Google’s new home media player, the Nexus Q, is getting publicity not for what it does, but for where it’s made: the United States. In the world of electronics, this is rare indeed. For many years American electronics companies have outsourced production to China, but Google is part of a growing list of companies to bring production back to the US.
A recent article in the New York Times cites General Electric and Caterpillar as examples of companies to shift assembly plants out of China and into the US, as well as Airbus, which according to the article “is said to be near a deal to build jets in Alabama.”
Wages continue to be a factor in these companies’ decisions to re-shore, but perhaps more important is agility. The article quotes the owner of a US manufacturing company as saying, “The companies who are investing in technology in the U.S.A. are more nimble and agile. Parts are made quicker, and the quality is better.”
© 2012 Rick Pay. All rights reserved.
Authors: Paige McKinney, Rick Pay
