We have come to the point which has been described over the years as 'sooner or later', well, it's arrived whereby manufacturing here is dead and it's time to get over it.

I recently got a quote to build a tray back for a new ute I am buying and, for what amounts to a couple of grands worth of steel and a couple of grands worth of hydraulics, I have been quoted almost $21,000.

This is essentially for someone to cut the steel to length, place the prices into a jig and weld it together then send it off to get powder coated.

They then have to fit the hydraulic power pack to my ute,(imported and assembled) fit the ram, then fit and teat the tray.

The sad part is, the boss pays his worker at around $25 per hour, then charges me $120 per hour and struggles to make a decent return for himself, due mainly to the associated costs and compliance regulation he has to obied by.

Twenty one grand latter, it's a joke!

As I say, manufacturing here is dead!

..if you go to nimbin//they will install an air bag lifter
[YOU DONT NEED HYDROlic]..

we need to think smarter..
the POWDER COATED tray..is less than half the cost.
BUT STAINLESS Lasts foRever.

BUT YES I AGREE MANUFACTURING IS DEAD..mainly because builders quote to what you think BEST..BUT ONCE YOU LEAVE THEIR SHOP..THEY GOT OTHER PAYMENT RISKS.

IN..HOUSE..is the Way to go
THE INDUSTRY SHOULD GEAR UP TO upgrade/RESTORE THE CARS WE WENT BROKE BUILDING.

we can today buy..a tablet computer for 60 bucks
I recall my first purchase..was a Standard eight..projector
[aussie made]..cost me 3 weeks wages..[thats when we had TARIFFS..thing is..if i bought..an ozzie licensed tablet..i know it would retail..for 400 BUCKS.

we need allow the dollar to float
not gift 9 billion to the fed to buy its bUying worth DOWN..

PLUS..[inflating its price]..in aussie dollars just so a few internationalist DUEL PASSPORT HOLDING corporations can reap off the cream..AND EARNINGS INTO OF SHORE TAX HAVENS.

Our GDP is up 200 million from this time last year, 1.554 billion at the same time as unemployment is rising. That doesn't make sense.
It is far to early to claim manufacturing is dead. What is the justification for charging $120/hr Butch. You need to look around That is 960$/day. Sounds like someone is taking you for a ride.

....What is the justification for charging $120/hr Butch. You need to look around That is 960$/day. Sounds like someone is taking you for a ride.

579, this is the norm. Go to your local car garage and ask them how much an hour they charge,if it's under $100 they must be cheating the system somewhere.

Also, go to an engineers works and ask them, they usually charge more.

Go to a specialist ford mechanic with an F150, which I sometime drive, they charge $130 an hour, but their mechanics only get around $25/hr.

You see small business today is bogged down with so much compliance, that they struggle to be compliant simply because their business is too small to afford the admin staff. Their only way out is to pass the costs on. It's a joke! And it's the verybreason why our manufacturing industries are all but gone.

Now here's the interesting bit.

Once the car industries fold, they will take thousands of parts man with them. These small to medium, even large manufacturers are only in business because the volume they do for car industries, subsidize their work shops. Without that business they fold. It's already being talked about.

The thing to watch will be this who survive, the guys in their owned sheds, with no debt and few if any staff (outside of family)

They will charge pretty much what they like. It wouldn't surprise me to see rates around $150/hr in the near future, simply because they can.

Not only that, but they will have a smorgasbord of staff to choose from so wages won't go up.

At the moment, we are running Australia like a first world country.(23 million people here..not going to happen and currently not working ).but what if we ran Australia like a second world economy?...50% price drop on everything..wages,fuel,milk, bread, everything!…instead of 50.000 to make a car, 25.000….21.000 for engineering, 10.500 and all this right across the board? Wouldn’t this make our country investable to all overseas interests? Toyota, Holden, not to mention the % costs for a holiday, as flights to Australia would be booked out all year round. Orders would come flooding in from all over the world as we sell it back to the richer countries?…unemployment would be gone, loans, health costs and the lists are endless.

This would never happen, unless Australia became an independent entity….or we can keep putting prices up, until Australia is worthless.

Look at it as a small USA starting out.

A complete overhaul of the system.

Planet3

Life would go on as normal for us, but the world come running.

My sons thoughts.

My thoughts on globalization....all debt back to zero..Then we have a new world...One unified cost and price....but that's the future...or is it:)

Planet3