Score one for the it-must-be-made-here crowd. Ralph Lauren has announced the next US Olympic team's uniforms would be made right here in the United States. Politicians seem to have shamed Mr. Lauren to change his mind about manufacturing US Olympic uniforms in the United States. (See Ralph Lauren:Future Olympic uniforms will be made in USA).
Sorry, Ralph Lauren will be limiting this only to future US Olympic uniforms. Lauren will continue to make his other products anywhere that makes financial sense for his company.
And, No. Apple won't be pressured into manufacturing the iPhone/iPad in the US!
Bolaji: good point. Many successful high-tech companies opted early on to partner with China and are benefiting from doing business there. Distribution, in particular, is doing well because they don't manufacture: they sell manufacturers' products. If companies had first approached China to enhance, rather than replace, their domestic business, we wouldn't be having this debate.
@Barbara, The made-in-China flap will flare up regularly once it gets whipped up for "public" display of disaffection with the status quo. But you raised an important issue in asking whether it isn't time to get back to business. Companies don't get as involved in made in China controversy as much as politicians do. If executives bring this up it's typically in reviewing current position and strategies for the future.
EBN Dialogue enables and encourages you to participate in live chats with notable leaders and luminaries. Not only editors and journalists, but the entire EBN community is able to comment and ask questions. Listed below are upcoming and archived chats.
Archived Dialogues
Thailand Stages a Comeback Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Euro-Crisis: What It Means for High-Tech Firms Join EBN Editor in Chief Bolaji Ojo and Contributing Editor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday, July 12, at 10:00 a.m. EDT for a Live Chat on high-tech and Europe's economic difficulties.
Microsoft Surface: Potential Winners & Losers What are the implications for the electronics industry supply chain of Microsoft Corp.'s decision to launch its own tablet PC? Join industry veteran and EE Times' systems and OEM expert Rick Merritt on Tuesday, July 3, at 12:00 pm EDT for a Live Chat on this subject.
Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Peter Drucker famously said "Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window." Yet in the razor's-edge world of electronics—with a lean supply chain and just-in-time demands—the need to know the future is vital.
While no one really can accurately predict the future, we can take guidance from another Drucker saying which is the best way to predict the future is to create it.
You've heard the saying "the No. 1 supply chain risk is your people." That hasn't always been the case. But today's complex global supply chain requires a new type of multitalented employee. It's one who understands, finance, marketing, economics, is savvy with technology, graceful with relationships and can think analytically.
Where are these people? Are universities properly preparing the next generation supply chain professionals? How do train your existing workforce for these new, demanding positions?
Brian Fuller, editor-in-chief of EBN, will lead a 60-minute Avnet Velocity panel discussion that will ask and answer these and other questions swirling around today's supply-chain talent challenges.
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