iPhones and IE’s: Why China Over USA

January 26, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Charles Duhigg and Keith Bradsher shed light on some of the reasons behind the continued reliance on China for major manufacturing.  Note this quote:

Another critical advantage for Apple was that China provided engineers at a scale the United States could not match. Apple’s executives had estimated that about 8,700 industrial engineers were needed to oversee and guide the 200,000 assembly-line workers eventually involved in manufacturing iPhones. The company’s analysts had forecast it would take as long as nine months to find that many qualified engineers in the United States; In China took 15 days.

 

How U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work
New York Times 01/22/2012
Authors: Charles Duhigg and Keith Bradsher
c. 2010 New York Times Company

When Barack Obama joined Silicon Valley’s top luminaries for dinner in California last February, each guest was asked to come with a question for the president.

But as Steven P. Jobs of Apple spoke, President Obama interrupted with an inquiry of his own: what would it take to make iPhones in the United States?

Not long ago, Apple boasted that its products were made in America. Today, few are. Almost all of the 70 million iPhones, 30 million iPads and 59 million other products Apple sold last year were manufactured overseas.

Why can’t that work come home? Mr. Obama asked.

Mr. Jobs’s reply was unambiguous. “Those jobs aren’t coming back,” he said, according to another dinner guest.

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IE’s in Demand

October 10, 2011 by Leave a Comment

This article in the Wall Street Journal posted Oct 2, 2011 quotes Monster.com to highlight that the demand for IE’s is growing!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204138204576605421471180568.html

Quoted in the article:

Some occupations in which online ads over the past 120 days are up strongly from a year earlier:

  • Industrial engineers, up 28%.
  • First-line supervisors/managers of mechanics, installers and repairers, up 25%.
  • Automotive specialty technicians, up 24%.
  • Mechanical engineers, up 21%.
  • Sales agents, financial services, up 20%.
  • Retail salespeople, up 19%.
  • Electrical engineers, up 17%.
  • Loan officers, up 16%.
  • Computer software engineers, applications, up 14%.
  • Accountants, up 12%.

Noticeably absent are health-care jobs. “Health-care occupations did not see the same declines as other occupations, so we might not see the same strong growth as we might with those that declined during the recession,” according to Monster.

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What IS An Industrial Engineer?

January 26, 2011 by Leave a Comment

From the Bureau of Labor Statistics comes this definition:

Industrial engineers determine the most effective ways to use the basic factors of production—people, machines, materials, information, and energy—to make a product or provide a service. They are concerned primarily with increasing productivity through the management of people, methods of business organization, and technology. To maximize efficiency, industrial engineers study product requirements carefully and then design manufacturing and information systems to meet those requirements with the help of mathematical methods and models. They develop management control systems to aid in financial planning and cost analysis, and they design production planning and control systems to coordinate activities and ensure product quality. They also design or improve systems for the physical distribution of goods and services and determine the most efficient plant locations. Industrial engineers develop wage and salary administration systems and job evaluation programs.

Many industrial engineers move into management positions because the work is closely related to the work of managers.

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