Description

Conventional wisdom holds that high wages, high capital costs, and worker inflexibility have cost America its ability to compete in the world manufacturing marketplace. This book demonstrates that U.S.-based manufacturing can compete in terms of quality, product features, and timely delivery--the real measures of competitiveness in the 1990s.

The committee identifies attributes that attract manufacturers to given locations and assesses the attractiveness of the United States as a location for different kinds of manufacturing. The volume dispels myths that have guided management decision making in the past and offers recommendations to promote the United States as a manufacturing site.

The volume discusses new approaches to understanding and controlling costs. With case studies from three important industries--consumer electronics, semiconductors, and automobiles--the book explores factors in site location decisions, highlighting advantages the United States can offer as a manufacturing site over low-cost rivals.