Manufacturing for America
Recently, I listened to a documentary on how Apple manufactures the iPhone. It was quite enlightening. I also read about their manufacturing experiences with Foxconn and other Chinese suppliers. In summary, China’s primary advantage, aside from the low cost of labor, is a massive speed advantage in ramping up or reconfiguring assembly lines.
This gave me an idea for American manufacturing. Although we can’t undercut Chinese wages, the price per part can be minimized via high throughput reconfigurable automation.
An initial proof of concept might involve CNC mills, laser cutters, pick-and-place machines, or even 3D printers. However, as the concepts and methods mature, it is not difficult to imagine the addition of reconfigurable roll-to-roll assembly of the majority of the complex innards of products, requiring no human interaction whatsoever. The throughput of such a factory would be staggering…
