In every market--and at every step from suppliers of raw materials to consumers of finished goods--faster, cheaper communication lowers the cost of producing and consuming.
In addition, Panasonic's commitment to quality-at both the component and finished goods level-results in a total of more than 500 checks and tests during and after production.
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One plan involves lobbying the central government to deregulate airfares so that the local tourist industry can take off. (Just see what Hawaii has done since American air fares were deregulated.) Another proposal is to provide tax breaks for manufacturers who import components and then re-export the finished goods.
The auto industry is a trillion-dollar industry, sitting on 60-100 days of finished goods.
Controlling the supply of rare earths means that China can also control their processing and use in finished goods, which would fit a broader effort to drive its manufacturers from low- to high-value goods.
The practice is at risk of extinction because of the decreasing number of master potters, low prices for finished goods and the increasing use of mass-produced containers.
The core prices in the producer-price index, which measures the cost of finished goods, rose 0.1%.
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The company is a huge beneficiary of globalisation: able not only to source its products at low cost in Asia but to sell the finished goods there as well (there was a near-riot in Beijing when customers could not buy the latest iPhone).
Manufacturers in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and throughout America depend on integrated U.S.-Mexico supply chains to bring components, supplies and finished goods back and forth across the border every day, sustaining millions of jobs in factories around the country.
With MakersRow.com designers can use a six-step process to find local manufacturing partners, prototype, and produce finished goods all in their own back yards.
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