ben carter wrote:
I recently was shopping around to have a product of mine manufactured.
Reality check:

To have it made in China with semi-skilled labor was $1.60 per hour.

The exact same job here was $21.00 per hour. You do the 2nd grade math...

The point was made to me if I like being able to afford the things I own
then they have to be made elsewhere. Period. No US manufacturer can
touch that. Most everything you own was made this way. Tough luck if
it's substandard.


isnt it more of a per unit cost? why figure it by the hour?

On Tue, 18 Jan 2005 16:03:28 GMT, Erik Litchy
wrote:

ben carter wrote:
I recently was shopping around to have a product of mine manufactured.
Reality check:

To have it made in China with semi-skilled labor was $1.60 per hour.

The exact same job here was $21.00 per hour. You do the 2nd grade math...

The point was made to me if I like being able to afford the things I own
then they have to be made elsewhere. Period. No US manufacturer can
touch that. Most everything you own was made this way. Tough luck if
it's substandard.


isnt it more of a per unit cost? why figure it by the hour?

Exactly. This is an excellent argument against using American
semi-skilled labor, but that doesn't necessarily translate into not
making it in the United States.

There's more to successful manufacturing than sending a prototype
around to a lot of job shops and getting bids.

--RC

"Sometimes history doesn't repeat itself. It just yells
'can't you remember anything I've told you?' and lets
fly with a club.
-- John W. Cambell Jr.

wrote:

On Tue, 18 Jan 2005 16:03:28 GMT, Erik Litchy
wrote:


ben carter wrote:

I recently was shopping around to have a product of mine manufactured.
Reality check:

To have it made in China with semi-skilled labor was $1.60 per hour.

The exact same job here was $21.00 per hour. You do the 2nd grade math...

The point was made to me if I like being able to afford the things I own
then they have to be made elsewhere. Period. No US manufacturer can
touch that. Most everything you own was made this way. Tough luck if
it's substandard.


isnt it more of a per unit cost? why figure it by the hour?


Exactly. This is an excellent argument against using American
semi-skilled labor, but that doesn't necessarily translate into not
making it in the United States.

There's more to successful manufacturing than sending a prototype
around to a lot of job shops and getting bids.

Damn straight.

My first boss told me "Anybody can build one item
in his garage. The trick is to build a 1000 with
$5/hr labor. And get them all to work"

(Adjust for 1980 dollars)

"Erik Litchy" wrote in message
news:kraHd.12748$EG1.3635@attbi_s53...
| ben carter wrote:
| I recently was shopping around to have a product of mine manufactured.
| Reality check:
|
| To have it made in China with semi-skilled labor was $1.60 per hour.
|
| The exact same job here was $21.00 per hour. You do the 2nd grade
math...
|
| The point was made to me if I like being able to afford the things I own
| then they have to be made elsewhere. Period. No US manufacturer can
| touch that. Most everything you own was made this way. Tough luck if
| it's substandard.
|
|
| isnt it more of a per unit cost? why figure it by the hour?

The cost in time is the first figure to start with. Once you know what
it costs labor wise to manufacture an item, you then figure in the material
and other stuff. Then the economics of scale and quantity start figuring
in.

On Wed, 19 Jan 2005 02:47:07 GMT, "carl mciver"
wrote:

"Erik Litchy" wrote in message
news:kraHd.12748$EG1.3635@attbi_s53...
| ben carter wrote:
| I recently was shopping around to have a product of mine manufactured.
| Reality check:
|
| To have it made in China with semi-skilled labor was $1.60 per hour.
|
| The exact same job here was $21.00 per hour. You do the 2nd grade
math...
|
| The point was made to me if I like being able to afford the things I own
| then they have to be made elsewhere. Period. No US manufacturer can
| touch that. Most everything you own was made this way. Tough luck if
| it's substandard.
|
|
| isnt it more of a per unit cost? why figure it by the hour?

The cost in time is the first figure to start with. Once you know what
it costs labor wise to manufacture an item, you then figure in the material
and other stuff. Then the economics of scale and quantity start figuring
in.

You're right that cost of labor is a place to start. But you can't
stop there, even if you want to compare unit cost of production for
identical runs.

--RC
"Sometimes history doesn't repeat itself. It just yells
'can't you remember anything I've told you?' and lets
fly with a club.
-- John W. Cambell Jr.