From Grits to Chopsticks

Today, I had the opportunity to visit a large manufacturing plant just outside of the city with one of our students and his mother (who happens to be an industrial loan officer for a major bank).  The factory wants to borrow money for a capacity expansion, so it was interesting to be an informal part of the due diligence process.  As you might imagine, there are “a few” differences between manufacturing plants in China and the US.  One difference is employee housing – this factory provides dormitories for all of its workers, much like these at a nearby construction site:

Dormitories are especially helpful at the factory, saving commute time to this remote location.  Each month, the employees get one day off (!) to leave the site and go wherever they choose.

Aside from the expected differences in large scale manufacturing, the most interesting things (to me) about Chinese industry show up in the small scale shops.  While walking south of town a few weeks ago, we passed a row of garages, each containing a metalworking lathe:

If you buy Chinese goods, don’t be surprised if they are produced in tiny shops like these.  People in China are extremely resourceful, salvaging anything possible.  We often walk by shops where people are taking apart old computers or unwinding the copper wire from motors:

Since space is usually tight, the work is often done on the sidewalk outside of the shop.  I walked by an auto repair shop last month where a guy was doing a complete ring job on the sidewalk.  Here is a the typical scooter repair company:

And a sheet metal shop:

And a fencing company:

And a shipping/logistics operation:

You’ll notice that all of these photos were taken from the road – just one of the drawbacks to a sidewalk industrial revolution.