Enginuity Development Inc - Blogs on engineering and manufacturing

Where do we stand today in manufacturing of all shapes and things? When I began my engineering career in the early 1990's I had a natural assumption that the things I designed would be made close by. I was wrong. Not everything but a great majority were manufactured in Mexico or China. Mexico for the cheap labor and China for the cheap tooling. Final assembly still took place on site. But even that was beginning to move.

So what does it mean to be a modern manufacturer? Is it about having a large force of skilled manufacturing personnel in the plant next door? Does it mean  having a smaller specialized set of personnel to run advanced equipment? Or does it mean merely configuring and assembling sub-assemblies?I suppose the question is what is the value of having manufacturing at all?

One could argue that just having great ideas and clever designs is enough. That where and how a thing is made is less important as long as the product performs.  Having out sourced manufacturing also takes some liability away from the larger organization. They can simply reject and refuse non conforming product. 

Design and manufacturing for a long time were inseparable. The engineer actually went out and built the things they designed. Got their hands dirty. Were able to see, feel and taste success and failure. That is an invaluable learning experience.  It was part of being an engineer.

Increasingly today engineers are focused on the design at the expense of the thing. Yes good design and engineering is done and the fundamentals still are achieved. But with less manufacturing "next-door" where an engineer can go see his part be turned, stamped, molded or welded together a connection is broken. That connection that between reality and paper. The reason you know deep down how thick is enough. What looks like just before it breaks. Or how difficult it is to assemble those parts with your own hands. 

Now engineers can simple review test results, look at digital pictures and collaborate over the web. That reduces cost and time, at the expense of learning from failure.

Manufacturing is important to America and to engineers. It teaches us, refines us, makes us recognize first hand how to make better designs. 

Today China may only make our cars, TV's and appliances. But in one or two generations they will be designing them too and maybe we will become the cheap labor.