What precisely makes manufacturing parts overseas more attractive? I hear a lot about labor cost, but as I research more, I hear about subsidized raw materials like steel, or subsidized electricity, public land giveaways, etc.
What are the percentages in terms of cost, on average, for making general metal parts like those for automotives? How much is labor cost? How much is energy cost? How much is material cost?
Could US plants compete by using solar panels w batteries? I saw another thread on here about solar powered machines. How about building your own CNC - I see do-it-yourself CNC build projects online. I also have seen videos of people that made small foundries in their backyard, as well as micro mini mills being much more cost-effective than blast furnaces - how about buying scrap cheap and then making your own materials? Or renting machine time on CNC's somewhere instead of the upfront cost of buying machine tools?
I guess my question is how exactly is it that domestic manufacturing operations cannot compete? It seems like there is much more to it than simply labor, and the possibilities of streamlining/automation can change the numbers completely; like self-checkout lines in Wal-Mart vs cashiers
What are the percentages in terms of cost, on average, for making general metal parts like those for automotives? How much is labor cost? How much is energy cost? How much is material cost?
Could US plants compete by using solar panels w batteries? I saw another thread on here about solar powered machines. How about building your own CNC - I see do-it-yourself CNC build projects online. I also have seen videos of people that made small foundries in their backyard, as well as micro mini mills being much more cost-effective than blast furnaces - how about buying scrap cheap and then making your own materials? Or renting machine time on CNC's somewhere instead of the upfront cost of buying machine tools?
I guess my question is how exactly is it that domestic manufacturing operations cannot compete? It seems like there is much more to it than simply labor, and the possibilities of streamlining/automation can change the numbers completely; like self-checkout lines in Wal-Mart vs cashiers