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Whatever automation you can do in the US you can also do in China but with lower regulation. Whatever labor costs left over are also cheaper. What I mean is th
by ivalm 7y ago
Whatever automation you can do in the US you can also do in China but with lower regulation. Whatever labor costs left over are also cheaper. What I mean is that automation is not an inherent advantage of the US.
- aey 7y agoNowadays 100%. 20 years ago China didn’t have a high technology sector that could have supported large scale factory automation, and factories where built to scale labor. 100% agree with regulation. That’s why US trade policy is the main cause of the decline. It should reflect regulatory arbitrage. It’s utterly pointless to save the environment in the US and poison it in China.
- jbay808 7y agoAbsolutely. In fact industrial automation components (robots, servos, linear bearings, etc) have been in huge demand from China. Suppliers often sell the same components there for half the price as they charge in the US for the same quality and quantities. Domestic Chinese companies are becoming major suppliers of a lot of factory automation equipment like presses, laser welders, coil winders, etc. There's no reason to think the US has an advantage in automation. In fact, it's much easier as an automation engineer to design automation processes for the factory that's around the corner than to do so for a factory in another time zone that 90% of your team has never seen in person.