Factories May Return to U.S. Says Expert Who Sees Global Manufacturing as a System
U.S. manufacturing company site selectors have canvassed the globe for low-wage, technically adept work forces. But wages are expected to rise in many of the best locations, include Mexico and China. If so, what will the companies do? Manufacturing guru Bill Waddell believes this process can only continue for a finite time until the U.S. and Europe must adopt lean manufacturing so that they can make most of their own domestic consumption goods. In a frankly worded blog entry, Waddell says, "Asian countries needed to reduce their reliance on exports and build up their own consumer demand. ... The economies of Asia are pretty well built on cheap labor. Cheap labor, by definition, means you don't pay your folks enough to buy anything. If you want to boost consumer demand in your own countries, you're gonna have to pay the people working for a living a little bit more. That, of course, means you are not a cheap labor source any more.  So there you have the conundrum." He concludes, "So we buy manufactured goods from other places (money out) and export less (money in).  The 'lotta money out, little money in' math may well kick in before we run out of cheap places to build stuff. Any way you cut it, if we don't get lean manufacturing going in the U.S. and Europe very soon, the grandchildren are up a long, long creek."

Chart suggests a negative relationship between U.S imports from China and U.S. manufacturing jobs Source: www.monthlyreview.org

Participate in IAMC's Online Business Networking
Stay "linked in" year-round with fellow IAMC members through IAMC's LinkedIn online business networking group, which is open exclusively to members. Once you join, you can post discussion items for group input and share your knowledge by answering others' questions.

Source: blog.linkedin.com

These IAMC members have recently joined the LinkedIn group: Phil Wilson of Catalent Pharma, Sam Foster of Jones Lang LaSalle, Susan Reber of Air Products and Chemicals and Ken Hagaman of Anixter.

To jump to the LinkedIn logon screen, click here.  Once logged on, go the top of the left-hand column and click on "groups." For more information on LinkedIn or the IAMC Group on LinkedIn, click here.

Find a Real Estate Job; Post an Opening; Post a Resume
Go to the IAMC Career Center to read about dozens of corporate real estate, economic development and real estate service provider jobs. Here's an example: Construction Project Manager. The position description says, "Construction general contractor seeks project manager with T.I. experience in commercial construction."

IAMC Asheville Professional Forum eBriefings

• Selected presentations from the Asheville Forum are now available online, including several from the programs "The Industrial Workspace of Tomorrow," "Energy: Today and Tomorrow" and "Snapshot of the Industrial Marketplace."
  
  From John Patelski's presentation to the "Industrial Workplace of Tomorrow" workshop at the Asheville Professional Forum

Fall 2009 IAMC Profession Forum Considers Balance Sheet, Cash Conservation

• IAMC's Asheville Forum may be the new benchmark against which future Forums are judged. One attendee says, "I'm not sure what made this forum the best one to date but whatever it was, IAMC needs to replicate that." Looking forward to the Minneapolis-St. Paul Professional Forum, we may have a venue and program topic that are up to the challenge. Entitled "Corporate Real Estate's Impact on the Balance Sheet," the program will address CREM's role in corporate cash management and cost control issues, among others.

Report Details 'Distributed Work' Strategies

Cover of the IFMA report "Distributed Work" Source: www.ifma.org

• On the International Facility Management Association's (IFMA's) new report, the group's Web site says, "Distributed work strategy is a catchall phrase for work that is spread among teams in variable locations that occurs at varying times. Though not as common a phrase as 'alternative work,' it certainly is more descriptive, accurate and all-inclusive than alternative work. Simply put, taking part in a distributed work strategy is not an alternative work practice anymore, but an accepted part of the 21st century workplace."