U.S. Manufacturing and Competitiveness

In the 1950s General Motors sales exceeded 50% of total auto sales in the United States. Imported cars amounted to only small percentage of that total. By 1992 the Ford Taurus was the best selling car and Honda was on its tail.  In 1995 all the American car companies were feeling quite successful despite the growing size of Japanese imports.  Today the “Big Three” is on the verge of becoming the “Little Two” as more and more Americans buy cars from foreign manufacturers.

At the same time as cars are coming from foreign manufacturers we have seen appliances, clothing, and almost everything else we buy come from other nations.  The manufacturing base of our nation has deteriorated to such an extent that the population of our Midwestern industrial complex has no place to work.  This has been the result of big corporations moving their manufacturing to other nations that have lower labor costs.  Unfortunately American car manufacturers are not in that category.  They are failing due to the second rate quality of their cars.  Quality of products has been a big issue for American manufacturers.  We used to laugh at the inferior quality of Japanese goods and they have more than overcome that stigma.  China is now going through a similar phase and it’s likely they too will overcome their quality issues.  Many United States manufacturers have not yet address the issue of quality. 

I know.  I worked for American manufacturers for 45 years.  There were always new quality programs being installed.  Most of them really did not work.  The reason is that the workers themselves were not devoted to producing quality products.  This is not a government issue.  A free society does not enable government interference in private enterprise.  Government can encourage job development though tax incentives but cannot involve itself in the operation of any company.

Michael E. Porter, a Harvard Business School authority on American competitiveness suggests in a Business Week article that the United States needs a long term strategy to resusitate our manufacturing prowess.  I believe he is correct.  The problem is that our government lacks the will to develop this plan.  The reason is that lobbyists and special interests have more influence on Congress than the real needs of our nation.

I intend to write about U.S. manufacturing and competitiveness in many of my future blog entries.