Competition With A Capital “C”

Here are some interesting stats from our “Did You Know” folder about the economy that is projected to overtake the U.S. economy by around 2020:

• China’s economy is currently growing three times faster than the U.S.
• An estimated 40 million Chinese households have an annual income of $12,000 or more (that is only 15% of total Chinese households).
• 95% of all Kodak Cameras are currently made in China and the wage of the production workers in China is equivalent to $120 per month.
• China’s economy currently ranks about seventeenth in the world and is projected to be 75 percent larger than the U.S. by 2050.
• Approximately 6,000 foreign-funded businesses have offices in Shanghai.

With a population of 1.3 billion people, China has a cheap, powerful workforce that is changing the way the world does business. Factory to the world, China currently only produces about one-twentieth of everything on the world market but accounts for approximately 70% of the inventory at Wal-Mart.

More and more is being written about China’s economic rise and the increased pressure it is putting on American businesses, yet many American consumers appear to be apathetic to the long-term impact this will have on our economy. Jobs once thought to be too small to be lost to an overseas competitor are now being done in China at competitive prices. The old China that made cheap products is gone. The new China is a force to be reckoned with and with an uneven playing field it is difficult for American businesses to compete. One of our goals this year is to increase coverage of the economic rise of China. Knowing more about your competition will help you compete more effectively in the global plastic shapes fabrication market.

This issue covers a wide range of topics to help you compete more effectively against your competition, whoever they may be. From Removing the Heat From Cutting Tools which will lead to longer tool life and reduced tooling costs to nine pages of New Products and a special section on Welding Thermoplastics, we strive to provide the information you need to succeed in the plastic shapes industry.

Enjoy the issue,