Irwin Seating closed down its Chinese factory

posted by bobyanghq on January 13, 2009 at 3:42 pm

Irwin Seating closed down its Chinese factory recently after two years operation in China.

Comments (6)

Life's Too Short
Life's Too Short on January 13, 2009 at 7:15 pm

Does this mean they are moving production back to the United States? Or have they gone to an even cheaper overseas source, like Vietnam?

Simon Overton
Simon Overton on January 13, 2009 at 7:42 pm

I can hear the sad and shimmering violins in the background as my eyes well with tears!

bobyang
bobyang on January 13, 2009 at 11:45 pm

As i know, Its Chinese factory was not successful, and have to retereat from China market.
It is better to joint venture with Chinese company or just OEM in Chinese factory.

Track seating and some other companies are operating well like this.

Life's Too Short
Life's Too Short on January 14, 2009 at 8:18 pm

Well, I’m not exactly sure what that means. But I do know that 70,000 Chinese factories have gone out of business since the beginning of 2008 and that unpaid employees are rioting in the streets while scrap dealers comb through empty production buildings.

I also know that if I were running a manufacturing company in the USA that I would be very hesitant to do business with China after watching oil spike to $150 a barrel. Prices have come back down now. But they could definitely get very high again. That creates a huge unknown factor in a company’s business plan.

I have also heard that Chinese factories are not nearly as cheap as they used to be because of increasing labor regulations and safety standards put in place after all the poison items were discovered.

These are the reasons I asked my question.

Couple that together with the huge defect rates I have heard reported in many Chinese shipments and I can’t imagine why anyone would open a factory there.

But then again I suppose if Merrill Lynch just collapsed and Bernie Madoff can get away with 50 billion dollars over ten years I might conclude that the current generation of American leadership isn’t particularly thoughtful.

bobyang
bobyang on January 15, 2009 at 2:59 am

The Chinese labor cost really have increased some recently, but it is still very low. They are all professional labors.

It is a truth that India and Vietnam is a little lower than China for labor salary, but the industry in China is all-around, from row material to completed products in various field. It is still the first choice of world factory with its stable open policy.

We only talk cinema industry, i suggest.

Life's Too Short
Life's Too Short on February 2, 2009 at 7:00 pm

You haven’t addressed half of my issues Bob, and you sound like you are trying pretty hard to pitch your products.

If you are going to engage in direct marketing through this web site I think you should be ready to speak to the issues facing Chinese manufacturing in today’s market, of which there are many.

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