Report: Increased recycling will create 1.5M jobs http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2011/11/15/report-increased-recycling-will.html?ana=handmark
This story continues to drive home the idea that there are other ways to create green jobs, even in the services sector. What other ways are there that our political leaders gave not thought of?
Posted in Environment, Green Manunfacturing, Leadership, Service
Another bankruptcy occurred this week in US Solar Power manufacturers with the announcement of Solyndra that they will cease operations.
This is especially troubling since the US government invested over $500 million in our money into what is now another bankruptcy. It is important to note that once again, we fail in a market that is increasingly price driven. US manufacturers are not set up to compete in such a market. We thrive in markets where innovation and efficiency are king. Not the “ME TOO” markets like solar power.
I am sorry to see another tombstone in this market, but it will likely not be the last. What do you think?
Posted in Uncategorized
In January, I talked about Evergreen Solar, and their shameful outsourcing of jobs to China, even though they received tens of millions in government subsidies and incentives. Last week, the Metrowest Daily News reported that Evermore has filed for bankruptcy.
The Chapter 11 filing is hardly surprising. Trying to kick-start a company to prosperity by throwing money at it, despite a lack of competitive manufacturing practices and a clear misunderstanding of the pricing structure and the market that they were in was just plain bad judgement. Interestingly enough, the Chinese joint venture may remain open, with only the US subsidiary going down the toilet.
The US and Massachusetts governments seems to pick who gets money by whether the state or business owner is red or blue, and how many possible jobs it supports under the company forecast, no matter how unrealistic it seems. Wouldn’t it make more sense to develop an overall manufacturing and energy strategy with experts in those areas instead of politicians deciding on what incentives and investments will really pay off in the long run?
I think so, what about you?
Singapore has joined the push for sustainability in a major way. In a recent article in Eco-Business.com, the Minster for the Environment and Water Resources explains what the country is doing to incentivise and train manufacturers to be green.
In addition to the training program, which provides a 400% tax credit for participation, Singapore has scaled its Certified Productivity and Innovation program down to support the estimated 7000 Small to Mid sized Enterprises (SME) in the country. This program, called SME Qiang or “SME Quality Initiative to Assist and Nurture Growth” program, looks to teach lean and siz sigma techniques.
Contrast this to the US approach of providing penalties and dis-incentives for non-conformance. It is time for the US to understand that when done properly, green can save money.and lead to increased profitability. By focusing on incentives and training, manufacturers will learn the benefits of green. In order to increase US manufacturing competitiveness, manufacturers have to be trained in green and lean techniques. A US manufacturing strategy that includes green would be a great start.
Remember the outcry and boycotts of blood diamonds in the 80s and 90s? Well, the modern-day equivalent is here and it is called conflict minerals. This has taken center stage as of April 1, and now Intel and Apple have joined on the bandwagon. This will ban the import of products that cannot show that minerals commonly mined from conflict countries, such as tin and tantalum, did not come from the DRC.
I spent part of last week at IPC’s Electronic Manufacturing Services Management Meeting learning about this topic and how it will impact companies like VirTex. We continue to m promote sustainability and green manufacturing to our customers and this is a topic until last week I knew little about.
It is now incumbent upon the supply chain to provide assurances in the form of documentation to their customers. This means you have to know your sources. This becomes increasingly challenging when those sources are scattered around the globe. When all smelting are production was done in the US, the job would have been difficult, but now spans almost every continent.
Let’s hope the playing field on this one is a little more level for US manufacturers than ROHS and REACH were.
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Yesterday’s Dilbert comic really hit a nerve on green technology with the assertion that many green tech claims are false. While as usual, Dogbert shows his jaded view of the world, it does bring up the question as to who really validates the claims and who assesses what the real savings and impacts are on the environment.
For many things there are standards, but not so much in the energy field. So what if a solar panel does not deliver the same efficiency with a little dirt on it and needs batteries full of harmful chemicals to store the energy? So what if wind power is cleaned up and boosted with natural gas? So what if we have to add new power plants so that everyone can charge their electric vehicles with even more nasty batteries?
These questions show the continuous need to address our total energy requirements. Energy can be neither created, nor destroyed, for lack of a better term, we just move it around.
It is a real shame that the disaster in Japan has focused fear back on nuclear energy again. Risk aside, there are few cleaner forms of power available. It needs to be evaluated equally with other alternative energy forms. There are questions with all forms of power. There should be a uniform way to evaluate and report on the claims. Otherwise, the Dogberts of the world can make whatever claims they like.
A recent article in the Boston Globe highlights the problems US manufacturers face in competing for green jobs on a global landscape. In an era where over half the world’s solar panels are made in China and the US ranks 11th among G-20 countries in clean energy investment, US green jobs continue to shift offshore.
Evergreen Solar (Massachusetts) is the latest to shift 800 jobs to China, recently announcing the closing of their Devens manufacturing plant, despite over $58MM in state aid. Aid such as this is just not enough to compete with the subsidies and cheap labor being offered in other countries.
In order to compete effectively, the US needs to come up with a better plan to maintain our global competitiveness. Manufacturing revenue create revenue in other sectors at a rate over double that of the service sector. According to the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), $1.43 in revenue is created for every dollar of manufacturing revenue, compared to $.71 in the service sector.
The time is long overdue for a National Manufacturing Policy that rewards investment in manufacturing to create true global competitiveness. Groups like NAM and the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) need support to bring this issue out in the open for a frank and complete discussion.
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A recent story on the Fox newswire shows a significant number of companies that qualified for green energy tax credits for producing renewable energy products did not have enough tax liability to make use of the credits. For many emerging technology companies, they are simply not profitable yet. Therefore, no tax liability and no help. This in turn gives them more incentive to seek subsidies and manufacturing capacity in Mexico and overseas.
Other firms simply cannot fix the green investment to bring their projects to capacity. It is increasingly difficult for US manufacturers to compete, when Chinese companies are getting credit subsidies from the government. LDK Solar in China received an $8.9B credit facility from the China Development Bank. Contrast this with a total of $2.3B approved for a total of 183 projects submitted under the DOE’s 48C program. Working capital loans for manufacturing companies continues to be a problem that slows economic recovery. Availability of cash in loans (not handouts) allows US manufacturers to grow and create jobs. It’s time we looked at putting our money where the mouths we feed are and focus on loan programs for successful manufacturing companies that create US-based jobs.
GE announced today that they are creating four Green Manufacturing Centers of Excellence, who will focus on design and manufacturing using lean manufacturing practices. They will create 500 jobs in this program and are committed to increasing US manufacturing competitiveness through this venture.
Increasingly US Manufacturers are coming back to the realization that agility and communication in the design process between engineers and manufacturing is better when we are all in close proximity. Even in this age of video conferencing and 24/7 communication through email, SMS and social networking, very little takes the place of true team interaction.
It seems like it was only a decade ago that we all decided this was the right way to do business. Cross functional teams were the new paradigm shift. Glad to see that some good ideas can come back around and maybe they will stick this time.
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An new article in the Washington Post highlights the fight for manufacturing jobs being waged by foreign countries will ing to invest in manufacturing companies for the purpose of job creation. With traditional manufacturing jobs disappearing to offshore, near shore and other outsourcing models, the fight to retain US Manufacturing competitiveness is tougher than ever.
While China and Mexico are willing to offer cash incentives to attract companies, the best incentives the US seems to be able to offer are secured loans that are available as long as the company has sufficient collateral. This will rarely be the case in a new and growing company. It’s time that the government levels the playing field for all manufacturing companies, not just subsidies to money losing entities like the airlines and auto makers. Where are the incentives for growing companies that can create real US jobs? It’s time Washington looks at the fight we are in to maintain the country as a cornerstone of manufacturing. It’s time to mobilize manufacturing as a political force with the ability to create the jobs lost over the last decade. Let your congressman know how you feel.Posted in Environment, Green Manunfacturing, Leadership, Offshoring
