How to build a Volkswagen

The transparent factory.

See: http://www.youtube.com/embed/nd5WGLWNllA?rel=0

Question: How much German government money went it there car glass house?.

50startingagain asks:

>>How much German government money went it there car glass house?.>>

I wouldn't know.

My guess is none.

But that is a guess.

On the other hand they may have gotten some tax breaks from the City of Dresden.

That is actually quite a clever PR stunt by VW, for the factory is
clearly built to impress the public, its not built for highest
efficiency. Even Steven Meyer might now buy a VW :)

No doubt every tourist bus going through, will win new customers.

What they are really doing, is showing to the public, technology
that they are already using in other German factories, which most
people never get to see. Discovery Science regularly shows factory
tours of how things are made. Both BMW and Porche use very similar
technology, so do companies such as John Deere and others.

Most people simply don't understand the amount of technology that
is now employed in advanced manufacture. I gather that the Japanese
have a factory which makes robots, which essentially functions with
no humans present, 24/7.

So I don't think our screwdriver and hammer Australian manufacturing
will ever return. We'll land up specialising in various niches
involving value in the IP, which is where the money is. That will
really depend on skills of the entrepreneurs driving the change.
So what we really need is more smart entrepreneurs, but we are
hardly encouraging them.Its much easier in Australia to just open
another mine or build houses for more migrants.

Hi Yabby,

You wrote:

>>Most people simply don't understand the amount of technology that
is now employed in advanced manufacture.>>

That's really the point I was trying to make in this and my other thread, China! China! China!

It's all very well to complain about jobs that have been "lost" to China. The truth is that those jobs can never return. Exponentially improving manufacturing productivity means that manufacturing will never again provide the well-paying mass employment of yesteryear. We can produce more and more and with fewer and fewer people.

This provides a challenge for Australia but also for China. Their "low wage" model will soon have run its course. I think the Chinese leadership themselves understand this. I'm not so sure about Australian politicians.

*The truth is that those jobs can never return*

Well the truth is that most people don't think too deeply about this
stuff. But it would soon hit them, if they had to pay 10 Grand for
an Australian made computer. i think few consumers even realise,
how much that they benefit from the global economy.

OTOH, Rio have just announced that they need another 6000 workers
and are hiring now. That is just Rio, let alone the rest. If
China was not making things, she would not be buying all this
iron ore either and the price might not be 150$ a tonne but more
like 40$ a tonne. We don't realise how lucky we are to have
China.

I just saw an interview tonight on Bloomberg with the CEO of
Starbucks, which was interesting. They now have 15'000 Starbucks
globally and their highest margin market is in fact China!

People like Arjay still don't get it. So what if all those cheap
trinkets are made in China? Meantime he uses Google, uses American
software on his computer, watches American movies, drives past
a Big Mac, Kentucky Fried and all the rest every day. America
remains an innovative nation, whilst we are still going back to
the 60s with old fashioned union rules which are well past their
used by date.Perhaps we'll need a bit of pain one day, to learn.

Trouble is Yabby that higher mineral prices induce more mining development and, ultimately, more supply.

A few more mines coming online coupled with a slight decrease in the rate of increase of demand for minerals could send prices tumbling.

Note, I'm not talking about a decrease in the demand for minerals though that could happen; I'm talking about a slowdown in the rate at which demand increases.

On the whole history has not been kind to countries that depend too much on minerals exports to pay their way. In real terms mineral prices have been in secular decline for centuries tho' there have been price spikes along the way.

For what it's worth I think demand from China will slow. India may take up the slack for a while but new capacity seems to be building up so rapidly that I think prices will take a tumble sooner rather than later, maybe before the end of this decade.

What then for Australia?

Fortunately we're not tied to a currency union so a decline in the value of the Aussie dollar will help the (inevitable) adjustment.

*Trouble is Yabby that higher mineral prices induce more mining development and, ultimately, more supply.*

I quite agree with you Steven, its just a matter of time. We saw
it all happen with iron ore before, when the Japanese brought in
production from Brazil, and the price eventually collapsed for
decades.

They are now building new mines, railways, ports etc to massively
ramp up production, but eventually that will push the price down
again. So its about being the lowest cost producer to then
survive. Already the likes of Rio and BHP are planning for that.

Hi Yabby
Yes Rio have advertised for 6000 extra worker BUT they only want SKILLED workers,more migrants coming to fill the jobs,Why not train Australians for the jobs?.

50 starting again, so why don't more Australians bother to train
for some skills? Its not Rio's job to grab them by the scruff of
the neck and put them through university.

Too many Australians think that burger flipping for a living will
do, then they are amazed when there are plenty of jobs, but
that is not enough education for well paid ones.

Yabby
It ok if you have a spear $5000 to $7000 to paid for the training But employer want 6 to 12 months or more experience.Why would companies paid for training when they just go to the government and say import more migrant's and the government says's yes no problem how many do you want.

Startingagain, if 5-7 Grand could fix training, life would be a
breeze, but it ain't that simple. To become a mining engineer, or
a geologist, or an electrician, or a fitter, or a mechanic, takes
years of dedication by the employee, not 7 Grand.

Note the number of apprentices who drop out, because they see short
term better money elsewhere, rather then slogging and learning, to
gain that qualification. I blame the parents and the system. The
system could be greatly improved, as say in Germany or Switzerland,
so that kids learn real skills. Parents need to realise that there
is more to having children then popping them out and society will
take care of the rest. Their influence and help can make a dramatic
difference.

Many companies spend a fortune on training, but they also know that
employees commonly show no loyalty. The moment that they are trained
and somebody else offers them 5c more, they are off.