by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
China is ending being the world's cheap factory floor having announced in the beginning of July 2010 a probably four-fold increase of pricing across the board.
This should mean that “Made in Home” should be more than viable once again, especially when adding transportation cost to the products then. Once costs will be three or four times as what things cost presently, “Made in China”, and, as I said, the freighting costs are factored in then manufacturers may begin to look at producing at home once again.
The audit trail that is nowadays required – ethical and environmental audits – which is a good thing also means that the environmental and employment practices will have to be considered more and more by makers in China and, once the requirements will be the same, basically, in China as in the USA or the UK then it might be a lot better to produce again in the countries of origin of those makers.
As far as I am concerned this is not before time and it would be better still if makers would then no longer factor in obsolescence and, in fact, make products again in such a manner that they last and do not have to be replaced within a year or so. Shock! Horror! Products that could even be heirlooms?
I have been predicting already some years ago that China was about to do a Japan and that it was sooner or later going to be raising the bar in what they were going to charge the western manufacturers using their facilities.
This happened with Japan around the last two decades of the 20th century and that's why, suddenly, everything that was “Made in Japan” went to “Made in China”.
The fact also that transportation costs will be increasing and with the advent of “Peak Oil” especially taking manufacture back “in house” into our own home countries and “Made in Britain” or “Made in USA” might soon once again be the general norm, as it used to be, rather than being a novelty, as it seems to be in 2010 and thereabouts.
And, my prediction is, basically, that when “Peak Oil” and its aftermath are finally with us it will no longer so much be a case of “Made in Britain” or even “Made in England” but “Made in London”, “Made in Manchester”, “Made in Surrey”, and such.
Roll on localism...
© 2010
