Finding the real competitive advantage...
August 8, 2007

1. Getting the right message to Washington: The issue of a level competitive playing field for U.S. manufacturers is getting some attention, at last. South Carolina Sen. Lindsay Graham told Honda workers at a plant in Timmonsville, SC that he work with Congress on a bipartisan effort to make sure imported products are tested to the same levels as domestic products. Recent issues with toys and food from China continue to raise hackles in the U.S. and Graham promised to “take the message back to Washington. We have an international global economy, but we need to have a level playing field.” It’s nice to see a U.S. senator acknowledging BOTH truths.

2. And here’s another competitive advantage: Just down the road in Georgia, OSHA administrator Edwin Foulke was telling a group of labor leaders in Savannah that maintaining low workers compensation rates is another way to maintain the competitive edge the U.S. has in manufacturing. “If we can do the same thing for safety that we did for quality, if we can reduce on-the-job injuries and illnesses, the workers’ comp rates will go down and that will make our companies more competitive across the board,” Foulke said. Many days, it’s not the money we spent, it’s the money we avoid spending – a message you’ll be able to get at the National Safety Congress in Chicago in October and in Plant Engineering’s October cover story on safety.

3. And in other Honda news: Like so many other “foreign” manufacturers, Honda is finding the manufacturing climate just fine here in America, especially in the south. The Old South is becoming the new Detroit, and more evidence of that came last week when Honda Aero, announced it would build its jet engine manufacturing plant in Burlington, N.C., adjacent to the Burlington-Alamance Regional Airport. The joint venture between GE and Honda Aero will include the division’s corporate headquarters and employ 70 workers in the almost 60,000 square foot production facility. “This is a major step forward for our company, as we move to establish the home of our jet engine manufacturing operations here in Burlington,” said Fumitaka Hasegawa, president and CEO of Honda Aero, Inc. “Just as our partnership with GE has created this class-leading engine, this facility reflects an important new partnership between Honda and North Carolina.”

4. And in other South Carolina news: At a time when so much of the furniture business is heading overseas, Elkay’s cabinet division is making a major investment in Barnwell, SC. The new plant in Barnwell will bring $12 in investment and 300 jobs to the region by 2009. "You hear about a lot of businesses leaving and going overseas, but in the cabinet industry, not only is Elkay expanding, but much of our competition is expanding as well. This industry is booming; it's a $14 billion industry. It's very competitive," Elkay Cabinet division president Tom Cook said. "We are in a global race for investment. You really complement this local workforce in Barnwell," Gov. Mark Sanford said of the company. He said the plant will "bring new life" into the region.

5. And we’ll need more workers, so… The American Society for Engineering Education has developed a program called Engineering, Go For It! designed to attract high school students and their parents and teachers to engineering and technology. “ By bringing engineering into the world they already know, Engineering, Go For It! opens up new worlds of opportunities and rewards for teen-agers to consider as they make the decisions that will determine their future,” the association’s Website notes. As I’ve noted before, it is a grass-roots partnership (similar to the ones that brought the above plant expansions to South Carolina and North Carolina) that will revitalize manufacturing’s workforce at a time when we really need it.

Posted by Wolseley on August 8, 2007 | Comments (2)