Factories in Taiwan (and China)

I saw this news item about factory closings in Taiwan a few days ago. From the article:
Statistics compiled by the Ministry of Economics Ministry show that in the first 10 months of this year, 2,419 factories closed down — a 60 percent increase over the same period of 2006.
These factories are closing because (1) [...]

Negotiating with the Chinese: Lesson One

You’re sitting across the negotiating table with your Chinese supplier. Your agenda? (1) Lower your cost per unit by 8%, (2) Speed up production time per 40′ container by one week and (3) Get them to accept more favorable payment terms (e.g. 30% down, Net 90 on the balance).
His agenda? To make as much money [...]

Building Taiwanese Brands and Offshoring to Asia

I’ve got little time to comment on it, but there was in interesting article in Business Week a few weeks ago about Taiwanese firms who are building their brand names.
Yes, guys, that’s exactly what you ought to be doing, since manufacturing has been moving to China for the past ten years. Sure, a large percentage [...]