Solid Height - Spring Manufacturers Institute

We Must Capitalize on our Strengths to Meet
Global Pressures
O ffshore
From Dave Weber
“
manufacturing,” “outsourcing” and “global economy”
are all ways of describing the changing competitive
landscape springmakers are facing each day. This has always been
part of the competitive world in which we live, but as means of
communication and logistic systems improve, the pressure from
around the world becomes greater.
As springmakers, we are affected more by what our customers
do than by springmakers located offshore. In general,
the cost of a spring going into a component is insignificant
when compared with the cost of the final product. Many of our
customers look to manufacturing their products where the cost
of labor is low because there is a lot of labor required to manufacture the end product.
Some customers have relocated to take advantage of cheap labor. Once in a new
location, they seek local suppliers for items like springs. In the end, the North American
suppliers lose the business – more because of location than price. In some way, the three
laws of real estate, “location, location, location,” also apply to spring manufacturing.
There is little we can do when our customers move offshore. However, there is an
opportunity for North American springmakers when foreign companies set up operation
here. We offer products that generally do not have high labor content, usually are made
with world-class manufacturing and quality systems, and are inexpensive to get to the
customer’s location. We also enjoy this competitive advantage with our existing customers.
The other “hidden” advantage for North American spring manufacturers is that we
can protect our customers from currency changes. In fact, we have seen some spring
manufacturers from around the world build operations in North America to follow their
customers and get some of our competitive advantages.
As you can see, offshore manufacturing is not a simple case of cause and effect.
North American spring manufacturers are challenged by location but protected by the
low labor content of their products and the high cost of transporting springs here from
other parts of the world. In general, the cost of material is the same worldwide. That
means, for most North American spring manufacturers, proprietary process and valueadded
service are the keys to competitiveness.
Within the pages of this issue of Springs magazine, you will see how some manufacturers
have responded to the changing global marketplace. The information presented
in this, as well as previous issues, is intended to help you compete in today’s world.
SMI’s mission to inform, educate, and provide the opportunity to meet with other
springmakers will make you stronger. I urge you to not only be a member, but also to
participate in our activities as well as those at the regional level. Your membership and
participation will make a difference in our industry.
2 SPRINGS July 2006
Dan Sebastian, MW Industries
dsebastian@mw-ind.com
Springs Magazine Staff
Rita Schauer Kaufman CAE, Editor
editor@smihq.org
Lynne Carr, Advertising Sales
info@smihq.org
Sandie Green, Assistant Editor
Ken Boyce CAE, Publisher
Springs Magazine Committee
Chair, Bob Herrmann, Newcomb
Spring of Colorado
Götz Arndt, Wafi os Machinery
Terry Bartel Ph.D., Elgiloy
Specialty Metals
Carol Caldwell, Century Spring
Randy DeFord, Mid-West
Spring & Stamping
Ritchy Froehlich, Ace Wire
Spring & Form
Tressie Froehlich, Ace Wire
Spring & Form
LuAnn Lanke, Wisconsin Coil Spring
John Schneider, O’Hare Spring
Europe liaison, Richard Schuitema,
Dutch Spring Association
Technical Advisors
Luke Zubek PE, SMI Technical Director
Loren Godfrey, Colonial Spring
Advertising sales - Japan
Ken Myohdai
Sakura International Inc.
22-11 Harimacho
1-Chome, Abeno-ku
Osaka 545-0022 Japan.
Phone: +81-6-6624-3601
Fax: +81-6-6624-3602
E-mail: info@sakurain.co.jp
Advertising sales - Europe
Jennie Franks
Franks & Co.
P.O. Box 33 Moulton
Newmarket, Suff olk,
England CB88SH
Phone: +44-1638-751132
Fax: +44-1638-750933
E-mail: franksco@BTopenworld.com
Advertising sales - Taiwan
Robert Yu
Worldwide Services Co. Ltd.
11F-B, No 540, Sec. 1, Wen Hsin Rd.
Taichung, Taiwan
Phone: +886-4-2325-1784
Fax: +886-4-2325-2967
E-mail: stuart@wwstaiwan.com
Springs (ISSN 0584-9667) is published quarterly
by SMI Business Corp., a subsidiary of the
Spring Manufacturers Institute: 2001 Midwest
Road, Suite 106, Oak Brook, IL 60523; Phone:
(630) 495-8588; Fax: (630) 495-8595; Web site
www.smihq.org. Address all correspondence
and editorial materials to this address.
The editors and publishers of Springs disclaim all
warranties, express or implied, with respect to
advertising and editorial content, and with respect
to all manufacturing errors, defects or omissions
made in connection with advertising or editorial
material submitted for publication.
The editors and publishers of Springs disclaim
all liability for special or consequential damages
resulting from errors, defects or omissions in the
manufacturing of this publication, any submission
of advertising, editorial or other material for
publication in Springs shall constitute an agreement
with and acceptance of such limited liability.
The editors and publishers of Springs assume no
responsibility for the opinions or facts in signed
articles, except to the extent of expressing the view,
by the fact of publication, that the subject treated is
one which merits attention.
Do not reproduce without written permission.
Cover designed by Rita Kaufman