Competing on ideas

摘要

How can the U.S. compete with China? That was one of the questions that followed a speech I gave at the 2007 Rollomatic Grinding Technology symposium, held Oct. 25 at Rollematic's U.S. headquarters in Mundelein, Ill. My topic was how China evolved from an impoverished backwater to an industrial giant in just 30 years. I didn't have a good answer to the question, but as I listened to other speakers, it occurred to me that part of the answer was right there in that room. Each speaker had sound ideas that could help metalworking companies compete more effectively. While there won't be one big, "magic bullet" that allows U.S. manufacturers to compete with Chinese manufacturers, thousands of smaller "minibullets"-like the ideas presented at the conference-may do the trick.