There is a valid concern that the United States is losing its manufacturing base or its "critical mass", the manufacturing infrastructure that has made manufacturing work better here for most of the last century than most other places in the world.  Manufacturing has always been an entry point for emerging economies.  Today a huge percentage of the world's population live in countries that are agressively pursuing manufacturing competiveness in the global economy.  The formula for manufacturing success has changed, and will continue to change, but the financial rewards are still there.  One very satisfying aspect of my work is meeting profitable manufacturers who have "broken the code" and are highly profitable.  More often than not it is the entrepreneur that makes it big, the newcomer that ignores the status quo and designs his company to serve an underserved market.

Commercialization Henry Ford did not invent the automobile and Thomas Edison did not invent the light bulb but they are both still so significant today because they made their products affordable and reliable which made them practical and available which got them used. When a technology is ready to come out of the R&D environment it needs to go through a very different process to make the next evolutionary step. Product designs must be refined for manufacturability, ease of use, and reliability. The more units there are in the hands of users the faster broader adoption will occur. The greatest factor affecting all three of these things is not economies of scale or quality control but design for manufacturability (DFM).

To discuss your manufacturing strategy contact gabriel@gachihoski.com