Dramatic Bottom Line Reduction
There is one reason and one reason only that decision makers elect to have products manufactured in China and that is cost savings. Assuming that manufactured costs are lower in China due to labor savings, there are many other cost levers to consider when manufacturing offshore in China. Here are the top five:
1. Freight costs—Freight and logistics should not exceed 10-12% of your total cost of goods. In other words, if you ship a 40 foot container to the U.S. this will cost on average $5,000 including import fees, duties, tax and drayage (overland transportation to/from a shipping port). So if you can’t move approximately $50,000 of product, that should already be 20-30% below existing manufactured cost, you need to re-evaluate whether it makes sense.
2. Carrying cost of capital—Cash is king in any business. It is critical to produce inventory that will move once it gets to the U.S. otherwise each month that inventory is tying up capital and not producing top line sales revenue, you are eating into your cashflow.
3. Warehouse space—every square foot of a warehouse used to store products has a fixed cost. Unless you have excess space available, you need to be certain you are allotting this valuable real-estate to products that are generating revenue. Otherwise the savings will be offset by the additional cost of warehouse space.
4. For items #2 and #3 it is imperative that analysis be given to not only finished goods but also raw material and components. Often overlooked is the advantage of using China to absorb the financial burden of not only managing but paying for commodity purchases, raw material, components and works in progress. Every month of financial responsibility taken on by your China producer is a month of cashflow freed up for your business.
5. Start-up costs—your China factory will absorb many intangibles associated with start-up costs including learning curve, purchasing coordination, and in many cases tooling not to mention infrastructure such as plant, property and equipment.
Quality, consistency and timing should only be the “cost of admission” and no sacrifices should be made in these areas.
Interested in learning more? You can right here.
Diving into the China Pond
Diving into unknown waters
Many have asked me what it's like doing business in China. I've always said that if you are doing it by yourself it can be as dangerous as swimming with croccodiles. I finally came across a photo that captured the essence of this concept.
There is No Next China
What is something you can think of that can’t successfully be outsourced in China? Think long and hard about this. Resist the temptation to veer toward intangibles or time sensitive services with obvious geographical barriers such as a haircut or plumbing repair. What product theoretically cannot be manufactured in China? How about a portrait? I have an acquaintance that has connected with amazingly talented artists who will take a family photo and reproduce a framed, hand painted, oil on canvas likeness taken from a photograph. It will have the same level of detail and quality as those done by artists in the U.S. costing a minimum of $1200-$2500 just for the painting itself. This does not include the frame which can be another $350-$500. The exact quality portrait from China can be delivered to your doorsteps for $450 or about a quarter or less that which someone would expect to pay here. Why is this?
If you said labor cost you are only partly correct. There are many more factors that play into “the China price” for which Westerners have had an insatiable appetite since the Wal Mart effect took hold in the early nineties. Yet now writers, politicians and economists say the tide is turning. Many assert that currency fluctuation, labor shortages near China’s coastlines, and a rising middle class, are quickly narrowing the cost gap between China and the West. They might be forgetting one thing though according to Mike Bellamy, author of The Essential Guide to China Sourcing , “there is no Next China.”
Rising labor costs in China
In a Roya Wolverson interview published in Time, May 16, 2011, Pin Li, President of the Wanxiang America Corporation stated that “rising labor costs in China will only cause inflation and not necessarily jobs returning to the U.S.” He further explained that what this means is “instead of paying $1 for latex gloves the price may rise to $2 and will still represent the lowest cost available in the world.”
In other words, assuming material costs are consistent globally, even doubling or tripling the average monthly wage of Chinese factory employees still does not bring total cost of goods in line with U.S. workers.
In a recent conversation, Bellamy, Chairman of the Advisory Board for China Sourcing Information Center begins to make the “No Next China” case with the notion that China’s economy is still vastly lopsided in its dependence on exporting. The Chinese and its neveaux riche’ have created the world’s second largest economy that many predict will be bigger than the U.S. within the next decade. The only fuel to keep this burning is the demand for cheap(er) exports. A growing middle class also means bolstered domestic consumption, particularly as brands become more prevalent with Chinese consumers. But to sustain economic growth, exports have to remain a big chunk of the equation.
A shift by coastal manufacturing regions
The question may not be so much about “Made in China” as it is “What will be Made in China?” Sure there is great capacity and infrastructure in coastal regions but there may be a shift developing with the evolution of improved skill sets and wage increases. Dr. Eric Thun , lecturer in Chinese Business Studies at the University of Oxford China Center, says "pushing manufacturing into high value-added activity is very much what the government wants. This kind of cost pressure stimulates upgrading."
Bellamy adds, “because China’s economy is still heavily export dependent at present, over the past years there have been concerns about the China government promoting the interior too fast at the expense of the coast. This could have major side effects on the much needed revenue stream gained by supplying product to overseas buyers. But, as April data demonstrates to policy makers, the development of the interior is not having a major impact on exports. “
The role of appreciation in Chinese currency to U.S. job creation
Since June, 2010 when currency truly began floating, the RMB has appreciated 6% against the US dollar. Depending on whom you talk to however, the RMB is still undervalued by as much as 25%. Add to this CPI inflation and productivity growth rates (Chinese worker productivity is growing faster than U.S.) and the RMB will continue to be undervalued for five years or more.
Pin Li argues that “currency can help but it also can hurt. Structural issues are more fundamental for the U.S. and China. This is more of a political question than any economist can even measure. Politically we have to pretend it's an issue. But the reality is that jobs from China won't come to the U.S. They'll go to Mexico, Korea, and Indonesia. And that means the imports that came from China will now cost more which also doesn’t solve the deficit issue.”
Bellamy claims “we can expect that the US government will probably use the April export record to put pressure on China to allow their currency to appreciate. The China government has a plan in place for a slow but steady increase as opposed to a dramatic adjustment as desired by the US. Don’t expect China to change their plan just because of this April data and any related pressure from the USA.”
China as a market
Li’s passive reference to the deficit is interesting and should not go unnoticed. While many grip about jobs, only a small percentage of Western companies have invested in growing market share in China.
In an October 6, 2010 Bloomberg Press report it was estimated that China market was valued at $150 billion in potential goods and services or a top ten global opportunity for U.S. companies. “U.S. companies have experienced tremendous commercial success in China’s market and the prospects for future growth are significant,” said Erin Ennis, vice president of the U.S.-China Business Council.
Beijing has a $145 billion trade surplus with the U.S., more than its deficit with the next seven- largest partners combined. But is this solely due to undervalued currency and cheap labor? Could it be more the apathetic or myopic strategies of only selling into North American and European markets and not breaking from traditional business models?
Pin Li makes a bold statement when he asserts, “Firms’ access to Chinese should be their more of a concern than an unbalanced currency.”
The next five years
China remains a factory to the world. Government subsidized infrastructure has ensured overcapacity of manufacturing availability. One needs to simply travel from town to town; cranes as far as the eye can see. Staggering development continues in all sectors such as transportation, industrial, housing, recreation, hospitals, shopping centers, and resorts. Innovation and branding are now woven into the next generation’s mindset with Beijing’s full support. There is no next China. Whether as adversary, trading partner, or ally the future will depend on setting priorities and building mutual trust.
David Alexander is President of BaySource Global www.baysourceglobal.com
The Great Firewall strikes again!
Not that 60 million users wasn’t proof enough. But when the most noted business social networking site in the world gets blocked from 1 million of its subscribers, you know you count. That’s what apparently has occurred in response to the recent Jasmine Protest gatherings which coincidentally got a guest visit by potential U.S. presidential candidate John Huntsman at a Beijing McDonald's.
Via Tech Crunch
“The idea that China could succumb to the kind of unrest rocking authoritarian governments across the Middle East was absurd,” a senior Chinese official said. According to a Reuters report, “Long-term disruption to the site would exclude the company from the world's biggest Internet market by number of users -- about 450 million and growing. That could hurt its planned initial public offering in New York and anger the United States, which has criticized Chinese Internet censorship.”
According to a report in the February 24 edition of Wall Street Journal Asia many Internet users are becoming increasingly aware of the extent of the censorship system, as well as how it works, and are either seeking new ways to get around it, or becoming increasingly frustrated at their failure to do so.
One of the most damning critiques of China's censorship system came Tuesday from Murong Xuecun, a popular Chinese Internet author.
"Our mother tongue has been cut into two parts: one safe, and the other risky," he told an audience at the Foreign Correspondents' Club in Hong Kong.
"Some words are revolutionary, and others are reactionary; some words we may use, and others belong to our enemies."
via Tech Crunch
How are you going to get to China?
Can you tell me how to get to China? David Alexander
Head West and turn...
Let’s be clear on one thing. This piece is a completely self-promoting call to action. If you were in charge of business development for your organization; and here is the one qualifying caveat—for a product or service you absolutely knew would help other businesses reach their targets while delivering a heady ROI, would you not pound the war drums?
In a January 31 API wire the #1 manufacturing country was reported. Many would assume China leads the way by a commanding margin yet it trails the $1.7 trillion output of the United States by a whopping 40% meaning we produce more with less labor. It also indicates that low value added jobs with less profit margin have gone overseas. So what does that mean for us? It means that China is still the factory to the world and if operations decision makers haven’t developed a competent model to outsource redundant, high labor and low value add processes, they are tempting fate. Is it finally time for your organization to embrace a synergistic offshore-onshore manufacturing & distribution strategy?
Consider Sure Power of Portland who increased their employment by 53% after embarking on a manufacturing outsourcing strategy to free up valuable plant space. They increased sales 188% by re-dedicating valuable assets to R&D and higher margin products. This translated into a 204% increase in tax contributions to the state of Oregon in one year. Getting to China however can be a daunting and expensive undertaking for the inexperienced and timelines are usually doubled when going it alone. Does your company have any KPIs for lost opportunity cost?
Assume for a moment that you are the SVP of Operations for a U.S. firm in Des Moines that manufactures some sort of metal and plastic assembly. Sales have been flat and finally in that Monday morning meeting the inevitable question arises. “What are we doing about China?” your boss asks. You have a solid team of purchasing professionals, none of which can point to Hong Kong on a map. However, through the internet one of your go-getters, Bill, has begun to put a spreadsheet together of die cast and injection molding companies in the Guangdong Province, which he’s researched as being a hotbed for these industries. Since Guangzhou is a FTZ (Free Trade Zone) Bill with his Operations Management degree, has identified this as the logical place to start. He’s shared a couple of months of emails with “agents” posing as direct factory managers and is ready to take his associates to China. Just say the word.
Assuming that Bill and the others now have passports and visas in hand, they begin booking flights, hotels, trains, and ferries to venture out into the Middle Kingdom. In all they’ll be gone for just under three weeks. Since this is the company’s first sojourn to Asia, you’ll undoubtedly accompany them on this exciting new foray into the land of the dragon along with your Ops VP. Now you and your four valuable employees will be out of pocket the majority of a month leaving yours and their day to day responsibilities to others or to simply take a break from existing projects. How much time and capital do you think this will require? You may be surprised.
The following lists conservatively typical expenses by line item for a 2 ½ week trip to China.¹ Remember, you’ll require a full 24 hour day of travel to and from and a day of recovery once you’ve arrived.
Cost for single trip, five personnel, to China
T
The good news is there are competent firms in place to assist in your project management initiatives. In a recent poll on Linked In, 150 Supply Chain professionals weighed in with their response to the question, What is the best way to manufacture outsourcing in China? (See diagram below). 57% of respondents chose “Establish a trusted partner in China.” Perhaps a good portion of the voters had already been through the trial and error process. Or it could be that those who have succeeded in tandem with a firm watching out for their best interests can easily quantify the decision to engage a reputable partner for monitoring manufacturing, quality control, packaging, labeling and logistics.
Linked in Poll-150 respondents
In his article 10 tips to better sourcing William Atkinson of Purchasing Magazine explains that regardless of their China story, those who have enjoyed a successful relationship with China have done so through proper guidance and preparation. In this critical juncture of global commerce, fluctuating currencies, and competitive pressure, it is imperative to select a reliable partner whom you can trust, knows the local governments and regulations, has engineers on staff who understand your products and who can help you gain a foothold in this valuable region of the world.
¹Airfares, four star accommodations and RMB exchange rates as of February, 2011 for travel in March, 2011
Baysource Global President, David Alexander can be reached at david.alexander@baysourceglobal.net
The Top Books on China
Recently I posed the question asking what the best books available on China were. My intention was to highlight both Western and Eastern perspectives on topics ranging from everything from business culture and protocol; political climate; culture, and basic life in China. There was a great response which is compiled below. Overwhelmingly there was sentiment that there is no substitute for the experience of living and working in China. However, for those without this limited or practical experience here is the top 30 that members from three Linked In Groups--China Trade Group, Business in China, and Procurement Professionals said: (listed by title and author)
Mr. China, Tim Clissold top 4
Managing the Dragon, Jack Perkowski top 4
The China Price, Alexandra Harney top 4
China Inc, Ted Fishman top 4
One Billion Customers, James McGregor
China StreetSmarts, John Chan
The Art of the Deal in China, Laurence J. Brahm
The Art of War, Sun Tzu
Chinese Business Negotiating Style, Tony Fang
Inside Chinese Business, Dr. Ming-Jer Chen
Chinese Business Etiquette, Scott D. Seligman
The Chinese, Jasper Becker
Business Leadership in China, Frank T. Gallo
The Coming Collapse of China, Gordon chang
Luxury China, Michael Chevalier
Elite China, Pierre Xiao Lu
Where East Eats West, Sam Goodman, Michelle Ree
Poorly Made in China, Paul Midler
Factory Girls, Leslie T. Chang
All the Tea in China, Kit Chow, Ione Kramer
China Shakes the World, James Kynge
China: Fragile Superpower, Susan L. Shirk
The Tiananmen Papers, Liang Zhang, Andrew Nathan
Gifts Favors and Banquets, Mayfair Mei-hui Yang
Capitalism with Chinese Characteristics, Yasheng Huang
The Great Wall, William Lindesay
What does China Think?, Mark Leonard
The Search for Modern China, Jonathan D. Spence
Chinese Religiosities, Mayfair Mei-hui Yang
When Asia Was the World, Stewart Gordon
EXPO 2010 – Shanghai
Throughout the history of world expositions, the themes have always exemplified global progress, the contemporary spirit of each epoch and the challenges facing the world as it moves toward the future. The World Expo brings the whole world together to look into the future. Although the various world expos have taken their themes from an array of issues, including industry, information, civilization, science, technology, culture, art, education, transport, sports, ecology, environment and resources, what has always remained common is a spotlight on mankind, cities and nature. This is also the origin of the theme of World Expo 2010 Shanghai, China – “Better City, Better Life” – which points to two essential aspects of our future. This theme involves the relationship between people and cities, mankind and nature. World Expo 2010 Shanghai China will showcase the challenges facing human societies in this age of urbanization.
Greek philosopher Aristotle once said: People come to cities for life, and live there for a better one.” His wisdom best interprets the theme of World Expo 2010 Shanghai China. If we want to make our lives better, we first have to make our cities better. Cities represent the essence of human civilization. It is no coincidence that the equivalent of “civilization” in many Western languages has its origin in the Latin word “civitas,” which means “city.” The pursuit of World Expo 2010 Shanghai China for the ideal city of the future is embodied in the concept of the “city of harmony.” The notion of “harmony” is an old one in Chinese culture, advocating peaceful coexistence between mankind and nature, between body and soul, between individual and individual. The United Nations Human Settlements Program stated in its 1996 Istanbul Declaration: “Our cities must be places where human beings lead fulfilling lives in dignity, good health, safety, happiness and hope.” That underscores the ideas behind the theme of World Expo 2010 Shanghai China.
Duration: May 1 to Oct 31, 2010
Expected Visitors: 70 Million
Expected Participants: 200
Playing Football in the Rain
Growing up in Ohio, I was fortunate enough to play football on a pretty decent high school team. Our season began in the dog days of summer and ran into the first autumn frost. At some point during those four months a good solid downpour during a game was inevitable which meant a contest mired in mud and the need for a revised game plan.
Now the pessimistic coach might consider this to be a disadvantage to his chances of winning the game. But a more strategic and forward thinking leader would understand both teams faced quarterbacks with wet hands, blockers bogged down in soggy clumps of turf and receivers whose completion numbers were going to be anything but stellar. The conditions of the game while presenting new challenges, would be equitable for each participant. So in the end it would be a level headed strategist who understood and exploited his team’s strengths—advantages even we may not have known we had, who would be celebrating victory after four quarters of play.
In low cost country sourcing, I have heard grumblings for the past five years about jobs lost to China. Indeed, the groundwork laid by Kissinger and Nixon in the 70s to open up free trade with China could have been perceived as an overcast forecast for some players. However, just as we discovered, the right plans and execution meant we could be quite successful rather than assuming failure was looming.
Global Impact
China is set to become the world’s second largest economy. Those Western companies, who have built the equity of their brands over the past several decades, should recognize the opportunities that exist in China and other parts of Asia for marketing their goods and services. The investments U.S. firms have made in intellectual property, trial and error and innovation are unmatched anywhere in the world. So why haven’t more companies embraced this vast market that exists?
Whether we are talking about cosmetics, heavy equipment, apparel, software, consumer goods, or electronics, there is an insatiable demand for Western products overseas. Even in today’s depressed economic times, the needs for world class technology to complete huge infrastructure projects provide rare market opportunities to international companies.
China’s rebound for the first 3 months of 2009 is considerable. Expectations for economic growth for the next quarter are at 12%, so economists generally expect 7 to 8% overall growth this year.
Why then, is China poised for a rebound when the rest of the global economy is experiencing its worst performance in decades?
According to reports out of China, retail sales have continued to increase strongly with the help of the government which has offered China’s 800 Million farmers VAT exemptions on big ticket purchases, namely electrical appliances. The resulting effect is a replacement of exports through domestic consumption without a loss for the state. Retail sales went up 15% this past March compared to the same time a year ago.
China announced its stimulus investment program last October and took extraordinary measures to make it happen. Just prior to year end, 2008, USD 58 Billion of pending projects were approved within one week. Because the Chinese save most in the world they created the largest bank in the world (in deposits) passing American and Japanese rivals JPMorgan and Mitsubishi-UFJ. China is now home to the top 3 banks, reflecting the confidence of investors in Chinese banks. In the first quarter of 2009 new loans accounted for more than all new loans in 2007.
Exports are picking up too. From a monthly all time high of USD 136 Billion in September 2008, exports fell every month to a low of USD 65 Billion in February (25% less the 2008 figure). But, in March they rebounded to 90 Billion.
New Market Opportunities
China’s size and growth create enormous opportunity in 2009. As a growing consumer market, the number of millionaires has grown to 825,000, many younger than 40. According to an April 30 Wall Street Journal article, the $585 billion stimulus program has "quickly funneled money into everything from bridges to consumers' pockets." There are countless municipal projects which now need to be completed including high speed trains, power plants, telecommunication systems, hospitals and water treatment plants--all which will be built in second and third tier cities. Business processes outsourcing (BPO), and high-technologies have been singled out as fast investments on the coast. Hi-tech will continue to rebound driving demand for components - all which will be made in China. Imports have started to recover since the beginning of the year.
Heavy equipment sales have increased as is evidenced by the attendance of almost 200,000 visitors to the China International Machine Tools fair in April. Caterpillar Inc. CEO James Owens, according the WSJ article, says "the company's excavator sales in China have returned to record levels in recent months." He goes on to say that "China continues to start work much more quickly than the U.S."
Lower Manufacturing Costs
According to a recent report by Supply Chain Digest, "between lower wage pressures and the fact that most Chinese factories operating at low levels of utilization, Western buyers are gaining more pricing clout than they have had in years. The Chinese government, for example, says the value of China's exports fell 25.7 percent year-over-year in February, accelerating from a tough 17.5 percent decline in January."
Estimates of Hong-Kong based manufacturers in China indicate that business activity is stabilizing 20-30% lower than before the crisis. Forced to reduce prices in an over-supplied environment, Chinese producers have no other choice but to become the most competitive, even against other Asian producers.
"Deflation [in China pricing] is here to stay," believes William Fung, managing director at Li & Fung. "Buyers have more of an upper hand again."
That’s because export volumes to the weak economies of the US, Europe and Japan show no signs of recovering soon. However, there are signs that China’s manufacturing sector is recovering on its own, without much help from export customers, as the country’s economic stimulus plan and focus on bolstering the internal economy start to pay off.
By February, the producer price index went down 4.5% year on year, to its November 2007 level. The trend accelerated in March with a 6% drop. The consumer prices naturally followed, resulting in an actual deflation (-1.6% in February and -1.2% in March).
The World’s Second Largest Economy Emerges
According to Daniel Meckstroth, economist at the Manufacturers Alliance in Arlington, VA, "the hope is that China would become an engine of growth to drive the local economy." China’s proactive response to the crisis has enabled it to be the first to bounce back. This flexibility will not only result in China becoming the world's second largest economy, but will also let it take its rightful place atop the value chain. Therefore it will have to invest to improve and maintain its cost competitiveness, as both a viable market and as a manufacturing leader. Should the U.S., Europe and other trading partners be able to weather the current storm, China will play a major role in world economic recovery.
A Winning Season
Those U.S. companies who spend their time, energy and resources embracing this new China market rather than disparaging others who offshore low value added labor, will actually enjoy playing on the muddy playing field that our global economy has become. In the end, the sun will still rise in the East and set on the West. The soggy ground will firm up and those who respond to all elements of the season accordingly will record a win.
David Alexander is President of BaySource Global, a U.S. based manufacturing and project management firm with offices in Shenzhen and Shanghai. www.baysourceglobal.com
A Community of Opportunity
Last fall I visited a state of the art precision die cast factory in Southern China. By my estimate they do a turnover of ~USD$400MM. This facility had two very sophisticated machines that were designed and manufactured by the Japanese and could essentially be used for highly technical military products although they were simply utilizing these for their advanced automation in making automotive (carburetor) parts. After a long lunch, the owner took us to their R&D building where they had something they wanted us to see. It was…a turkey fryer. That’s right. They had devised a turkey fryer that uses 80% less oil than deep frying. Already they had complete prototypes for cooking French fries.
You may be wondering where this story is headed. I had to admit I was a bit taken back by this “top secret” invention they whetted our curiosity over during our meal. But in their thorough marketing analysis, they had deduced there was no similar Western device yet on the market. It just so happened to be November and thus the American Thanksgiving holiday was just around the corner. This factory had a business plan in place, knew their total market universe in the U.S. of those who deep fried turkeys vs. oven, and even recognized this was a stronger activity in the South. In fact, they had determined that their distribution channel likely needed to begin with HSN or QVC and migrate into traditional retail.
What they didn’t have is a contact in the U.S. to assist with the launch nor did they know anyone who could introduce them into this market. They explained they were missing a key intermediary who could introduce this new product to a leading cookware company, someone familiar with infomercials, or a firm that could handle direct sales and distribution. If so, they believed annualized sales could reach USD$50-100MM. Have you seen this product on the market yet?
Sure there are low value added jobs that have gone offshore. And by the way, we haven’t stopped manufacturing in Central and South America and Eastern Europe. But there is an interdependency between China and the U.S. that can't be ignored. There is also a huge market in China for our goods and services. Take the story of Dais Analytic whose desalination and wastewater technology will add up to 1,000 jobs in Tampa, FL over the next five years. Just this week, Warren Buffet's Berkshire unit purchased Burlington Northern Santa Fe which is a huge bet on increased trade with China. And as a growing consumer market, the number of millionaires in China is 825,000 and growing, many under 40 years of age.
If you take this story out of the realm of turkey fryers, the Chinese are innovating every day but will rely on marketing expertise here to be successful. Likewise, there are Western companies who require cutting edge innovation and new product development to maintain and gain market share. Possibly this could lead to Eastern entities establishing beachheads in the U.S. The typical hurdle rates that private equity and investment banking firms require to do deals may be cast aside by Chinese courtiers who seek a foothold in the U.S. to incorporate their intellectual property, low cost labor structure and “can-do” spirit with U.S. brands.
It is truly a global landscape yet we seem to be protectionist by default. If we start embracing opportunities as a global “community” vs. simply a global business landscape, we have the chance to merge our creativity and assets to serve one another.
David Alexander is President of BaySource Global, specializing in project management, supply chain and cross border opportunities with China. www.baysourceglobal.com
Embracing Global Resources for Local Advantages
David Alexander
In the midst of these economic challanges, decision makers need to understand the advantages of looking globally for positive domestic results. While jobs shrink in the U.S. it has been easy to cast a dark shadow with manufacturing outsourcing as the key culprit. Too often though we sit back and scratch our heads wondering why low value add jobs have moved offshore rather than strategize on how to effectively incorporate the benefits of low cost labor with supply chain initiatives here. For marketers in the U.S. the value propositions of product innovation, speed to market and service have to be the platform which separates winners from their competition.
In the April 8 Wall Street Journal, writer Tim Aeppel features Craftmaster Furniture and their story of winning market share while competitors flounder. By combining a solid offshore sourcing initiative for high labor components and unique upholstery with the need for quick turnaround time and service, CEO Roy Calcagne has "increased revenues by 4% in an $80 billion industry that has declined by 20% in the last six months. Craftmaster has even hired 75 additional workers in a factory that employs almost 500 according to Aeppel's article."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123879125297987681.html
Basically the company takes the approach of a nimble and responsive partner to their customer base, while maintaining margins through low cost country sourcing. This collaborative strategy is one that has continually proven effective in the U.S. and not immediately stereotyped for the demise of overpriced, low value jobs. See
http://www.baysourceglobal.com/PortlandBusinessJournal-BaySourceWhitePaper.pdf
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