outsourcing in reverse

[daniel49]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12760698/

Would be nice to have a list of more companies like this and spend my money at home.
And is there anything more annoying then being connected with someone in asia on the phone and trying to understand them?
At the very least an accent thickness meter is needed to see if they should qualify for a phone job with an american company that services american consumers.

 

[EatSpam]

Always nice to hear about companies that actually care about America.

 

[dmcowen674]

Awesome

We need a lot more of this.

 

[ericlp]

It's the only shoe that I will buy and I don't mind paying more for them also.

 

[trenchfoot]

boycotting companies that do not operate in the best interest of the customers and nation they supply their goods to is the most effective way of forcing businesses to "change their evil ways."

 

[joshw10]

The problem with "Made in America", while it sounds nice, is nobody actually opens up their wallet for it. A cheaper product of equal or near quality will always win. I'm sure a few people will chime in here and say "Yes, I do" but you're the exception. Wal-Mart stores are packed every day.

 

[BoomerD]

Originally posted by: joshw10
The problem with "Made in America", while it sounds nice, is nobody actually opens up their wallet for it. A cheaper product of equal or near quality will always win. I'm sure a few people will chime in here and say "Yes, I do" but you're the exception. Wal-Mart stores are packed every day.

No kidding. I go out of my way to buy as many things "Made in America" as possible, but unfortunately, it's getting to the point where MANY products are no longer available EXCEPT those "Made in China", which really pisses me off. I will buy from almost ANY free nation rather than buy from China, and even that is getting to be much more difficult as China's manufacturing capability grows. YES, I usually have to pay more, but I think supporting American workers is worth a bit more than supporting Chinese workers.
I can remember when Wal-Mart was proud to sell "Made in America", but then, Sam died, and his kids apparently could care less. It's getting harder and harder to find things there that ARE "Made in America"...

 

[Rainsford]

Originally posted by: joshw10
The problem with "Made in America", while it sounds nice, is nobody actually opens up their wallet for it. A cheaper product of equal or near quality will always win. I'm sure a few people will chime in here and say "Yes, I do" but you're the exception. Wal-Mart stores are packed every day.

But that was the central point of the article, it's NOT just about getting a warm, fuzzy feeling doing something nice for the blue collar workers in America that are getting the shaft. The article made the point, rather well in my opinion, that the central assumption that all outsourcers are working from is not always right.

The heart of the pro-outsourcing argument is that foreign workers are basically American workers that you don't have to pay as much. So, the theory goes, your labors costs go down, and while some other costs may go up slightly because of the distances involved, things mostly stay the same. Who wouldn't want to do that? But as the article said, this may not be a correct assumption. Sure, LABOR costs go down, but your other costs may be higher than you think. New Balance pays a lot more in labor, but they get something for that price, their other costs are lower as a result. Frontier Airlines doesn't outsource their call center, and while it costs more, they have a higher quality of customer service that I'm sure helps keep customers. There is nothing worse in terms of keeping customers than worthless customer support, something overseas support often seems to be.

Like I said, the central outsourcing argument seems to be that all labor is created equal, that it's basically just a cheap commodity where the best price is the best deal. Anyone who's thought about it should realize that's obviously not true, but it doesn't seem to have sunk in yet. Probably because it's the latest business fad, and if there is anything businesses love, it's fads. I mean, we're talking about a group of people that fell all over themselves to offer internet services and support such companies, even though there was virtually no profit model in the entire industry...so how smart can these guys really be?

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: joshw10
The problem with "Made in America", while it sounds nice, is nobody actually opens up their wallet for it. A cheaper product of equal or near quality will always win. I'm sure a few people will chime in here and say "Yes, I do" but you're the exception. Wal-Mart stores are packed every day.

Is there another store left that we can shop at with American Products???

 

[NTB]

Originally posted by: joshw10
The problem with "Made in America", while it sounds nice, is nobody actually opens up their wallet for it. A cheaper product of equal or near quality will always win. I'm sure a few people will chime in here and say "Yes, I do" but you're the exception. Wal-Mart stores are packed every day.

On the other hand, there are things "made in America" that people won't buy because the product has a foreign name stuck on it. Vehicles are a huge example. Toyota, Mazda, and Nissan, to name just a few, all manufacture their trucks here in the US - but they're all foreign brands.

Nate

 

[1EZduzit]

Originally posted by: NTB

Originally posted by: joshw10
The problem with "Made in America", while it sounds nice, is nobody actually opens up their wallet for it. A cheaper product of equal or near quality will always win. I'm sure a few people will chime in here and say "Yes, I do" but you're the exception. Wal-Mart stores are packed every day.

On the other hand, there are things "made in America" that people won't buy because the product has a foreign name stuck on it. Vehicles are a huge example. Toyota, Mazda, and Nissan, to name just a few, all manufacture their trucks here in the US - but they're all foreign brands.

Nate

I wonder which has more foreign made parts in it, a Chevy or a Toyota??

 

[NTB]

Originally posted by: 1EZduzit

Originally posted by: NTB

Originally posted by: joshw10
The problem with "Made in America", while it sounds nice, is nobody actually opens up their wallet for it. A cheaper product of equal or near quality will always win. I'm sure a few people will chime in here and say "Yes, I do" but you're the exception. Wal-Mart stores are packed every day.

On the other hand, there are things "made in America" that people won't buy because the product has a foreign name stuck on it. Vehicles are a huge example. Toyota, Mazda, and Nissan, to name just a few, all manufacture their trucks here in the US - but they're all foreign brands.

Nate

I wonder which has more foreign made parts in it, a Chevy or a Toyota??

Is that a rhetorical question, or an honest one? Either way, my money is on Chevy

Nate

 

[tw1164]

Crap I just checked my newest pair of New Balance shoes, and I mine are made in China. I'll have to look harder for a made in the USA pair next time.

 

[Engineer]

Originally posted by: NTB

Originally posted by: 1EZduzit

Originally posted by: NTB

Originally posted by: joshw10
The problem with "Made in America", while it sounds nice, is nobody actually opens up their wallet for it. A cheaper product of equal or near quality will always win. I'm sure a few people will chime in here and say "Yes, I do" but you're the exception. Wal-Mart stores are packed every day.

On the other hand, there are things "made in America" that people won't buy because the product has a foreign name stuck on it. Vehicles are a huge example. Toyota, Mazda, and Nissan, to name just a few, all manufacture their trucks here in the US - but they're all foreign brands.

Nate

I wonder which has more foreign made parts in it, a Chevy or a Toyota??

Is that a rhetorical question, or an honest one? Either way, my money is on Chevy

Nate

That's a tough one to really call. Hell, is the Chevy even made in the USA (vs Mexico or Canada)? With Mexico receiving a huge share of "offshoring" of auto parts suppliers factories, I would not be suprised if Chevy were indeed using more "foreign (not made in the USA)) parts. Since I work for an automotive supplier and we, as well as others, have been shifting operations to Mexico very rapidly, I would assume that to be the case. I don't think that we make anything as a tier one supplier for the Japanese automakers from Mexico. We do make parts for Toyota from Canada but the cars (Corolla) are also made there.

MOST of our domestic work that has been shifted to Mexico has been from the big 3. All of our foreign automakers with factories in the US receive parts made in our US plants.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

Also note that a product (IIRC) can be labeled as "Made in USA" but can be assembled from foreign components.

If that's true, then the company could just be buying all the parts and doing final assembly here, which may or may not be very much.

Also on the inside of door panels on vehicles it will say where the car was built, with the % of where it was done. IIRC my Trailblazer was 60% Canada, 40% US

 

[Engineer]

Originally posted by: BrunoPuntzJones
Also note that a product (IIRC) can be labeled as "Made in USA" but can be assembled from foreign components.

If that's true, then the company could just be buying all the parts and doing final assembly here, which may or may not be very much.

Also on the inside of door panels on vehicles it will say where the car was built, with the % of where it was done. IIRC my Trailblazer was 60% Canada, 40% US

With that in mind, my company does the same thing. Make and sub assemble components in Mexico, ship them to US plant. Final assembly and test and stamp made in USA on them. If you look at the border towns of Mexico (on the US side), you'll see many warehouses of companies that operate right across the border. I wouldn't be suprised if many did some sort of value added to the product and stamped them "Made in the USA" as well.

 

[joshw10]

I believe to legally claim "Made In USA", you must be 51% USA made and labor/assembly can count for up to 25%. A lot of stuff will say "Assembled in USA" this is a giveaway that they're just slapping the final 2 parts together or something.

Companies have certainly been busted before for fraudently claiming Made in USA.

 

[daniel49]

Originally posted by: joshw10
I believe to legally claim "Made In USA", you must be 51% USA made and labor/assembly can count for up to 25%. A lot of stuff will say "Assembled in USA" this is a giveaway that they're just slapping the final 2 parts together or something.

Companies have certainly been busted before for fraudently claiming Made in USA.

seems there was a story going around a long time ago when Japan made all the cheap crap, that they had named a town USA so they could hang that label on it.

Don't know if it was true or not?

 

[miketheidiot]

I perfer to buy the cheaper. American labor is worth more and would be better put toward other things then making shoes.

 

[EatSpam]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: joshw10
The problem with "Made in America", while it sounds nice, is nobody actually opens up their wallet for it. A cheaper product of equal or near quality will always win. I'm sure a few people will chime in here and say "Yes, I do" but you're the exception. Wal-Mart stores are packed every day.

Is there another store left that we can shop at with American Products???

ZebulonUSA

 

[BoomerD]

http://www.shopforamerica.com/home.php?source=google

http://www.howtobuyamerican.com/

http://www.madeinusa.org/

http://www.buyamericanmart.com/

http://www.usstuff.com/

http://www.buydirectusa.com/links/index.php

That's just a few to get ya going.

 

[NTB]

Originally posted by: EatSpam

Originally posted by: dmcowen674
Is there another store left that we can shop at with American Products???

ZebulonUSA

Is it just me, or does that sound like something right out of Futurama?

Nate

 

[CaptnKirk]

Originally posted by: joshw10
The problem with "Made in America", while it sounds nice, is nobody actually opens up their wallet for it. A cheaper product of equal or near quality will always win. I'm sure a few people will chime in here and say "Yes, I do" but you're the exception. Wal-Mart stores are packed every day.

Been buying New Balance for years.

Some of the 'others' are bought not because of their being a better producy, it's bought solely to appease an ego pushed by marketing
- a status symbol.

Peer pressure to impress others, the next wave of popularity fads.

I'll chose the item that I know will still be in servicible shape in a year - over the one that gets replaced every 3 months, anytine.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: EatSpam

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: joshw10
The problem with "Made in America", while it sounds nice, is nobody actually opens up their wallet for it. A cheaper product of equal or near quality will always win. I'm sure a few people will chime in here and say "Yes, I do" but you're the exception. Wal-Mart stores are packed every day.

Is there another store left that we can shop at with American Products???

ZebulonUSA

OK, I'll rephrase.

Any Brick & Mortar stores that carry Products Made in the USA left?

 

[Stunt]

There is much more at stake here than the article or you guys lead on.

By definition trade is the exchange of goods and services mutually benificial for both parties. I is trade that has allowed each nation to specialize in production of certain products at a lower price. So the argument to keep *everything* within one's borders is not only less than ideal, but repressive for increasing productivity and wealth.

As Rainsford has mentioned...it's not as simple as equating labour of nation 1 vs. labour of nation 2. Outsourcing tends to go to areas of political instability and low capital investment is desired, therefore more labour is required for the same output. Also, these regions are long distances away and require extremely large inventories for warehousing, during shipment causing much more costs and inflexibility to customer demand. That's not even considering costs to ship and distribute the goods. Therefore it's not just a labour issue; there are many other cost considerations when deciding to outsource.

It is for these reasons I fully support the outsourcing of manufacturing when economically justified, as it is the most efficient use of limited resources, we increase our productivity and wealth, and we allow the poorer nations of the world a chance to better their lives. Read Here

Companies who do not remain competitive will not survive and eventually die. If a company in the US decides to go against the most economically favourable route (ie. to outsource or not to outsource), within a margin of course; they will likely underperform, lose investment and become a burnden on the economy through debt, lack of profits and poor opportunities for growth.

Don't be short sighted in saying that domestic products are always in our best interests, and don't assume outsouring is a bad thing. If this flag waving way of doing business continues, we could see a move towards isolationist inefficiencies typical of socialist regimes.

Food for thought.