Strike Two?

摘要

Just a year ago, North American PWB fabricators were all bemoaning the certain and absolute demise of the industry due to the unstoppable rush to China. "There would be no PWB manufacturing to speak of in North America and Europe in just a few years," we were all hearing. While the movement to Asia still seems to have great momentum, there have been a few speed bumps encountered. The first strike was just literally that. Last fall the longshoremen in Long Beach, California, decided that they could no longer live with their $100,000 plus salaries, their guaranteed employment, and the ability to pass their jobs on to their heirs. They wanted more absolute guarantees that improved technology would not diminish their ranks, and decided to slow down their activities. Many companies in North America found that the products they needed for sale during the holiday season were sitting offshore, untouchable and unreach-able. There were no qualified North American sources available for some of these companies, so they had to eat the costs caused by the delays. The low cost buffer gained by manufacturing in Asia was soon consumed due to lost opportunities for some, at least temporally. Although it was not realized at that time, this was strike one.