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Robot sewing machines could make 'made in China' obsolete

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Re: Robot sewing machines could make 'made in China' obsolete

#4

Post by fraserharris »

stargazer-3 wrote: post #2

And what stops Chinese from making those machines?

Initially, proprietary technology. In the longer run everyone will be competing on manufacturing flexibility and time to market. Garments are still largely ordered months in advance based on predicted sales of items (fashion buyers [1]). There is only marginal flexibility in supply (hence the rise of secondary distribution channels like Winners, Rue La La, etc).

There is a point in just-in-time manufacturing where the physical distance becomes important. It still takes around 3 weeks for a physical good to leave a Chinese factory and arrive at a US distribution center.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buyer_(fashion)

Re: Robot sewing machines could make 'made in China' obsolete

#6

Post by adventureful »

stargazer-3 wrote: post #2

And what stops Chinese from making those machines?

Nothing, but they have everything to lose from them and the US (and other nations) has everything to gain, because the US has already completely lost the garment industry.

China already has a massive supply of human labor, which is primarily why their labor costs are so low. If you were to automate their labor, it would cause substantial unemployment and or reductions in pay. I'd argue their society couldn't withstand that shock at this point. In the extremely near future, China's huge supply of labor is going to rupture their economy rather than being a net benefit. The robot productivity wave in manufacturing over the next quarter century will be extremely painful for them.

Whereas if the US re-acquires 50,000 jobs from robotics related to making garments (commodities & materials (farming, cotton), shipping, R&D, assembly of robots, maintenance of robots, etc etc) it's a massive win. Also, it would mean keeping wealth / capital in the US market, rather than sending it to another nation to the benefit of their future and labor pool. Then instead of buying a shirt made in China from Walmart, you buy the same shirt at Walmart and all the money stays domestically.

There's no winning scenario for China from robotic manufacturing.

Re: Robot sewing machines could make 'made in China' obsolete

#9

Post by DanBC »

steve-howard wrote: post #3
stargazer-3 wrote: post #2

And what stops Chinese from making those machines?

The reason China beats us on cost is that their labor is cheap. If there is no labor, there's no way for them to beat us. Further, importation from China is not free.

There's no direct labour. But there's still labour. People have to program the machines, and then keep the machines stocked and running, and service the machines.

At the moment that's skilled work and a small number of US workers will gain at the cost of a bunch of low-paid workers in poor countries. But it won't be long before that work becomes semi-skilled (see also sub-contract electronic engineering) and is done in Poland / China / where ever, for less than it can be done in the US.

Importation from China is not free, but I can still buy a human-made t-shirt imported from China for a couple of dollars.

Re: Robot sewing machines could make 'made in China' obsolete

#10

Post by warmwaffles »

adventureful wrote: post #6
stargazer-3 wrote: post #2

And what stops Chinese from making those machines?

Nothing, but they have everything to lose from them and the US (and other nations) has everything to gain, because the US has already completely lost the garment industry. China already has a massive supply of human labor, which is primarily why their labor costs are so low. If you were to automate their labor, it would cause substantial unemployment and or reductions in pay. I'd argue their society couldn't withstan…

> There's no winning scenario for China from robotic manufacturing.

This is a good point. Although I would argue that yes America would reacquire the garment industry some what, however the parts that make the machine up will still be manufactured by overseas competitors.

I think they are on the right track but the problem still lies in manufacturing chips and metal pieces cost substantially less overseas.

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