Outsourcing Disasters Put Consumers at Risk

Outsourcing manufacturing and even development to overseas companies became a fact of life with international agreements and the economic globalization which quickly followed. Foreign export subsidies abroad and lowered import tariffs at home offer a powerful case for simply sourcing what we want from somewhere else. The benefit to consumers are cheaper display prices. However, the products themselves can have hidden costs which total much higher than the display price. Here are just three costs not on the price tag:

Safety: September 2009 saw the latest chapter in a long string of expensive and time-consuming product recalls of items manufactured in China. Just the other day one of our staff found themselves face to face with this reality in their own home, having narrowly avoided possible injury when the powder metal blade retainer for their new, one-day-old imported lawn mower cracked a large chunk off after just ten minutes of operation. This safety-critical part was stamped from powder metal and probably given insufficient oven time to bake - which means there are hundreds - thousands somewhere just like it. Back at the store our colleague watched as the entire model line seemed to have a similar flaw and started immediately getting pulled from the floor. How much could that have cost someone?

Economic: Training overseas personnel has opened the door to a flood of skillful black-market copycats, counterfeiters, patent and trademark pirates who apply inside knowledge to cleverly reproduce almost any product illegally, which becomes expensive and difficult to police. Local jobs and skills are lost overseas forever. Eventually, the local economy finds itself borrowing from China to buy from China.

Human Rights: Those employed overseas in the manufacture of low cost goods for export often discover their original expectations wrong, working in appalling conditions, with no way back out. Middlemen, business brokers and investors receive the entire net profit from the supply-demand relationship.

The real differential in the final consumer's decision is actually not cost, but timing. When presented a choice between "pay now or pay later", MBA 101 states that credit-based consumerism such as what is encouraged in the USA will pick "pay later" - even if it means paying more. Darwinism 101 responds that if cutting out fierce business competition could therefore be timed early, it technically justifies almost any other consequence in quality, ethics or community interest. Darwin knows that consumers will still have opportunity to pay their fare share of it all, just a bit "later".

Uncontrolled serial product outsourcing can be a disaster. Not surprisingly, there is growing understanding about the importance of highly selective outsourcing, supplier evaluation, certification and inspection by qualified local staff and agency, while maintaining tight product control, domestic R&D, and a healthy ratio of credible domestic suppliers and know-how at home.

The Four Os For Finding Work (as a CAD Designer)

Personally, I think that the four Os for finding work are really more or less an elaborate way of saying "gather more information", with four keyword points that just help us remember four useful aspects. This article focuses on applying them to find work in design careers, but they can be used in other fields too:

1. Offer: You need to know what the actual offer is, the real "give and take" of your current job market. Knowing (and accepting) the general offer climate is important when negotiating any specific opportunities discussed in point two. Have you discussed your search with those who already work in the field? What skills do you offer now? Should you offer more? What are employers really offering in return? Do they offer more elsewhere (or less)? Is money your only consideration? Will you get a better offer in another line of work? Do not assume that a more affluent country automatically offers higher wages in all fields. Finding an appropriate salary survey sometimes helps, like this one from AUGI (Autodesk User Group International) for 2008.

2. Opportunities: Establish all potential employment you are willing to accept. Do you know all of the specific design opportunities in your region? Are you willing to work part-time? Full-time? There are a number of online contract work portals available:

• Elance
• ScriptLance
• CAD Ground
• CADAuctions
• GetAFreelancer
• iFreelance.com
• DesignQuote
• Sologig
• Space Master Interiors
• countless more... (comments and feedback welcome)

As a tip, I find the most successful job hunter is never unemployed, because to him/her finding a job is already viewed seriously as opportunity. One could ask oneself, "What opportunities am I NOT yet using to find work? For example, do my friends and/or family know I am looking for this kind of job? Have I checked with all local employment offices & employment websites? Am I willing to try contract work agencies and temp services?"

3) Obstacles: Know why you are unemployed now. Is it the area you live in? Is it your level of experience? Is it new technology? What is it? Be honest, at least with yourself. Know the answer and fix it if you can.

4) Operation: Once you gather information, use it to your advantage - even when you don't have a job yet. Understand intimately the needs of each potential employer before the job interview, not after. Know your market and find your niche in it. Learn new skills that are marketable. Find ways to meet others already successfully working in the field you want and listen to them. Sometimes CAD Internet forums can be useful for finding the right community of people to talk to. Finally, share your research with other people who are, in turn, willing to share with you. If you aren't sharing then don't have friends. But if you share too much, other people might just start to use you. Try to find that balance.

2008 CAD Software Market Still Hot, Innovation Continues

15% seems to be the magic number for the CAD software industry this year. Jon Peddie Reseach, a US based research group, predicts 15% growth in the CAD software market for 2008. This is due partially to changing technologies and a continued shift toward mid-range systems.

Cambashi engineering and enterprise IT applications market research and analysis consultants in the UK confirm the 15% for 2008 but predict a slowdown thereafter.

The job market for the same sector is not so strong, but this is nothing new. Concerns about finding emloyement as a draftsman or design engineer recycle themselves every seven years or so. But new International and Asian service competition adds to the uncertainty. Engineering students are thus being encouraged to fortify their skillset with related qualifications in manufacturing and applied sciences.

See http://www.jonpeddie.com/about/press/2008/CAD-industry-to-maintain-growth.shtml
See http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BLL/is_8_21/ai_n9484078