Also quality issues. If you want the absolute best industrial part/tool/whatever on the market, often you go to a mid sized German company no one has heard of a

Also quality issues. If you want the absolute best industrial part/tool/whatever on the market, often you go to a mid sized German company no one has heard of and get it there. Strong apprenticeships and unions (meaning very high quality, loyal workers therefore low turnover) and an obsession with quality can all be important advantages in the competition with China: http://www.economist.com/news/business/21606834-many-countries-want-mittelstand-germanys-it-not-so-easy-copy-german-lessons http://www.economist.com/news/business/21606834-many-countri...