Each Sunday, we publish a list of top articles and other content related to manufacturing in areas like quality control, product development, supply chain management, sourcing, auditing and law.
1. Chinese manufacturers’ quest for the next big product
Chinese factories, much like all factories, want to stay busy. They want to make products that are in high demand, since this means more orders. While in the past many Chinese factories have been content simply to remain contract manufacturers, some are now moving beyond that role to help find, and mass produce, the next generation of hot products.
This featured article mentions how a handful of factories are working with entrepreneurs to fulfill the role of venture capital firms in providing the resources necessary to develop new ideas. Instead of simply providing an infusion of cash, however, factories are in a position to help innovators prototype, design and mass produce their big ideas.
One of the best places to look for this phenomenon in action is the city of Shenzhen, in China’s southern Guangdong province. The city is home to HAX, a startup accelerator, and Huaqiangbei, a market for almost any sort of electronic component imaginable. Coupled with local meetings hosted by the global platform for hardware startups, Hardware Massive, Shenzhen is THE focal point for entrepreneurs to meet like-minded innovators and suppliers.
The advantage of manufacturing abilities and human talent, all in Shenzhen, is further augmented by factories’ willingness to work with fledgling businesses. As the article reports:
Factories are starting to take these startups seriously by taking on their projects, in the past they wouldn’t even look at them…
Recognizing the value of innovation for future business, factories are beginning to behave towards startups differently than in the past. And while Shenzhen might be the center of where this treatment takes place, that’s not to say it’s impossible to find elsewhere in China.
What do you think about Chinese factories working with entrepreneurs? Let us know in the comments section below!
To read more about Chinese manufacturers and their efforts at finding the next major successful product, check out the full article in the link below:
Chinese Factories Going It Alone to Build the Next Must-Have Device – Lulu Yilun Chen, Bloomberg
2. The fashion industry’s attempts to reduce its environmental impact
Putting on clothing (for most of us) comes pretty naturally to our normal routine. We put on our clothes and start the day. But what isn’t so routine is thinking about all the pollution associated with not being naked.
The featured article states that the fashion industry is a major industrial polluter, coming in second place behind the oil industry. Wearing clothes comes at a cost, not just to your wallet, but to our planet as well in the form of a carbon footprint.
Thankfully, there are several developments in the fashion industry that might help curb mankind’s impact on our world. The author mentions:
- The promise of organic cotton
- Some brands phasing out perfluorinated chemicals in their clothing
- The Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals Program (ZDHC)
- Creative uses of waste, like turning ocean plastic into shoes
Even with these encouraging approaches to making clothing, the fashion industry isn’t the only entity responsible for fashion-related waste. Consumers also play a major part, as they vote with their money, to support certain products and let others fade away. But the question for consumers – and the importers that bring them goods – is whether or not they’re willing to pay more for environmentally friendly clothing.
The article cites a 2015 study released by Nielsen, an information company, that mentions 66 percent of respondents aged 15-20 are “willing to pay more for products and services from socially and environmentally committed companies.” Hopefully, for the sake of the planet, this willingness to spend more on eco-friendly products pans out to society at large.
To learn more about the fashion industry’s efforts to combat waste, check out the full article in the link below:
Waste Is So Last Year: How the Fashion Industry Is Cleaning up Its Carbon Footprint – Francis Sollano, World Economic Forum
3. The uses of augmented reality in manufacturing
Manufacturing is rarely easy. Designs may not make clear sense to machine operators, workers may need more detailed instructions for the correct placement of parts and defects can be hard to spot – the list of problems goes on. Thankfully, augmented reality (AR) equipment offers great potential to remedy these issues and improve the manufacturing experiences of businesses everywhere.
There are a few AR products on the market right now, like Microsoft’s HoloLens and the DAQRI smart helmet. These sophisticated pieces of technology can help with a few areas in manufacturing, namely:
- Complex assembly: AR can help guide the placement of components to their correct location
- Maintenance: AR can help with equipment inspections
- Expert support: a user equipped with AR equipment can contact an expert in real time to receive direct assistance in solving a problem
- Quality assurance: AR can take photos of parts and finished products as well as help outline inspection procedures (among many other ways to limit product defects)
- Automation: AR technology can be used to influence automated equipment and provide data related to status and performance
Augmented reality is already helping companies, like Lockheed Martin, improve. And with the ways to help manufacturing mentioned above, I think AR will play a significant part in advanced manufacturing operations in the years to come. What about you – do you think AR holds potential for many manufacturers, or is it just one more flashy and expensive piece of equipment that’s overhyped?
To read the in-depth article on augmented reality in manufacturing, check out the full article in the link below:
What Can Augmented Reality Do for Manufacturing? – Ian Wright, engineering.com
4. South Asian ports lag behind in competitiveness
Some importers might only consider the efficiency of their factories as a component of getting their goods on time and affordably. But another crucial consideration is container ports.
Places like Singapore and Shanghai are some of the leading maritime capitals in Asia. Their ports are vital to international trade and facilitate thousands of transactions that connect the world every single day. Unfortunately, their excellence isn’t also replicated in every other part of Asia.
South Asia’s container ports, specifically, are not as competitive as others throughout Asia. One specific benefit better container ports could offer importers is referenced in the article, which relies on a comprehensive World Bank report:
…if ports in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan had been as efficient as those of Sri Lanka it could have cut shipping costs by up to nearly 9 percent, boosting the value of the region’s exports by up to 7 percent.
And this data is just the tip of the iceberg. Check out the video below to learn more about South Asian competitiveness.
To read the press release about the World Bank report mentioned in this article, follow the link below:
Competitiveness of South Asia’s Container Ports – Yann Doignon, the World Bank
5. Chinese manufacturing competition in the aviation industry
One of the major concessions foreign companies usually need to make to enter the Chinese market is technology.
Essentially, in exchange for market access, foreign firms must share technical expertise, offer product know-how, provide training or all of the above. And since 2006, the Chinese government has implemented policies that formalize this process of appropriation by, for example, forcing the transfer of proprietary technology.
The Chinese market is understandably appealing, which is why some multinational companies are willing to make this trade off. With a population of around 1,425,613,313 people, there are simply so many opportunities for business.
Since China is trying to improve its manufacturing capabilities through the acquisition of foreign technology and initiatives like Made in China 2025, the country could become an advanced manufacturing superpower that provides great value to importers in the decades to come. But as the author of this featured article mentions, it might also become an even fiercer competitor on the international stage for state-of-the-art products.
In the quest for market access, companies like Boeing have ceded advanced technology to the Chinese. That same technology was recently used in the launch of China’s first large-scale, commercial airliner, the C919.
Unfortunately, the birth of the C919 is only the latest sign that the U.S.’ China strategy, paid for by big-business campaign contributions, keeps backfiring disastrously on not only the entire American economy but on U.S. national security as well. In fact, these failures are now so glaringly obvious that even the companies themselves are showing signs of buyers’ remorse.
Boeing supplies a great deal of China’s jetliners. But the quote above suggests that, in sharing technology with Chinese manufacturers, that business might not last for much longer because the Chinese will start making the planes themselves…all because of Boeing’s technology sharing.
Curious about China’s future role in the aviation industry and its relationship with foreign technology? Read the full article by following the link below:
How China Aims to Take Down Boeing – Alan Tonelson, Polizette
We’re constantly scanning the web for top manufacturing stories and news. If you’d like to submit an article for consideration for our weekly Best in Manufacturing, send us a message and let us know.
