During a recent visit to China last year, I attended an event for several manufacturing suppliers to U.S.- and E.U.-based companies of various competences. Machining, assembly, electronics, aero/auto - they were a pretty diverse group, technically speaking.
At one point, I had a pretty relaxed conversation with 6 of these business owners, despite the fact it took place at a hotel deep inside Shanghai far removed from any area with western influence. But these Chinese suppliers' English skills were far better than my Mandarin (we'll save that one for another post). And there was a translator, which turned out to be a blessing for the meat of the conversation we had:
I posed a question to the group - "In the U.S., many small and medium sized manufacturing business owners and workers are bitter about the migration of work to China and the circumstances around it. If they were here now, what would you say to them?"
Some replied directly to me, and others needed the translator's help. But each one was genuinely surprised to hear that there was any animosity. And each had the same reaction that I'll paraphrase here:
"Why are they so upset? With competition and the natural ebb and flow of commerce and technology, is this really that unexpected to them? They are in the United States of America. In years to come, we (Chinese) will likely find ourselves at a similar competitive disadvantage, and it will most likely be to the U.S."
Two things bowled me over from my times in China and that particular conversation.
First, manufacturers on the floor - where the chips are made, the fabric cut, the designs are scrutinized and improved - are all more similar than they are different. Whether in the U.S. or China, they're pragmatic and hard working and industrious.
But second - and most interesting to me - is that our Chinese counterparts seem to generally have a broader, better worldview of the shifting sands of global manufacturing and supply chains, and that competition is unrelenting and forever.
Granted, in many ways Chinese manufacturing is certainly in the driver's seat now, and it's a whole lot easier to be optimistic when you're up by 24 at the half.
But having sat in both locker rooms at halftime, it's obvious to me from my experiences that the U.S. team not only needs to adjust its game plan. Its players need to understand the game isn't over.
And that they can still come back.
