercomputer...
Category: China
Read Of Playstations And Battle Stations
Investing In Electric Cars
10-12-2009
We've written before on Electric Cars, and our article over at EVWorld has had over 4000 visits, so we know there's a demand for information and analysis of the likely trends and potential problems. But here's a link to a very informative article written...
Category: Cars and Vehicles
Read Investing In Electric Cars
Open Letter
09-12-2009
As we live in a democracy where freedom of speech is encouraged, and rigorous scientific debate should be pursued, it seems a good time to re-publish this recent open letter to the UN as a Blog entry, without any comment from us.
Open Letter to...
Category: CO2
Useful Resources on Globalisation
03-12-2009
We put together this list of resources on the COOLXmas website. But they're so good we thought we'd put them in a Blog aswell. They can be used to start students thinking about the world they live in, and the economy they will have to find work in.
Where...
Category: Resources
Read Useful Resources on Globalisation
Gadgets Today, But Employment Tomorrow?
02-12-2009
If manufacturing is to have a future, we have to get more young people to see it as a career with a future. And we have to do it before the current skilled generation retires and there's no-one left to train the youngsters.
Unfortunately,...
Category: Workforce
Read Gadgets Today, But Employment Tomorrow?
Why Country Of Origin Still Matters
01-12-2009
With the launch this week of the global COOLXmas educational project, it seems a good time to highlight some of the issues students could discuss. Here are some of the ones that matter to us here at madeinnations:
It hasn't been easy...
Category: Country Of Origin
Read Why Country Of Origin Still Matters
Back To The Present
27-11-2009
It's not often billionaire capitalists do some hard thinking about the effect of the influence of the super-rich and the political elites on society. But one who did was multi-billionaire James Goldsmith. In 1994, he gave an interview with Charlie...
Category: Globalisation
Site News Update
24-11-2009
We're pleased to announce that the COOLXmas project has been joined by leading UK site BuyBritish.com. It's also been featured by the prestigious Australian manufacturing site Manufacturers' Monthly. We're still looking for a major prize sponsor, but...
Category: Site News
Shipping And Pollution
22-11-2009
There's an interesting article in today's UK Daily Mail about the pollution caused by global shipping, which vastly outweighs all the pollution caused by every vehicle in the world put together. But while 'gas-guzzling' cars get bad publicity and their...
Category: Shipping
Why Outsourcing Didn't Work
19-11-2009
There's a really clear explanation of why outsourcing hasn't worked as a long-term business strategy at the Evolving Excellence site, by internationally respected consultant Bill Waddell. You can go to his article about it here. The site is about...
Category: Outsourcing
Read Why Outsourcing Didn't Work
COOL Xmas
09-11-2009
We're organising a competition for schools and colleges at the moment, called COOLXmas! It's designed to get students thinking about the country of origin (or 'COOL') issues that regular visitors know we care about, like the freedom to know where products...
Category: Site News
The Debate Continues
03-11-2009
There's an interesting article on the UK Telegraph site at the moment from a critic of climate change, Christopher Booker. His arguments have sparked a lot of comments (around 300 or so), and these often provide real insights into the current state of...
Category: CO2
New Look
30-10-2009
We're revising the site at the moment to include some new features. The biggest US carbon offset organisation, Carbonfund.org, have kindly lent us their CO2 calculator, and you can read about how to get the best from it on the page on the lower menu bar,...
Category: Site News
Outsourcing In The News
23-10-2009
Outsourcing has been in the news recently as more and more people are questioning whether it's a sustainable industrial policy. It used to be the default strategy for consultants and business school students, but it's now in the spotlight like never...
Category: Outsourcing
The Reformation Of Globalisation
21-10-2009
We Over-40's remember how it felt to live through the end of the Cold War, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the end of Apartheid – we even remember the hilariously misconceived 'End of History,' although that one only seemed to last...
Category: Globalisation
Read The Reformation Of Globalisation
Losing Manufacturing Has Social Consequences
08-10-2009
Over at the Manufacturing Crunch site, Bill Waddell, a global lean production consultant, has written an article on the social consequences of losing over ten million manufacturing jobs in the US over the past few decades. He suggests that this has closed...
Category: Workforce
Read Losing Manufacturing Has Social Consequences
Outsourcing - An Introduction
06-10-2009
As this site is about where products come from, it makes sense to introduce ideas about Outsourcing here in the Blog section. Many environmentalists fear that by allowing so much of Western industry to be outsourced in the past, the influence over companies...
Category: Outsourcing
Read Outsourcing - An Introduction
The Return Of The Electric Car
29-09-2009
This Blog article takes a look at some of the issues that electric cars face over the next few years as more and more manufacturers bring them to market. Some of them, like range limitations, are obvious, but others are less so and depend on a...
Category: Cars and Vehicles
Read The Return Of The Electric Car
When The Workforce Clocks Out...
24-09-2009
There have been lots of studies and reports in the media over the years about the ageing workforce and the need to replace it, but these largely came before the current economic crisis, and the competition for scarcer resources for investment. Yet this...
Category: Workforce
Read When The Workforce Clocks Out...
Management Responsibilities
22-09-2009
I write for a pro-manufacturing site in the US called Manufacturing Crunch. I posted a link there recently to an article in the UK Independent from a Management Consultant blowing the whistle on consultant scams and overcharging. One of the best real...
Category: Workforce
Read Management Responsibilities
CO2 And Climate Change
20-09-2009
There was a thought-provoking article on climate change from Geoffrey Lean in the UK Telegraph recently. In it, he emphasises some of the factors contributing to a changing climate. Just as interesting though is the section of comments, in which just...
Category: Green Issues
Car News
17-09-2009
New cars: Peugeot RCZ coupe to be built at Graz, Austria; Bentley Mulsanne at Crewe, UK; Kia Venga at Nosovice, Czech Republic
Indian manufacturer Reva will build its new NXR electric car in Bangalore http://is.gd/3o6u1
Germany plans...
Category: Cars and Vehicles
Renewable Energy Forecast
16-09-2009
Some analysts have quite a pessimistic view of the role of renewable energy in the US over the next 20 years. This report, at Shopfloor.org's site, predicts coal as clearly still the dominant energy source in US by 2030, at 2,800 Tw/hrs....
Category: Green Issues
Read Renewable Energy Forecast
China Update
15-09-2009
Here's an update on China news that caught our eye in the last month:
A China analyst has urged caution over China's development of Wind Power. The blog post at the Manufacturing Crunch website gives detailed reasons why Wind Power will be difficult...
Category: China
