It is increasingly rare in this day and age to find anything that everyone can agree on. The world is very split and politicized with extremes on both sides of the spectrum and very little willingness to budge or to compromise, but there is one thing that you will find almost unquestionable support for: on-shoring. Sure, maybe that’s not what its supporters typically call it, but you hear the same rally-cry in different wording from both grass-roots Green and true-blue Conservative supporters, and everyone in between. “Buy local” “Bring back manufacturing” these sentiments are really just different sides of the same coin. We all want to be more self-reliant, to see fewer products shipped in from elsewhere, to see less of our raw-materials shipped out without upgrading, and to bring more jobs and better opportunities brought back home.
It’s a wonderful sentiment, and in this time of quarantine, lay-offs, bankruptcies, and a lack of urgently required goods it has become accepted as being of utmost importance to our national security, our independence, and our economy. We need on-shoring to make sure that this scramble for much-needed emergency equipment doesn’t happen again, to help reopen the economy and get people back to work including replacing jobs that were permanently lost due to companies not being able to weather the storm. The idea of this has given a lot of people hope in a dark time, and has given us the confidence that we will be better prepared in the future and that we can recover from the present. However, I fear that despite our best intentions none of this will come to fruition. All of this production went overseas for a reason to begin with, and without some serious thought and a shift in our collective mentality across the board I can’t see it coming back: at least not to stay, or without never-ending government intervention. I hate to be the Devil’s Advocate, but I think it is an important role to play in the hopes of creating the right environment for future on-shoring to take place.
The reason production went overseas in the first place is simple: it happened because we wanted it to. That may seem like an odd thing to say considering the fact that most people lament the loss of manufacturing and the flood of cheap foreign goods, but hear me out. When mass-production started to leave, times were good here at home. The middle class was making good money, working in rewarding jobs, and wanted affordable products to make their lives easier both at home and at work. But in that situation, labour was expensive. The answer was automation, but people shied away from it for fear it would leave their job menial or eliminate it altogether. Unfortunately, our protectionism over a handful of jobs meant that rather than losing a few positions on a factory floor (which would create different positions in areas like maintenance) we lost the whole factory, or even the entire company.
What we have to understand now is that those jobs are lost, and to bring them back we will need a mentality shift at all levels. Consumers, businesses, and governments all have a role to play in this: half-measures will be the downfall of any attempt. Certain things that will be necessary have, for a variety of reasons, been argued against in the past and will undoubtedly receive push-back again. We will need to fundamentally change the way we do things, from accepting automation, to buying higher-quality goods, to allowing the market to dictate survival. It may not be the easiest road, but it will be rewarding and it is one that we need to go down.
Government
Let’s start with what is without question the most controversial role: that of government. If you look at why China is able to manufacture so cheaply, a principle reason for it is their government: between more relaxed environmental and safety regulations, centralized control of materials cutting out the margins of sometimes multiple middle-men, and cheaper land and operating costs, China has cultivated very fertile soil for the manufacturing industry to grow. Here at home, there has been a multitude of government bungles that have helped to drive nails into the remaining coffins of our industry. We continually bolster companies that aren’t competitive in a global market with bailouts, we try to tempt companies who regularly move their operations from place to place with tax incentives, we ignore companies that are trying to get off the ground or companies that are dedicated to improving and progressing while giving our aid to those who are just trying to maintain the status quo because “that’s the way we’ve always done it”. We undervalue our raw materials. We under-invest in our work-force. The list goes on.
All levels of government, from local to federal, have an important role to play here. When we try to reopen the economy there will undoubtedly be government handouts to try and get the ball rolling: this is necessary and I fully support it, but it should come with strings attached. We all need to remember that this is our money. Taxpayer money. It won’t do us any good if this money is used to allow for better bonuses for board members, or given to companies with tax havens or headquarters outside of our country. Rather than handing out money blindly, we need to strategically allocate money to be used strictly for improvement.
Improvement can be a wide range of things, from adopting Lean (a system for improving efficiency through cleanliness, tidiness, and elimination of waste) processes, to installing automation and updating equipment, to better training for workers. Maintaining the status quo is not our goal, and so assistance should not be given to those who seek to do so. We need to be better. We need to be more efficient. We need to progress and find a way to compete on a global scale. We have the landmass, the infrastructure, the ease of export, and the resources to be a manufacturing powerhouse and to build a stronger more prosperous economy on that foundation. We have to start playing the long game and accepting that for things to get better we cannot continue to simply apply band-aids without cleaning the wound or addressing the root causes.
Government involvement doesn’t end there though. We can’t just reopen the economy with a few grants and call it a day. Rather than bailouts to failing, bloated, inefficient companies we need to continue to provide funds to those with vision when they look to make improvements or open new divisions. We need to fund better and continual training for our workforce whether they are in the office or on the shop floor. Four years of school or an apprenticeship is not enough to learn everything, and without continual training, we have no hope of staying ahead of the market. Speaking of staying ahead of the market, we also need to continue to support scientific research. This is an area that often goes unnoticed by the average voter but is of the utmost importance. Not only does research create new technologies that can increase the efficiency of production or be produced for export, but it also attracts bright minds to our schools and institutes. People who can teach our next generation, or stay and continue to help us advance.
Industry
With this government support, the next space we need change is within the industry. What many people don’t realize is that aside from a few exceptions, manufacturing in Canada is decades behind the times. There have been massive advances both in automation and in business practices, that we have been late to adopt. These days Lean has become a buzzword in all sectors but manufacturing most of all. People within all levels of a company complain about, and argue against its implementation because of how they perceive it affecting their position, but they lack understanding of its true purpose. No one who actually understands the principles of Lean will oppose it, because it is there entirely to make their own lives better. Lean is about decreasing inefficiencies, making your work easier and safer, and more secure. Regardless of all of these arguments, the simple fact is: it is proven to make processes more efficient, less costly, and more reliable. If we hope to bring back manufacturing, Lean is an essential place to start.
Automation suffers from much of the same scrutiny as Lean practices do. Many machine shops in Canada still have yet to fully accept CNC machining, let alone more advanced automation. Some shops with manual machines still survive because overhead is low, and they have long-standing relationships with customers who are close by. If you walk into many of these places and mention the terms CNC or automation you will be welcomed with a barrage of exasperated sighs and old outdated arguments about how manual machining is still a viable option and CNC machining is little more than just pushing a button. I will admit that at one point I had the same opinion! I did not understand computers and computer-aided machining. I wanted to be a craftsman and make things with my hands. But the more I learned, the more I understood that these new processes come with their own challenges and techniques which keep it interesting, while allowing a combination of intricacy, precision, repeatability, and efficiency that you absolutely cannot achieve with manual processes.
Automation allows for longer run-times including “Lights Out Machining” essentially creating more hours in the day. It drastically cuts labour costs, increases efficiency, repeatability, and reliability, and frees up people and funds for continued improvement. There are two main reasons that we have been late to adopt it: the workers, and the managers. The workers complain about lost jobs and menial work, neglecting the fact that inefficient and outdated processes won’t just cost one or two jobs, but an entire line of manufacturing, or an entire company when it goes out of business. The managers don’t push for it due to a lack of understanding, being intimidated by the high initial cost, and the uncertainty of its implementation. Again, it is a short-sighted fear based argument that will end up costing them much more in the long run. We need to remember that automation can’t cost us jobs that don’t exist. Manufacturing in the way we are currently talking about is no longer here, and if automation is what it takes to bring it back, any jobs that come with it are created: none are lost.
Consumers
Finally, we have ourselves: the consumers. Unless we want unending government intervention in the form of tariffs, which do more harm than good and are unsustainable, tax-breaks, which only cheat ourselves and either lower our public coffers or increase our personal taxes, or bail-outs, which act as life-support for companies that no longer have any incentive to remain competitive, we need to consider our own role in all of this. China still has cheaper materials, land, cost of operations, and labor. Even if we were to adopt Lean, give government grants for automation, and start working out of smaller buildings with less overhead, we will still have to charge more for the goods we produce in order to make a profit than companies overseas would.
So what should we as consumers do to make this work? Maybe we should make ourselves a Keurig coffee, and think about it… hmm…
We drove away manufacturing with our demand for cheaper and cheaper products. We drove it away with our demand for convenience. We buy appliances that we know full-well we will never maintain or repair. They are meant to be used until they have the slightest of issues, and then thrown out. We buy another, and the cycle continues. Goods manufactured here are going to cost a little more, there is no way around it. Saying that we will pay more for the same thing just because it was made at home is unsustainable. We need a new mindset for our consumerism. Take, for example, an item that we are all now extremely familiar with: the N-95 mask. A disposable N-95 mask made in China is cheaper than we would ever be able to make it here. It is mostly used in places where it won’t be needed just once, but for the sake of convenience, we stick to disposable masks rather than using a half-mask or full-mask which can be cleaned and only disposing of the smaller, more simply made replaceable filters.
Those of us who work with tools know the value of buying quality: the right tool makes the job easier, gets it done better, lasts longer, and saves us money and time in the long run. By the time you have bought the same cheap wrench a couple of times you could have just bought the expensive one and had a good tool that you could be proud of and would have saved you the hassle. We call this mindset “buy once, cry once”. We need to apply this same mindset to the rest of our purchases: after all, your kitchen appliances are tools. With the right stand mixer making bread is much easier, but if you buy a cheap one it will burn out and you will need another soon. Your lawn equipment are tools: with a bit of maintenance a good lawn mower can last decades, while a cheap one with or without maintenance will only last a few years. The same goes for clothes, furniture, houses, almost anything that you can purchase can be looked at through this lens.
If we want a strong economy, better job opportunities, and deeper government coffers that can help us to continue to advance and solidify our world position, we need to start considering what is a throw-away item, and what could be an investment in ourselves. We need to take more pride in our products, protect our right to repair, teach our children how to maintain and fix things, and provide increased support to technical schools and maker spaces. We as consumers need to take it upon ourselves to learn how our property works, or be willing to pay someone who can.
Manufacturing is the foundation of any strong, lasting economy. We are in an ideal position to build our own manufacturing sector, but things like this don’t just happen. We need to be thoughtful. We need a plan. We need to work together, support each other, and keep the long-term in mind.
Eric Beyer
Eric is a Journeyman Machinist and an Apprentice Millwright in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He has a background in prototyping using both manual and CNC equipment as well as an extensive history with mechanical work. Having worked in a variety of industries including University research, he is always looking for the next great learning experience!
