<story><title>MakerBot Is Outsourcing Its Brooklyn Manufacturing Jobs to China</title><url>http://www.makerbot.com/blog/2016/04/25/makerbot-partners-with-contract-manufacturer-to-increase-production-flexibility</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>talmand</author><text>I often wonder if costs could be lowered for many of these companies if they would stop locating in some of the country&amp;#x27;s most expensive places to operate and for their employees to live. I know the arguments about workforce availability and all that, but I&amp;#x27;ve never seen a proper look into it.</text></item><item><author>legitster</author><text>A lot of people wonder why large companies can&amp;#x27;t just stay in the US and compete on quality, and here is a great case for why. It doesn&amp;#x27;t matter how great your workers are, you can&amp;#x27;t sell a product for $3,000 when others are selling it for $600. Especially when it&amp;#x27;s a technology still in development.&lt;p&gt;And I know we pay extra for the warm and fuzzies knowing that something is made in the states, but I&amp;#x27;m sure the home tinkerer in Indianapolis doesn&amp;#x27;t get super warm and fuzzy thinking of paying an extra $2000 just to support some exorbitant Brooklyn rent.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>jdietrich</author><text>It still wouldn&amp;#x27;t help. It&amp;#x27;s cheaper to manufacture electronics in China &lt;i&gt;even if the labor costs are the same&lt;/i&gt;. The logistics are vastly better over there. If you need PCBs or components, you can have them direct from the factory on the same day. If you have a production problem, you can get a specialist engineer the same day. If you need a new production line with 200 extra staff, you can have it up and running in two weeks.&lt;p&gt;An established EMS company like Jabil has huge economies of scale and tremendous in-house resources. They have long relationships with suppliers and consultants. A startup can&amp;#x27;t possibly compete with that.</text></comment>
<story><title>MakerBot Is Outsourcing Its Brooklyn Manufacturing Jobs to China</title><url>http://www.makerbot.com/blog/2016/04/25/makerbot-partners-with-contract-manufacturer-to-increase-production-flexibility</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>talmand</author><text>I often wonder if costs could be lowered for many of these companies if they would stop locating in some of the country&amp;#x27;s most expensive places to operate and for their employees to live. I know the arguments about workforce availability and all that, but I&amp;#x27;ve never seen a proper look into it.</text></item><item><author>legitster</author><text>A lot of people wonder why large companies can&amp;#x27;t just stay in the US and compete on quality, and here is a great case for why. It doesn&amp;#x27;t matter how great your workers are, you can&amp;#x27;t sell a product for $3,000 when others are selling it for $600. Especially when it&amp;#x27;s a technology still in development.&lt;p&gt;And I know we pay extra for the warm and fuzzies knowing that something is made in the states, but I&amp;#x27;m sure the home tinkerer in Indianapolis doesn&amp;#x27;t get super warm and fuzzy thinking of paying an extra $2000 just to support some exorbitant Brooklyn rent.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>Vivtek</author><text>Yeah. MakerBot could easily move to Indianapolis, after all. Or even less expensive locations elsewhere in Indiana, for that matter. Brooklyn is one of the most expensive markets in the United States, yet Indiana has just as many qualified technical people. Perhaps more, to be honest. Purdue is a pretty fantastic engineering school.</text></comment>