Dear Tom:
We love your interest in the “Flat” world and your enthusiasm to write and education on the new flat world we live in
We offer up a new theme for you articles… Solutions ideas not just many restatements of the same problem ?
Here is our full post to your latest article we posted in part on your NY Times site
www.nytimes.com/2012/01/29/opinion/sunday/friedman-made-in-the-world.html
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Tom and responses to Tom Friedman article
OK… enough of the back biting (as my WWI Veteran grandfather used to say)
This note is to Tom Friedman and to all that love solutions not restatement of problems
A very capable solution that will push the needle back towards what I see most posting in this thread unravels something like this…. By the way a great article for you to write Mr. Friedman
I. Yes, we need an industrial policy which rewards “making” things as much as “thinking up an idea to make thing”
II. As any REAL CEO of a balanced company and his R&D team and they will tell you not having making things near R&D over time cripples R&D
III. So what do we do… simple “plan” the full business around real working capital and cashflow generation. The best method for this is S&OP (Sales and Operations Planning). So leaders need to endorse a simple measurement of business that looks forward not backwards vs. GAAP accounting historical views only
IV. A GREAT and I mean GREAT solution for all i theUSis to look very very hard at enabling the concept of postponed manufacturing in some aspects of your manufacturing / distribution. For example if you have key components made inAsiaship the components and assemble in US. You will have less inventory, be more responsive, crush your purely offshore competition. For policy, government types you will give relive to the ports, employ more people, and begin to restore the missing link between R&D and production. All while still leveraging the cost advantage of key components from far off (low cost labor) lands
V. Why has this not been done in mass in the past… don’t know. Personally volunteered our staff and time with Texas Industry Cluster Advanced Manufacturing efforts for Governor’s office and it was adopted as one of if not biggest economic growth opportunity in TX. However, once politicians got money through Texas Emerging Technology Fund it seems to flow to “friends” not policy. So obviously just the theme not enough…. education of all much more imporant
If you want to learn more check out
www.Texaslcc.org or
www.sopbook.com for free knowledgebase’s developed with hundreds of global supply chain clients over decades. This is all not for profit free information to create solutions not more restatement of the problem
By the way this works for the little medical device company as well as for global firms like Siemens and large 3rd party logistics and manufacturing operations. In many respects the inefficiency can be exploited by small firms easier and faster then larger firms these days
Cheers
Jon Kirkegaard
President