News

German manufacturers are now focussing on their supply chains in China. Supplier development programmes, which are common in Germany, are becoming more prominent in the Chinese market. Companies react to increasing production costs, greater competitive pressure and price cuts, which are demanded from the Chinese government. German industry sees tremendous scope for improvement at their suppliers: Productivity in Chinese factories can be increased by more than a third, whilst scrap and lead times can be halved – which will allow to achieve high cost savings. This is the outcome of a market analysis by Staufen, a consultancy company.

Developing people’ skills while doing continuous improvement

Over the last decades China has successfully developed its reputation to be the factory of the world, but during the past years there have been dramatic changes in the Chinese economy, as many recent written reports and studies have shown. The goal has changed: China wants to become the world’s global R&D leader within the next years and will overtake the USA in terms of patent applications very soon.

Ideally a portion of everyone‘s workday would involve striving for something meaningful that we can call a „challenge.“ In Business organizations a challenge is typically related to better serving customers. A challenge flexes our minds because it brings us to the current limit of our thinking and forces us to learn and adapt. However, it‘s not enough to set a challenge. People also need an effective way of working toward those challenges!

From July 3rd to July 5th 2013 the Global Lean Summit, China’s most relevant and popular lean event, took place in Shanghai and was attended by over 200 guests. The event was characterised by interesting speeches, enriching exchange and the promotion of learning opportunities.

A rise in the minimum wage by 2015 strengthens domestic consumption but also increases costs The new Chinese government plans to raise minimum wages in the cities and the majority of rural regions to at least 40 percent of the average wage. The aim is an 80 million reduction of the number of people living in poverty. China’s primary intention is to prevent social unrest – but also specifically to boost domestic consumption as a cornerstone for economic growth.

On September 10th more than 200 international and Chinese sourcing and supply chain professionals and experts met at the 7th BME China Sourcing Conference in Shanghai. This year’s conference under the topic “adjust to new circumstances, manage long distances, discover new strategies” offered the ideal framework for discussions and workshops to expand knowledge about the current trends and challenges in Greater China and network with suppliers, professionals and advisers.

The German Chamber of Commerce in China (Shanghai) has been providing workshops / working groups for interested managers with a special background for many years. Those workshops usually take place 4-6 times a year. Now the new working group “Production & Logistics” has been established.

Shenyang, even being a 8 million city and growing to a 23 million metropolis area very soon, still does not have a German Chamber of Commerce. So where to bundle the networking activities of the economic heavyweights in the heart of Dongbei? Bars are not suitable, outdoor is not a favorite pastime in Northeast China…but we have the European Union. Shenyang with its two Megafactories from France and Bavaria, Michelin and BMW, is an ideal spot for a small but active European Chamber. Sierra Wang leads it since many years and the presidency is changing frequently from Johnson Controls to Michelin and BMW-Brilliance. 38 firms are the members of this relatively new EU Chamber in China.